Everything we do, and every feeling we have, is controlled by the brain. The function of the brain is determined by genes and environment. The genes determine the brain chemicals and the brain structures. This is why some people tend to be evil, others good; some angry, some calm. The environment influences how the genes work. This is why two people who might be identical in their brain chemicals and structures may behave very differently: a man with a tendency to do evil things may have learned, from his family and experiences, and as reinforced by society, to just say no to his evil tendencies. If you want more detail, there are plenty of books you can read (for example, Evil Genes: Why Rome Fell, Hitler Rose, Enron Failed, and My Sister Stole My Mother’s Boyfriend, by my fellow Prometheus Books author Barbara Oakley). You can read about this in my evolution blog also.
The conclusion for this blog about religion is that what we think, feel, and do is determined by the brain, not by spirits or Spirit. This does not excuse bad behavior, of course. Part of our environment is, after all, our own habits of behavior and thought. Our brain cells are always losing old connections and growing new ones; you can train your brain to be different. Some people have brains so evil that they cannot do this, but most of us can be better if we try.
Fundamentalist churches want you to think that the Holy Spirit makes people good; the corollary is that people without the Holy Spirit are bad. This is not true. It is a reinforcement of group identity, and many religious leaders use it as a way of gaining power and opportunities for evolutionary fitness. It is these very leaders who are often evil and then tell their followers to ignore evidence of their evil. That is, the Holy Spirit does not make all Christian leaders (or followers) good. I nkow fundamentalists who have brains that bring them to the borderline of violence—but they do not see this as a problem; instead, they see it as the zeal burning in their heart because of the Holy Spirit.
Even worse is the corollary. Fundamentalist groupthink causes its members to ignore the evidence of goodness in people outside of their group: people in other protestant churches, in other branches of Christianity, in other religions, of no organized religion. Some of these fundamentalists actually think that the rest of us are just pretending to be good in order to hide our black hearts. But the evidence is very clear. You don’t have to study genes, neurotransmitters, and brain anatomy very long before you see that the brain is in control of an individual. A simple mutation cannot make a person evil, but can create such a strong tendency to evil that it is nearly impossible to resist becoming evil. A simple mutation can also make a person pathologically good (Williams syndrome, from a mutation on chromosome 7).
So, Bible thumpers, do not send your kids to college. Why? You might think it is because they will end up in a natural science class taught by an evolutionist, like me. But that is not your main worry. What you really want to stay out of is those psychology classes. The more you learn about your brain, the more you see that your spirit, if any, is a perfect shadow of the brain, so much so that discarding the soul hypothesis makes no difference whatever in understanding your thoughts, feelings, and behavior.
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