It’s not stupid. It’s just how it works. You know it’s not a rational thing, and yet you are compulsively driven to it. It’s hard for us “normal” people (I only have some understanding of it because of my brother) to understand why you can’t just put it down or tune it out or walk away, but you just can’t. I said Chewie’s advice was sound, which it is, but a lot of times it’s not possible without help.
A lot of times there’s a feeling that horrible consequences will occur if certain actions aren’t undertaken perfectly. A not-uncommon one is that a family member will die or a meteor will strike the earth if you don’t turn the lights off “properly” or if you don’t walk through a doorway in the “correct” way. There are intrusive thoughts that can only be “controlled” when rituals are properly executed.
We all have goofy rituals and superstitions, but the thing is that most of us can say "okay, that’s enough) and walk away. People with OCD can’t do that, though. The difference between my compulsion to rotate the point of a pen on my desk away from me (just in case it decides to grow a rocket and embed itself in my sternum) or to reveal 100% of the map in a video game and my brother’s compulsion to put something in the fridge the right way is that I don’t have to do it whereas he feels like he has to, to an obsessive degree wherein he’ll put the sour cream in the fridge, take it out, put it back in, and repeat until it feels “right”. He knows it’s not a necessary or rational thing to do, but he lacks the the ability we have to just stop. It’s a way for him to control his environment.
For Mike here it seems like he has intrusive thoughts about religion (not uncommon either, moral issues are often a big trigger for OCD) and the only way he can calm them is to delve into research about the issues. It’s not even a religious thing and has nothing to do with whether it’s right or wrong or whatever, this is just how his OCD has manifested at this time. If he were to deny the compulsion to delve into internet discussions or research on the topics, I’m sure the intrusive thoughts would be an even more unbearable buzzing in his head, which is why he needs to find a professional who can really help him understand this and walk him through the process of identifying his triggers and controlling them.