What is Christian?

[WillyGilligan]

I miss Evanmoore some days, but this is bringing it all back nicely.

[Cain]

I'm not certain if you're joking or not, but presuming that you're serious, yes, it does, specifically, "that God is an illusion."

But if everything else is as well, then reality is only illusion as well. As such, God is as real as anything else. It still doesn't say what the nature of god is, relatively speaking.

The mechanism by which the gene might express its effects have never been in question, only that different people might have differing levels of expression, as the article states.

Actually, the mechanism by which the gene might express itself can be extremely debateable-- we simply don't understand enough about brain neurochemistry to suggest that neurotransmitter X only does Y. In fact, each neurotransmitter generally has multiple effects, depending on where in the brain it's being used.

Next, you're confusing "lack of belief" with atheism, yet again. There is nothing saying that those without the gene are atheists-- they could easily be agnostics or apathetic. And to bring things back towards the original point, even agnostics can hold active beliefs about God; atheists are not miraculously relieved from doing so.

Finally, you were the one who pointed out that faith could be both biological and non-genetic in nature. That means that religion could be hardwired into us at multiple levels. This, plus the fact that every human culture has developed religion to some form or another, indicates that religion is somehow part of "human nature". To act counter to that nature requires effort on our parts-- we cannot passively rebel against our biology.

Not if your mental condition makes that a natural action to take, as I said.

The article you cited clearly suggests that environment has little effect on spirituality. So, you've countered your own argument.

However, to be fair, we both agree that the true source isn't likely to be a single cause. There has to be an environmental effect of some sort, even if it's minimal.

The problem with a correlational study, naturally, is that it doesn't give us direct causes-- it only shows a relationship. Thus, there could easily be people without the gene who are deeply spiritual, and those with the gene who are staunchly apathetic. Without more detailed prevalence information, it's very hard to tell.

And besides-- mental condition still cannot fight biology without effort. I'm trying to potty-train a toddler; her biology tells her when to go, and only though mental effort can she hold things until she gets to the toilet. Adults do the same thing; we're just more used to it, so it's easier. With the strong biological links to spirituality, it seems clear that fighting it requires effort-- it is an active profession of belief, and not merely passively "going with the flow".

[3278]

Now, now, boys, if you're so scared that what he has to say is right that you have to insult him, then he must, after all, be correct.

:

Ha ha. I kill me. Actually, another few rounds of this, and I just might.