I work a good deal in philosophy of religion and there is no question in my mind that many people work in it because they are believers.
As they are also often very good philosophers, the atheists in the field tend to develop a healthy respect for theism,
even though I doubt that they change their mind. Us atheists are surrounded, as it were, by a lot of very sophisticated
and creative apologists for theism. The people I don't like are the New Atheists, because they don't seem to realize
that the people with whom I must contend even exist.