BorN Believing?
Newberg calls religion the great equalizer and points out that similar areas of the brain are affected during prayer and meditation.
….these brain scans may provide proof that our brains are built to believe in God.
He says there may be universal features of the human mind that actually make it easier for us to believe in a higher power.
Are humans hard-wired for faith?
To be sure, religion has the unparalleled power to bring people into groups. Religion has helped humans survive, adapt and evolve in groups over the ages. It’s also helped us learn to cope with death, identify danger and finding mating partners.
Today, scientific images can track our thoughts on God, but it would take a long leap of faith to identify why we think of God in the first place.
Is the feeling for a Supreme entity thus inborn?
A belief in something greater than ourselves….
Virtually every culture believes in a some form of spiritual entity. Some posit that it was humans seeking explanations for things that were happening to them.
Things perhaps inexplicable…..thunder or lightning….
Some go so far as to say that belief in any kind of afterlife is simply a defense mechanism against the fear of death and dying.
Now, more than ever skeptics seek facts and wish to check every event critically.
Their mantra:
We believe only what we see.
The believer’s horizon, however, is not limited to what he has tangibly before his or her eyes.
Some claim to hear mysterious inner voices while others profess sudden enlightenment.
Others read the language of God in the world, in everyday, mundane, trivial events.
Believers won’t leave the elemental question of human rights to scientists, philosophers and most certainly not….politicians.
They oftentimes view themselves as trustees and custodians who witness their own interest in God’s creation.
Argue all you want but no one sane would assert that humanity’s well-being is improved by murder, theft, the reckless use of power, defamation, lies, or oppression.
The Ten Commandments protect our very cherished values and offer us words for the unspoken laws of proper human behavior.
Life, at times, seems like a delicate balancing act on the dividing line between good and evil…Does it not?
What say you, sweet friends.
Are humans hard-wired for faith?
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April 4th, 2007 at 11:00 pm
my students and I are in middle of a hindu/buddha thing. And the more I examine them, the stronger a Catholic I become. There is nothing wrong with studying another faith, it can strengthen yours
April 4th, 2007 at 11:11 pm
i didn’t coin this phrase - “only a fool in his heart says there is no G-d.” but, i sure do take it to heart. there is definitely an inborn need to serve AND to have a savior. that is why we take spouses and have children. it’s a need we cannot ever quite fulfill on our own. so, consequently, we are always in need of that which we cannot attain of our own accord. kind of a living on the edge of your seat feeling much of the time. i don’t mind.
April 4th, 2007 at 11:23 pm
The arguements are endless, because a belief in GOD necessitates the giving over of oneself to a degree, many will resist. The fragile ego of mankind has difficulty in accepting a power ABOVE and beyond the self.
However the signs are obvious…NO ONE can stand idly by and watch a child be abused…you know why????
because the inner flame, no matter how small, of HIM that burns within will not permit it….
April 4th, 2007 at 11:23 pm
You betcha we are!
April 5th, 2007 at 5:37 am
This is a very appropriate topic Angel in the middle of Passover and Holy Week -thanks for posting it.
Are we wired for religion?
It is rather simple. We lack perfection - God is perfection. Since we are unable to attain it ourselves we need God and God’s help to acheive it (we Catholics call them saints) We are all called to seek perfection and deep inside we recognize our own complete fallibility and inability and so we seek God, or in the case of many - false gods. Catholics believe that God instilled in each of His creatures the natural law that guides us along with the Ten Commandments and His Church with its sacraments. In addition we have the gift of a conscience (and prayer) that we either use or abuse by the way we choose to form it. And this is what sets us apart from the animals, and the only thing that keeps us from acting like them.
April 5th, 2007 at 5:46 am
Interesting!
Rather than say we’re hard-wired to believe, why not ask if we were created with an ability to speak with the Creator? Perhaps that is one of those lingering aspects of Human biology that we don’t understand? It may be that that area of the brain which reacts to both prayer and meditation is designed precisely to enable people to convers with, or speak with, GOD.
Over the millennia, as we have moved farther away from the spiritual, we may have lost the knowledge of the ease with which HE wanted us to live with HIM. Makes sense to me!
Now, if they can just figure out precisely what the appendix is for …
April 5th, 2007 at 6:08 am
Good article…
I do not doubt the need to seek the maker of all things!
The heavens and the earth declare His glory.
JR
April 5th, 2007 at 9:12 am
Great post here, Angel!
I’ve heard this “hard-wired to believe in God” theory before. If it is true then there are many people running around who have short-circuited!
Since God does exist, I suppose we are created to believe in Him. Why would God create people to not believe in Him? I agree with Benning that we were created to be able to know our creator and that many have lost that ability. Shame.
April 5th, 2007 at 9:25 am
Thanks alls for the added insights and inspirations!
April 5th, 2007 at 10:06 am
Ditto
April 5th, 2007 at 11:59 am
I never doubted the propositiion that there is a higher being. But I have questioned the opinion of others on various topics related to religion.
April 5th, 2007 at 1:51 pm
“….these brain scans may provide proof that our brains are built to believe in God.”
Is this why secularists are so unhappy? Hmm…
April 10th, 2007 at 2:26 am
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