Grumble.

See, a problem with popular science is that scientists dumb their work down for the media, and then people sort of half-skim it, fit it neatly into their pre-formed worldview, and then go on their merry way.

Case in point: This post by the Luke Ford Fan Blogger, who is usually a Friend of Pererro but is a bit off on this one...

4) In "God on the Brain" Liz Tucker points to the scienfitic evidence that the very religious, especially those claiming to have experienced religious visions, suffer from a brain disorder:



I remember reading a similar explanation for the religious visions of Mohammed in Will Durant's The Age of Faith (1950). So, I guess this argument has been around for awhile. But now, apparently, there is scientific proof that moral leaders Moses, Jesus, Mohammed, Ellen White, Joseph Smith, et al., were fruitcakes, and so, too, presumably, the Great Dennis Prager and, horror of horrors, the Great Luke Ford.

OK, first--the 'religious hallucinations' bit isn't very convincing. I don't particularly have 'visions' when I look at icons, and I've never had anything remotely like a religiously-based seizure. Nor does any Christian I can think of.

I suppose it's some sort of worldview thing--atheists like the idea of religious people wandering around imagining angels in their heads. But, in point of fact, I know 0.0 Christians who would say they've seen anything like this article.

It's a bit like when they starting floating evidence that the brain acts differently in meditation, proven by studies of buddhist monks and monastic nuns. And then, this was of course floated as an explanation for 'mystical' experiences everywhere.

Of course, in the real world, your average North American Protestant kinda... doesn't meditate. I'd say that, esp. with my short attention span, I'd be kinda proud of myself for remaining prayerful for five minutes, let alone the hours of meditation discussed in that study.

Same sort of thing here... people with intense, falling-down religious experiences may have epilepsy, or brain damage. But how many people in the real world, past and present, really base their belief on the steretypical mystical visions in the desert?

Not to mention that the article's conclusions (themselves probably more ambitious than the source research) are dwarfed by LFFB's conclusion...

Compare

We will never know for sure whether religious figures in the past definitely did have the disorder but scientists now believe the condition provides a powerful insight into revealing how religious experience may impact on the brain.

They believe what happens inside the minds of temporal lobe epileptic patients may just be an extreme case of what goes on inside all of our minds.

For everyone, whether they have the condition or not, it now appears the temporal lobes are key in experiencing religious and spiritual belief.

To

But now, apparently, there is scientific proof that moral leaders Moses, Jesus, Mohammed, Ellen White, Joseph Smith, et al., were fruitcakes, and so, too, presumably, the Great Dennis Prager and, horror of horrors, the Great Luke Ford.

Not only is his conclusion more sweeping, but he adds a few names to the list... the article mentions only St. Paul, Moses, and Ellen G. White. Of course, that pales in comparison to mentioning contemporary figures that are not particularly associated with the rather crippling hallucinations mentioned in connection with this condition, i.e. Luke Ford and Dennis Prager.

Anyway, I think that researchers need to change their tune a bit if they want to seriously analyze religion. Let's try to come to terms with the fact that the vast, vast majority of people in the world today are religious, and very, very few of them spend hours in meditation or wander around hallucinating.

Writing 'those religious kooks ar all insane' articles may make atheists feel better, but it doesn't accomplish much. Frankly, I have no particular horror at the thought that religious experience has a cerebral basis--Saying something can be measured by brain activity, or even altered by it, is not necessarily saying much at all.

LFFB's a funny guy, but I think he's being pretty dishonest, as can be shown byu another excerpt, I think...

See also Jeff Jacoby's comment on Soloveichek in a piece titled "When Hatred Is Necessary." Jacoby notes: "Jewish tradition holds, with Ecclesiastes, that there is a time to love and a time to hate."

Reading Soloveichek and Jacoby it may appear that Christian morality is clearly superior to the Jewish alternative. But hating one's enemies, and doing them harm, is a pragmatic philosophy in a way that turning one's cheek is not. Jesus' teachings should be understood within their intended (narrow) context. Jesus was an apocalyptic prophet. He told His followers to behave as if they were already living in the Kingdom of God: to love their enemies, give up their material possessions, leave their families, if necessary, and follow Him, for the world was about to end.

Now if that sounds nutty consider the following.

4) In "God on the Brain" Liz Tucker points to the scienfitic evidence that the very religious, especially those claiming to have experienced religious visions, suffer from a brain disorder:

Here, LFFB tosses out a standard skeptical lineL 'Jesus was a wacko prophet', which is, of course, based on a very narrow interpretation of Jesus' ministry. There are a few arguments against this, including and especially the fact that Jerusalem was destroyed within Jesus' lifetime, which actually makes the whole thing a bit eerie. Anyway, that's neither here nor there, the point is that he makes a rather wild assertion with no support (and it wouldn't have been hard to find) and then immediately switches gears.

'Hey, Jesus was a wacko nutcase. What, don't believe me? Check out this study about how a certain kind of epilepsy makes a minority of patients have religious hallucionations. See? Case closed.'

Ah, anyway. We still love you, LFFB, but you're being a bit dishonest...

I can't trackback, so I e-mailed. Maybe we'll feud now and I'll change his name on the links to doodiehead, or something.