Thanks - a useful post! I especially like this point

If given a choice, people would rather live in a world where justice exists. People get rewarded for good behavior and punished for bad behavior. How many people have you heard say that they believe everything happens for a reason? The thought of a world with divine order is a lot more attractive to most people than one where shit just happens .

This reasoning has its own name - the Just World Fallacy. I think it's one of the most pernicious.