[lit-ideas] Re: The God Gene
- From: "Phil Enns" <phil.enns@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 20 Oct 2004 10:14:53 -0400
Andy Amago writes:
"Time magazine's cover story this week is on the God gene. Basically
it's as we discussed. We have a genetic predisposition toward
spirituality (communing with nature, going into a trance, etc.). We
take that predisposition and put rules to it and call it religion."
The above strikes me as being so obvious I wonder why it warrants the
cover of Time. All human activity has to have some physiological
component. I suspect, however, that the above is not merely a
description of religion but is also intended to be an explanation. To
paraphrase Nietzsche:
"How is religion possible? 'By virtue of a God gene.' But is that an
answer? An explanation? Or is it not rather merely a repetition of the
question? How does opium induce sleep? 'By virtue of a faculty' namely
the virtus dormitiva, replies the doctor in Moliere. But such replies
belong in comedy, and it is high time to replace the question 'How is
religion possible?' by another question, 'Why is belief in such
judgments necessary?' - and to comprehend that such judgments must be
believed to be true, for the sake of the preservation of creatures like
ourselves; though they might, of course, be false judgments for all
that! Or to speak more clearly and coarsely: religious judgments should
not 'be possible' at all; we have no right to them; in our mouths they
are nothing but false judgments. Only, of course, the belief in their
truth is necessary, as a foreground belief and visual evidence belonging
to the perspective optic of life."
Sincerely,
Phil Enns
Toronto, ON
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