From A Field Guide to Infectious Agents and Biotoxins:

Name: Aromatichrophia

Common Identifications: Dutch disease (origin unknown), Reve de Dieu (origin unknown)

Type: Toxin, fluid suspension compound of heavy metals including [omitted] and complex proteins in loose ionic bonds.

First Identification: October, 1984, when outbreaks were reported in [omitted] Haiti and [omitted] Kansas within several days.

History: In the six months following the initial appearance of the toxin, [omitted] people were exposed in over 60 communities. Fourteen distinct epicenters are believed to have existed. No additional cases were reported after [omitted].

Source or Vector: [omitted]

Pathology Report:

The toxin produces profound alterations in psychological state, with the most pronounced common effect being a suspension of belief in God. This was observed in patients of several different faiths and belief systems. Among those who professed moderate to weak faith before exposure, the toxin triggered a mounting sense of certainty that no deity or godlike entity exists. Individuals who professed strong to absolute belief in their religion before exposure experienced the syndrome as an unpleasant, and eventually terrifying, erosion of their faith. Several suicides were reported among those initially exposed, and were believed to be the direct result of anxiety triggered by these psychological side-effects.

Chemical analysis indicates that proteins found in the toxin bear a striking similarity to those involved in the formation of memory, particularly those related to the sense of smell. Precise action of the toxin, as well as treatments and antidotes have not been identified.

Interview Transcript
March 12, 1985
[omitted] Kansas

[Transcript begins after patient has provided basic personal and demographic data at the request of Dr. H[omitted]. The patient, a 27 year old female, is identified in the transcript as "Donna." The Minister of the patient's church is identified as "Ed."]

Dr. H: How long have you lived in [omitted]?
Donna: All my life. I spent two years at Junior College in [omitted] but then I came back here to live.
Dr. H: Have you attended the same church the whole time you've been here?
Donna: We started out at [omitted] Baptist Church but when I was about twelve we moved over to [omitted] Baptist Church. I've been going there ever since.
Dr. H: Why was that?
Donna: The Minister moved over there and I guess my parents liked him enough to follow him.
Dr. H: That was "Ed?"
Donna: Yeah. He preached there the whole time I was growing up.
Dr. H: Tell me a little about your church.
Donna: Well, there was about 150 people, mostly, who came regularly, and most of us knew each other. It was that kind of small town church, where everybody's kids play together and you all watch each other's kids grow up. When someone's father or mother died we'd all say a special prayer for them and just about always a few people would end up going over to their house with covered dishes.
Dr. H: Did you enjoy going to church?
Donna: Sure, although there was a time when I was a teenager that my parents had to just about drag me there. I think a lot of kids go through that; they just want to find their own way. But when I came back from [omitted] it was like coming home to be back in church. I knew almost everyone and everyone remembered me.
Dr. H: Why do you think people kept going, their whole lives?
Donna: It's like a tradition. You just keep going. And you know that whatever happens in your life, there will be this one thing that doesn't change. I mean, looking back you see how things have changed, and then there's the church and your minister and your neighbors, and they keep coming back to this place every Sunday.
Dr. H: You all shared beliefs in the Baptist faith?
Donna: Sure, we all prayed and that was important, too. Ed always wrote sermons that really made the Bible and all come alive. He could really make it apply to your everyday life. I would leave most weeks feeling like he'd just looked deep into my life and seen something that I couldn't make out for myself. So that mattered, too.
Dr. H: Do you believe in God?
Donna: No.
Dr. H: Did you used to believe, before?
Donna: I did. Sure, like everyone else.
Dr. H: Why don't you believe in God now?
Donna: Well, there was the toxin. But I don't feel like I've been poisoned or anything. It just seemed like I woke up from a dream -- like I can't quite remember why I used to believe before. It seems so obvious now that we believed in God because we didn't know what else to do -- because people told us to believe. I don't know. It just seems so stupid now.
Dr. H: Do you wish you still believed in God?
Donna: No.
Dr. H: Are you afraid of living in a world without a God?
Donna: I guess I don't have much of a choice.
Dr. H: What happened to [omitted] Baptist Church?
Donna: Well, after the poisoning we all kept going, we met there quite a lot while the teams from the CDC and all were in town. It was pretty obvious that something was going on; I mean, we talked a lot about how we were feeling and about how God and all seemed less and less likely to be real. It was hard for a lot of people. Like the end of the world. There were folks, like Ed and others, whose whole life was the church. They kept hoping for some kind of cure, although nobody felt poisoned. We just felt empty.
Dr. H: Did you keep going to church?
Donna: For a while. We all vowed we'd keep going, no matter what. I mean, we'd always gone, some of all our lives. Even if we didn't believe we said we'd keep going and wait to see if God came back to us.
Dr. H: But you stopped.
Donna: Yeah. Everybody stopped after a while. I guess the tradition wasn't strong enough to keep people there.