[a fool in paradise]

That is of course, except for the ones that don’t want to admit that they were lied to by the professors.

"Losing my religion..."

For some, that reality is too earth shattering.

Whatever happened to "question authority"?

[MrB]

Another part of the equation is that they have been told the pernicious lie of “people (ie, you) are basically good” and they seek all avenues of affirming their goodness.

Espousing liberal policies makes one feel good about oneself, especially if you go no further and examine the effects of those policies in the real world.

Without God in their little self-centered atheistic lives,
they have nothing else to wrap their self-worth around.