The Atheist's New Nightmare?

When cause and effect are reversed, spurious results occur. Subjective experiences can be deeper than any objective measure. Could your dream have been the result of a surge of chemicals that trigger feeling of love, and your sleeping brain filled in the rest? Could it have gone another step back in which an aroma triggered those feelings? Feelings are powerful. Drug abuse is one artificial way to generate feelings. Some types of seizure generate equally intense feelings. Some of these feelings are "divine bliss" and are ociated with activity in the same part of the brain that is active when devoutly religious people engage in their practice (e.g. rosary, meditation). This is why subjective feelings are meaningless as testimony. The feelings can be intensely pleasurable and people will engage in activities to bring them on. Such an addictive process can result in divorce from reality. You can have a relationship in the real world which is messy or you can have fantasy. The former is more rewarding, but the existence of addiction shows that the fantasy has its allure.