Amused and concerned

I was amused and concerned by the number of responses in the issues [May, July/August] following Zander Dunn's March letter concerning a metaphorical interpretation of the virgin birth.
It was amusing to see what kindles people's interest to write a letter but concerning also to see the erosion of tolerance and diversity of opinion within our denomination. I wonder how a belief or a lack of belief can undermine faith? That makes no sense theologically or philosophically. I wonder also when belief in Jesus degenerated into belief about things about Jesus? The gospels contain divergent stories about some of the details of Jesus' life and ministry and that is something we need to remember and celebrate. It must cause some difficulty for those that put so much weight in the idea of the virgin birth to read that it wasn't important enough for either Mark or John to include in their gospels. However, the harder and more interesting question is how can one's faith be undermined?