>Animals have no notion of love

http://www.anthro.ucdavis.edu/features/stp/stptiti.htm

To the point, at this risk of being labeled a heartless asshole, despite how obvisoully wrong your statement is, if it were true, what does this prove?

Romantic love is a checmical reaction. Sweaty palms and all.

http://www.observer.co.uk/review/story/0,6903,628118,00.html

Hazan and many others cite extensive evidence that the role of 'chemistry' in human sexual attraction is more than just a metaphor. It's phenylethylamine, dopamine and oxytocin, too - the brain chemicals that scientists believe are 'triggered' through social conditioning.

Loving your familiy and friends is also good ol' human conditioning. There is nothing supernatural involved with the concept of love.

That said, let me defend myself from those of you ready to burn me at the stake.

Now, I'm aware of the fact that the love I feel for my girlfriend is chemically based. Does that make it any less special to me? Does that make love somewhat undesirable even for a moment? Hell no.

Learn to cherish feeling great regardless of its origin and you will move one step closer to freeing yourself from the shackles of religion and irrationality.

And while we're on the topic, this is where the major irony comes in. Those that think the same way I do, paradoxally find it easier to follow the "word of god", while those that think love is something divine, fall prey to breaking basic Christian commandments. Interesting, to say the least.