I doubt that the belief gene has been
identified. (And probably won't be, people have been burned at the stake
for less.) But according to Shermer
it exists in a large segment of the population. Not always religious,
but politics and religion are the most common expressions. Probably
tribe membership or authority related from an evolutionary viewpoint.
But
look around you. Believers beget believers. It would be hard to
separate out nature vs nurture, but believers occasionally beget people
who can actually read the Bible and the newspapers, or actually think
about what they watch on the boob tube (for them.) One might think of
them as deficient in the belief gene as the occasional green-eyed
redhead is deficient in the melanin gene.
But
non-believers also beget non-believers. I come from a family that goes
back to the earliest colonists for which "He would have been mayor
except he pissed off the preacher." was their characterization of most
of the famous members. "He" was usually run out of town as the original
settler was run out of England. An ancestor was a General in
Washington's army, but was run out of Virginia (and America) to Ohio.
They
also perhaps necessarily marry non-believers weeding out the belief
gene. My great grandmother married into the family but was an atheist,
free thinker and feminist. (late 19th Cen.)
Superman music
3 days ago
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