It's All In Your Head
 Alex

Biblical Myths or Scientific Methodology?

When I was a kid in the 4th grade, one of the classes I attended was taught by a scholarly teacher who wore horn rimmed glasses and a bun on the top of her head. Most of us hated going into her room because she always made us study too hard. She would give us particularly tough assignments that required us to do extra homework to prepare us for her inquisition the next day. She warned us to be ready when called upon.

So the next day when we entered her room and were all seated, we braced ourselves for what was coming. She would stand at her desk, look over the room, smile, and say, "Good morning, children!" We would fidget in our seats, roll our eyes upward and answer in unison, "Good morning, Miss Baxter!" Then the session began. She would choose one of the subjects we were to study, make a brief statement, then ask a question. Looking us over again, she remarked, "Now, before I call upon one of you for the answer, I want you all to put on your thinking caps."

That is what I did after reading the article below on the forum page of the Columbus Dispatch, June 21, 2001:

 Science finds religion in brain studies

 by

 Roland Nethaway

A new field of science has uncovered evidence that God is in your head.

According to a June 17 article in The Washington Post, scientific research has shown how religious experiences can be produced through the use of hallucinogenic drugs, epilepsy, meditation and other avenues.

Neuroscientists in universities on both coasts and in Canada are discovering that they can reproduce and measure spiritual feelings, by inducing certain stimuli to the brain.

These scientists, according to the article by Post writer Shankar Vedantam, believe that certain electrical-chemical actions produce religious epiphanies, a state of grace, nirvana and other religious experiences.

For some of these scientists, these studies give a plausible explanation to the spiritual experiences of Jesus, Moses, Muhammad and Buddha.

Apparently, according to the Post article, the brain can be stimulated to decrease activity in the parietal lobe that helps regulate a person's sense of self and physical orientation. Changes to the frontal lobe can be caused by concentration as during meditation.

Also, these scientists believe spiritual practices could activate the temporal lobe and assigns significance to personal experiences, which may give many people a deep sense that religion has changed their lives, according to this article.

A professor of neuroscience in an Ontario university, Michael Persinger, uses weak electromagnetic signals to induce deep religious and mystical experiences in four of five volunteers. Some weep and feel they have been touched by God. Others become frightened of demons and evil spirits.

"They know that they are in the laboratory," Persinger told the Post. "Can you imagine what would happen if that happened late at night in a pew or a mosque or synagogue?"

A scientist who took brain scans of Tibetan Buddhists as they meditated found that the concentration altered areas of the brain, including the part that helps orient a person in three-dimensional space, which is typical of spiritual experiences when people feel at one with the universe.

Epileptic seizures in some patients are accompanied by religious experiences, according to the article. The same is true following the ingestion of certain hallucinogenic drugs, which are historically a part of certain religious practices.

Religion, according to Persinger, "is a property of the brain, only the brain, and has little to do with what's out there."

This research does not sit well with some people. Nancy Murphy, a professor of Christian philosophy at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, Calif., told the Post: "It reinforces atheistic assumptions and makes religion appear useless. If you can explain religious experiences purely as a brain phenomenon, you don't need the assumption of the existence of God."

Indeed, this research offends some religious people because of the premise that God was created by the human brain, rather than vice versa.

Some of the scientists doing this research are religious and say that though religion may be a part of brain chemistry, that does not mean that God did not put it there. Other scientists believe the research shows that a common brain chemistry can lead to feelings of religious uniqueness that promotes fanaticism, intolerance, wars and dogmatic beliefs.

At the very least, this field of research indicates why so many people believe in God, according to Andrew Newberg, the scientist who wrote the book, Why God Won't Go Away.

"Unless there is a fundamental change in the brain, religion and spirituality will be here for a very long time," he was quoted by the Post. Unquote. (Place that in "Cancer" file).

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This article is an example as to how much science has improved. To the point of offering convincing evidence as to why there may be no God. It explains the major role your mind has in the matter of religion. Most people don't realize the enormous potential of their brains. Those who put it to further use can do more good or more evil. Those who do more good are a boon to society. Help the economy by becoming business tycoons that hire people, thereby helping solve the unemployment problem. Many of the wealthy make donations, or will their riches to a worthy cause.

Those who do evil using their brain, are a scourge on humanity. In this category, are those who use religion to amass riches at the expense of the less fortunate and more trusting among us. The most powerful tool they rely on is the bible. Who dares argue with "The Word of God?" So, when you are given specific rules on how to conduct your lives, your thoughts, your mind, attitude and your very soul, you are forced to meekly, obey, pray and pay. You are cruelly exploited.

Consequently, those caught in this trap are strictly limited in the potentiality of their brain. Some do-gooders who have broadened their potential have become scientists and researchers. In this category also are those who exercise reason and logic to the fullest extent. They demand proof and search for truth. In this category are those who have exposed the bible as a book of myths rather than a book of God. And in this category are the brilliant scientists and researchers mentioned in the article above who have, to the outrage of religion in general, provided convincing evidence that the very existence of God is in the brain. This shows how far science has progressed over time, while religion is still spinning its wheels back to the dark ages. So, considering the poor statistics of one and the amazing stats of the other, I would confidently answer Miss Baxter if she could question me today:

 "All right, Alexander, what do you believe?"

 "Miss Baxter, I believe God is in our heads."

 

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