Bruce Hood, professor of experimental psychology at the UK's University of Bristol gave a talk in early September 2006 at the British Association Festival of Science in Norwich.
The theme? Religion and other magical forms of thinking such as superstitions and attaching sentimental value to inanimate objects such as wedding rings and keepsakes are a result of a natural bias. These tendencies, he stated, were almost certainly a product of evolution.
Professor Hood said "I want to challenge recent claims by Richard Dawkins, among others, that supernaturalism is primarily attributable to religions spreading beliefs among the gullible minds of the young. Rather, religions may simply capitalise on a natural bias to assume the existence of supernatural forces."
He conducted an interesting experiment at the meeting to demonstrate the effect of superstition. He asked members of the audience if they were prepared to put on an old blue cardigan in return for a ($25) reward. Hands shot up all over the place. He then advised his volunteers that the cardigan had belonged to convicted mass murderer Fred West. "Most hands went down." Professor Hood said. When a few did wear it, people moved away from them (it wasn't really West's cardigan- the belief that it was, did the trick).
The Times article noted that the psychologist claimed that humans have evolved over tens of thousands of years to be susceptible to supernatural beliefs. (?) Try two or three million years!
April 2007 update: Several minor additions and alterations have been made throughout this website, but some interesting new material follows:
News item May 2007:
$US27 million Creation Museum launched by evangelical Christians in Kentucky. According to the rather bizarre exhibits, Adam and Eve not only shared the Garden of Eden with that famous apple tree, but with Tyrannosaurus Rex as well. But never mind, in this version, T. Rex was a vegetarian (never mind those carnivorous dentures). This of course, is an attempt to cash in on children's fascination with dinosaurs.
T. Rex and his mate also get to take a cruise on Noah's Ark, along with all the other animals. If this is to be construed as true history, as they claim, it would have been very interesting to watch Noah trying to herd them onto the ark. Can you imagine how strong the gangplank would have to be?
Normally, this could be passed off as a silly season item, suggesting the need for saliva tests for all those concerned with the project. Except for some rather chilling statistics. In a recent debate, 3 of 10 Republican presidential candidates said they did not believe in evolution. Opinion polls also say that about 50% of Americans believe that humans and all other living creatures were created by God around 6,000 to 10,000 years ago.
It is difficult to dismiss all these people as fools. The Richard Dawkins view that religion is passed on through a culture and from parents to children is also an inadequate explanation for the extraordinary grip that a primitive bronze age text still holds over people. Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy are also ideas passed on by parents, but not too many adults would be prepared to spend $US27 million on a museum dedicated to prove their existence. No, Horatio, the primary explanation lies in genetics and the spirituality instinct.
News item August 2007:
Muslim cleric explains why devout muslims don't allow dogs in their houses. They believe angels are afraid of dogs, and will not visit houses harbouring hounds.
News item December 2007:
Astronomers discover supermassive black hole blasting thousands, if not millions of planets in its path with deadly radiation jets. This would probably destroy all life on any planets that are habitable. Fortunately for us, this system, named 3C321, is 1.4 billion light years away. It contains two galaxies just 20,000 light years apart. The larger of the two contains this "Death Star" black hole, while the smaller of the two is the one getting pummeled.
Moral: stellar destruction (and creation) goes on all the time, on a massive scale. There is nothing like astronomy to provide reality checks such as this to put the puny affairs of humanity into perspective. It is not hard to imagine that on a few of these doomed planets sentient beings are madly praying for deliverance. It is also easy to suppose that whatever gods they believe in are incapable of aiding them, due to a basic equation: Nil existence = Nil intervention.
February 2008:
As noted in the Contact Us section, I was unable to answer a recent inquiry, because the client's spam filter service kept rejecting my reply. This can be a problem, as such services seem to make their own arbitrary decisions on what is and what is not spam. Those who use the Thunderbird free email program do not face this problem, though they do have to "train" the filter to reject unwanted emails.
Anyway, the query was this: "I already own The Atheist's Guide to Religion (eBook). Since you are saying that it is an abbreviated version, is there any new info in God Replacement Therapy?"
Answer: If you have version 5, rather than the newer version 6 of the Atheist's Guide, yes. Version 6 contains an added chapter called God Replacement Therapy, which is identical with the final chapter of the new eBook, God Replacement Therapy. Anyone who is on record as already owning Version 5 may request a free update of this final chapter 12. I will email this out, on request, providing I can negotiate your spam filter!
March 2008:
Following the extensive rewrite of both volumes, the February comments no longer apply. The Atheist's Guide and God Replacement Therapy are now stand-alone volumes. One is a history, while the other is a self-help book. You need both for the full story. Alternatively, buy one now, see what you think of it, and get the other one later. Any reader feedback is appreciated, and will help with future revisions.
July 2008:
When a US senate investigation into alleged financial wrongdoing requested TV evangelist Kenneth Copeland’s financial records, he made the following reply: “It is not yours, it is God’s, and you are not going to get it.”
A rational man would not expect God to be subject to income tax from any earthly government. However, Kenneth Copeland has used donations to build himself a mansion the size of a hotel. His ministry owns a $20 million Cessna jet, owns an airport and leases land to provide for Copeland’s cattle and horses.
It is easy to see why Copeland does his thing, since religious institutions there not only enjoy tax-exempt status, but churches are not even required to disclose any details of their finances. It is much harder to see why the government allows him to do it, or why his flock donate to such a cause.
Copeland promises that God can make followers both healthy and wealthy. That’s why they stuff cash into donation envelopes bearing these words: “I am sowing dollars- and believing for a hundred fold return.” Didn’t Jesus have a rather different view of wealth?