Do we have a genetic propensity for religious belief?

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

WASHINGTON — Dean Hamer has received much criticism for his new book, "The God Gene: How Faith is Hardwired Into Our Genes."
Evangelicals reject the idea that faith might be reduced to chemical reactions in the brain. Humanists refuse to accept that religion is inherent in people's makeup. And some scientists have criticized Hamer's methodology and what they believe is a futile effort to find empirical proof of religious experience.

Hamer, a behavioral geneticist at the National Institutes of Health and the National Cancer Institute, stands by his research.

"We think that all human beings have an innate capacity for spirituality and that that desire to reach out beyond oneself, which is at the heart of spirituality, is part of the human makeup," said Hamer, 53. "The research suggests some people have a bit more of that capacity than others, but it's present to some degree in everybody."

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2002108948_godgene04m.html

[NightTrain]

1. I certainly don't!

I'm a lifelong atheist.

[pamela]

2. The religious right already hates Dean Hamer...

because of his research on the "gay gene".
http://www.bol.ucla.edu/~kmayeda/HC92/studies.html

[Amigust]

3. Religion gene - I doubt it.

What we have instead is a sheeple mentality that needs someone else to lead, shape, or support us and a culture that is continually using religion to make us afraid enough to conform or turn to it for relief.

[BeeBee]

4. I don't think so

I was born and raised Mormon but am now Atheist...

[NMDemDist2]

5. well the country was founded by religious wackos

known as the pilgrims

:shrug:

[Az]

6. Further evidence

Studies have shown that there seems to be a neurological predisposition for skepticism. Studies have shown that when viewing series of chaotic images with occaisional coherent patterns skeptics tended to show a lower rate of perception of false patterns while people who professed to be believers tended to have a higher rate of hits. Conversly the skeptics at a lower rate tended to miss the actual patterns.

[aquart]

7. We have associative logic. It's a survival advantage.

We need fresh water to live. We discover fresh water is in caves (created by the action of underground water). But not every cave has accessible water. One of us notices that a particular animal has useful traits: it loves accessible fresh water, and it loves to hang in trees. If we spot such an animal in a tree, we know the cave beneath (trees indicate their roots have found a water source) has water we can reach.

We associate the creature with great magical wisdom and power, because spotting it means water which means life.

The creature is the python. A snake. Long after cave water is a necessity to live, our myths configure a magic creature in a tree, with a sacred stream and a sacred cave. (If you don't recognize this story from Genesis, would it help to tell you that Eve means Source, which is both the water and the cave? Otherwise, simply go to a book of fairytales.)

[progressoid]

8. Hamer is not the most exacting scientist and has already admitted that

the title of this book is a bit misleading - essentially the title was grandstanding. He seems to put his fame ahead of his research.

[alfredo]

9. It's the herd instinct.

it gives structure. If we cannot follow, we cannot have a workable social structure. That social structure is one reason we survived.

Who does the leader follow? Where does he get his authority. Think quick! Make up something!! Hurry, the tribe is getting restless.

Hmmm, the King in the mountain. And no, you can't see him. I'm the only one that can talk to him. Oh and BTW, he said I can have any virgin I want.

[Saffy]

10. I think it's quite possible

I recently read a not-yet-published journal article on the psycho-physiology of the "food gene" written by one of my prof's. Actually, it was a small indentation on one of the chromosomes found on more than 50% of the self-described "foodies" in the sample. Some were chefs, some were food aficinado's, some had eating disorders, but they ALL had a higher than normal fixation on food.

There's also evidence that Type A personalities have a very slight outgrowth on one of their chromosomes, while Type B's have no such "abnormality". I hesitate to use that word- abnormality- as I am both a "foodie" (a chef) and a "type A" (highly organized)...but, I'm not complaining. Though, there are others that in my life that do. Complain, that is (LOL).

Anyway, I wouldn't be at all surprised to discover that persons highly affected by faith in some unknowable, unquantifiable omnipresence or other may have a slight chromosomal difference than those that aren't.