The God Delusion, by Richard Dawkins
Chapter 5: The Roots of Religion
From the preface: "Perhaps you think there must be a god or gods because anthropologists and historians report that believers dominate every human culture. If you find that convincing, please refer to Chapter 5, on 'The roots of religion', which explains why belief is so ubiquitous."
6 comments:
Two quick things: 1) I've finally posted on the chapter below, and 2) I again suggest we delay Week 6 so we can address this chapter and the previous one.
Alright, on to Chapter 5 - actually, I would like to first hear from Joe/Christopher/Timothy regarding this chapter, since it seems like Dawkins has moved from attacking religious explanations of scientific theories to attacking religion itself with scientific theories. He's stopped defending Scotland and is now invading England, if you will.
The application of Darwinian principles to explain religious behavior isn't new, and Dawkins doesn't address it very deeply, so I don't see any spectacular insights that are worth discussing. Except for one thing that I thought was particularly interesting toward the end of the chapter, where Dawkins discusses the Cargo Cult. This is an incredible contemporary example of the power of religious belief and its ability to rapidly grow and evolve. How do you guys reconcile this with Jesus? In the absence of any scientific evidence proving Christ's miracles, isn't it far more likely that the story of Jesus is merely an ancient example of a Cargo Cult?
As you can probably guess, this is, when all is said and done, my position on Christianity.
On a similar note, this whole chapter goes back to the God Hypothesis in Chapter Two. Not only is there no scientific evidence for the divine interventions claimed by the Bible, Quran, etc., but now we may also throw into the balance alternative explanations for those religious beliefs themselves. Science now says, "Not only do I not see any evidence of your religious belief, but here's a naturalistic explanation for why you believe it." The religious Argument From Personal Experience is now put into question.
First of all, if there was only one reason this book should be written, this chapter is it. Best argument I've heard. Zhubin implies that this Darwinian take on the evolution of religion is neither new nor deeply addressed here, so I must simply assume it has eluded me thus far. It is new to me, and I find the idea absolutely brilliant.
I should also say that because of my fascination with the topic as it is presented here, I shall (as likely the only Young Earth ascriber in our discussion group) forgo my personal slant for the time being. I have also, for the record, picked up a copy of The Selfish Gene and recommend it thus far (one chapter in).
Per Chapter 5: Once again, I agree with Dawkins' legwork but not his follow-through. For example, I attribute early man's survival when encountering a tiger not to assigning a purpose for its claws that may or may not exist, but to perceiving the purpose that does. Thusly, the by-product would be the tendency to recognize the higher power who's already there, not invent one.
To answer your cargo cult question: no.
To answer your cargo cult question: no.
Well, I knew your answer. I was hoping for the reasoning.
... I'd like to propose a change.
Clearly, we are all too busy to make this discussion group a priority each week, but that's okay. It's easy to cross the bridge between contemplative and merely idle, and we have done well to shy from it.
Perhaps ten weeks (or twenty, as it may turn into at this rate) is too long to address one subject. I, for one, though I am yet intrigued and excited about this text, am--to be plain--bored of talking about it. We might be better off organizing much as a regular book club would: reading one book in its entirety by a definite deadline, and then discussing it all in one fell swoop (or, in this particular venue, say, over the course of a month). Arguments would necessarily be more broad, but maybe that would free us to move on to other books and other topics.
I must be clear that I immensely enjoy what we're doing here--you guys are not becoming tedious, the book is.
Thoughts?
I agree with Joe. I apologize greatly for my absence but I am tending to be at my actual home abolut 24 hours total in a week right now and so cannot discuss it as minutely as we have it now. I think reading the book and then talking about it, although it might gloss over some interesting smaller points, would allow us to get into and stay interested in the discussion. Ok...probably won't hear from me for another week.
In that case, how about on Saturday the next post is about the rest of the chapters?
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