. A literal reading of the Bible leads to ludicrous conclusions, but if one perceives that the game is all or nothing, then perhaps one must assert the truth value of Genesis as if it was a scientific treatise.

I think the "all or nothing" thing is a very important insight. I've often found myself profoundly disturbed by my inability to solve some bizarre moral dilemma (something really weird, like "If you had the power to perfectly control what sort of personality types people were born with, what is the optimum mixture of personalities to create?") and felt like my inability to solve these problems somehow puts all of ethics in doubt. It's like I feel that not knowing the proper way to behave in a bizarre science-fictional moral dilemma means that there is no reason to help people, save lives, and do other obviously good things. Even though I know it's irrational, it sometimes makes me physically sick. I have to keep reminding myself that my beliefs should be more robust than that, that a belief system so fragile that it can shatter with one tiny inconsistency is not one worth having.

I imagine that this is how fundamentalists must feel when they spot an inconsistency in one of their sacred texts.