Religion

Just curious... what does "religion in an evolutionary perspective" mean, in the context of these
books? Are they trying to discuss how religion "evolved" - obviously in a non-Dawinian sense?

(Somehow, I can see "evolution from a religious perspective" as not OT - perhaps contrasting,
comparing or even trying to intergrate Dawininism, neo-Darwinism, etc. with religious beliefs; but
if my guess in the above paragraph is correct, this would indeed seem OT, as there's no "sci.bio."
component.) (...or maybe I'm being too literal.) Regards, Brett.

"Judas Priest" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I have just finished reading two books on religion in an evolutionary perspective - Boyer:
'Religion Explained' and Wilson: 'Darwin's Cathedral'. They end up with different conclusions.
Have these books/subjects been discussed on this list? I tried a search, but got nothing. If this
is OT, I'm sorry - please guide me somewhere else. Regards' Judas Priest

Judas Priest said:

I have just finished reading two books on religion in an evolutionary perspective - Boyer:
'Religion Explained' and Wilson: 'Darwin's Cathedral'. They end up with different conclusions.
Have these books/subjects been discussed on this list? I tried a search, but got nothing. If this
is OT, I'm sorry - please guide me somewhere else.

Regards' Judas Priest

I have a review of Boyer's book on my website. He makes use of Richard Dawkins's notion of memes,
which implies that cultural beliefs compete with one another for propagation in Darwinian manner.
The psychologist Susan Blackmore takes the same view in *The Meme Machine*. However, I think that
this approach doesn't take enough notice of the role of narrative in religion.

Religions, I suggest, mostly begin with narrative; belief arises later and is, in a sense, a
secondary development. It is probably our Christian heritage that leads us to attach undue
importance to the role of belief. Narrative depends largely on language, and there are important
similarities between religions and language in the way in which they are acquired. This way of
looking at religion suggests an explanation for its seeming ubiquity in human culture and also for
its persistence in our modern society. I have an article discussing these ideas on my website
(Religion, Memes and Language).

AC

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Email: replace "www." with "ac@"

"Judas Priest" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I have just finished reading two books on religion in an evolutionary perspective - Boyer:
'Religion Explained' and Wilson: 'Darwin's Cathedral'. They end up with different conclusions.
Have these books/subjects been discussed on this list? I tried a search, but got nothing. If this
is OT, I'm sorry - please guide me somewhere else.

Do you have access to a computer? ;-)

'If so' there are reviews to be read, as www.google.com will also inform you, at www.amazon.com.

P

"Brett Aubrey" <[email hidden]> wrote in message

Quoted message said:

Just curious... what does "religion in an evolutionary perspective" mean, in the context of these
books? Are they trying to discuss how religion "evolved" - obviously in a non-Dawinian sense?

These sorts of books generally discuss three issues
1) The biological basis of religious belief.
2) The historical development of modern religions from primitive religion. If you accept meme theory
this could be a sort of Darwinian evolution, as well as historical evolution.
3) How the theory of evolution impacts modern religions.

You cannot sensibly discuss 1 without 2, and anyone who didn't at least allude to 3 in a book on the
evolution of religion wouldn't be human.

Quoted message said:

this would indeed seem OT, as there's no "sci.bio." component.) (...or maybe I'm being too
literal.) Regards, Brett.

It's where biology merges into the human disciplines. The moderator has to make a judgement call on
where to draw the line, and also maybe where the conversation gets too close to the
evolution/creationist controversy, which I guess is banned not because it is non-topical per se, but
because it would drown out all threads on other aspects of evolution.

<< Just curious... what does "religion in an evolutionary perspective" mean, in the context of these
books? Are they trying to discuss how religion "evolved" - obviously in a non-Dawinian sense? >>

One could easily see how religious ideas evolved out of my 4 options based on the first cell
membrane. Can you think of anything outside these:

Set A what is outside of the individual
1. want and don't have - needs and desires
2. don't want and don't have - fights against Set B what is inside of the individual
3. want and have - holds dear
4. don't want and want to get rid of - waste out

So once a cell membrane is set up we have 4 options that evolve to all aspects of life behavior
including higher thought by humans.

[email hidden] (TomHendricks474) wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

<< Just curious... what does "religion in an evolutionary perspective" mean, in the context of
these books? Are they trying to discuss how religion "evolved" - obviously in a non-Dawinian
sense? >>

One could easily see how religious ideas evolved out of my 4 options based on the first cell
membrane. Can you think of anything outside these:

Set A what is outside of the individual
1. want and don't have - needs and desires
2. don't want and don't have - fights against Set B what is inside of the individual
1. want and have - holds dear
2. don't want and want to get rid of - waste out

So once a cell membrane is set up we have 4 options that evolve to all aspects of life behavior
including higher thought by humans.

Some religions suggest a fifth option: abandon all desires and fears, surrender you possessions and
antipathies, dissolve the "membrane", and become one with the universe.