The God gene
O.K. so I am a little behind. On October 25th, Time magazine ran a cover story and article, titled, "The God Gene - Is God in our genes?" I found an article last night that went into more detail and was simply fascinated. Here is the begining part of the article posted on the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals, Inc. website. (I don't know much about this organization, so don't ask.
"What is it that causes some people to be more religious than others? Could it possibly be that some people are genetically predisposed to have certain spiritual experiences? Is there a “god” gene?
Some people say that there is, or at least that this is what science is starting to show. In a book called The God Gene: How Faith Is Hardwired into Our Genes [New York: Doubleday, 2004], Dean Hamer of the National Cancer Institute argues that some people have God in their genes. He says: “I’m a believer that every thought we think and every feeling we feel is the result of activity in the brain. I think we follow the basic law of nature, which is that we’re a bunch of chemical reactions running around in a bag” [quoted by Jeffrey Kluger in “Is God in Our Genes?” Time , October 25, 2004, page 65].
Included among those chemical reactions, according to Hamer, are brain patterns that correlate with certain religious experiences. When people are involved in a spiritual activity like meditation, for example, the frontal lobe (which focuses our concentration) is active, while the parietal lobe (which locates us in time and space) grows quiet.
Nor is Dean Hamer the only molecular biologist who has made this discovery. Andrew Newberg is doing similar work at the University of Pennsylvania, where he is studying what he calls “the biology of belief” [as quoted by Melissa Dribben in “Agnostic studies God and the brain,” Philadelphia Inquirer , December 21, 2003]. According to Newberg, the human brain has a built-in capacity to experience God. Scientists from the University of California at San Diego call it “the God module” [Ray Kurzweil, The Age of Spiritual Machines , as quoted in Christianity Today , February 8, 1999, page 77].
The work of these scientists is part of a wider field of science that studies “the neurophysiology of religious experience” and is commonly known as “neurotheology.” Most of these scientists are careful to say that they can neither prove nor deny the existence of God; they are simply interested in the biology of spirituality. But based on their research they claim that parts of the human brain are pre-wired to experience spiritual phenomena. To be specific, Dean Hamer has isolated the gene VMAT2 and says it is directly related to “the ability to feel self-transcendence” [quoted in Kluger, page, 66]."
Because you made it this far, I have to assume you are curious as to what I think. Here are my thoughts...
This is crap.
We are not predisposed to religion any more than we are predisposed to our spouse. I am not spiritual because I am predisposed to be. I am spiritual because I understand that I am a creation of a creator far greater in wisdom and purpose than I will ever be. I did not come to that knowledge because my frontal lobe is more active than yours, (The years of collecting hops and bong residue should prove that). I came to that decision through a lifetime of experience, a lifetime of trying to be in charge and realizing that it never really works when I take control.
God didn't hard wire me. He died for me.
One interesting bit of information, If my research is correct, Mr. Hamer is also the scientist who discovered the "gay gene." Now, this is not fact, but I find it interesting that science keeps attempting to prove that we really have no say in our lives. We are just bags of chemical reactions. How sad to think that we have no choice, that we are simply running around doing whatever it is that we are programmed to do. I don't know about you, but I believe that I am more than a reaction. I am a created, purposed entity. I am designed with thought and with the will to choose each and every day. I am not programmed, I am purposed.
"What is it that causes some people to be more religious than others? Could it possibly be that some people are genetically predisposed to have certain spiritual experiences? Is there a “god” gene?
Some people say that there is, or at least that this is what science is starting to show. In a book called The God Gene: How Faith Is Hardwired into Our Genes [New York: Doubleday, 2004], Dean Hamer of the National Cancer Institute argues that some people have God in their genes. He says: “I’m a believer that every thought we think and every feeling we feel is the result of activity in the brain. I think we follow the basic law of nature, which is that we’re a bunch of chemical reactions running around in a bag” [quoted by Jeffrey Kluger in “Is God in Our Genes?” Time , October 25, 2004, page 65].
Included among those chemical reactions, according to Hamer, are brain patterns that correlate with certain religious experiences. When people are involved in a spiritual activity like meditation, for example, the frontal lobe (which focuses our concentration) is active, while the parietal lobe (which locates us in time and space) grows quiet.
Nor is Dean Hamer the only molecular biologist who has made this discovery. Andrew Newberg is doing similar work at the University of Pennsylvania, where he is studying what he calls “the biology of belief” [as quoted by Melissa Dribben in “Agnostic studies God and the brain,” Philadelphia Inquirer , December 21, 2003]. According to Newberg, the human brain has a built-in capacity to experience God. Scientists from the University of California at San Diego call it “the God module” [Ray Kurzweil, The Age of Spiritual Machines , as quoted in Christianity Today , February 8, 1999, page 77].
The work of these scientists is part of a wider field of science that studies “the neurophysiology of religious experience” and is commonly known as “neurotheology.” Most of these scientists are careful to say that they can neither prove nor deny the existence of God; they are simply interested in the biology of spirituality. But based on their research they claim that parts of the human brain are pre-wired to experience spiritual phenomena. To be specific, Dean Hamer has isolated the gene VMAT2 and says it is directly related to “the ability to feel self-transcendence” [quoted in Kluger, page, 66]."
Because you made it this far, I have to assume you are curious as to what I think. Here are my thoughts...
This is crap.
We are not predisposed to religion any more than we are predisposed to our spouse. I am not spiritual because I am predisposed to be. I am spiritual because I understand that I am a creation of a creator far greater in wisdom and purpose than I will ever be. I did not come to that knowledge because my frontal lobe is more active than yours, (The years of collecting hops and bong residue should prove that). I came to that decision through a lifetime of experience, a lifetime of trying to be in charge and realizing that it never really works when I take control.
God didn't hard wire me. He died for me.
One interesting bit of information, If my research is correct, Mr. Hamer is also the scientist who discovered the "gay gene." Now, this is not fact, but I find it interesting that science keeps attempting to prove that we really have no say in our lives. We are just bags of chemical reactions. How sad to think that we have no choice, that we are simply running around doing whatever it is that we are programmed to do. I don't know about you, but I believe that I am more than a reaction. I am a created, purposed entity. I am designed with thought and with the will to choose each and every day. I am not programmed, I am purposed.
posted by Hurricane at 3:48 PM
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