Spirituality due to brain damage?

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/02/100210124757.htm

Jess Tauber

... Hmmmm ...

If brain damage leads to religion, and drinking alcohol kills brain cells, can I find God by drinking beer?

I knew all those kegers back in high school were for some reason.

Perhaps this gives hope that eventually the brain structure responsible for sanctimony might be identified and surgically destroyed.

Sanctimony may be an important factor in the world's ills, as it is an independent personality vector which can turn any philosophy or world-view into a pestilence .

We could cure the Moral Majority along with the Evangelical Atheists. We could cure both the Right To Lifers and NARAL. Cure both the Freepers and the Daily Kos. We could cure both Keith Olbermann and Bill O'Reilly.

Another piece of evidence for purely physical existence, tossed on the growing pile.

If brain damage is the cause of spirituality, then why does virtually every civilization have religious beliefs? Is everyone except atheists/agnostics brain damaged?

There are numerous examples of great scientists who also held spiritual beliefs. Maxwell and Schrödinger both found the balance in their lives and no one can deny their discoveries changed the world for the better. So I find it odd that many scientists and "progressives" find it necessary to be openly hostile to others who dare to express spiritual beliefs. What is it they hope to achieve with this hostility?

Jess,

Thsi thread ticked me off, to put it mildly. Maybe that's what you guys wanted to do.

A quote from your article: "it is well established that all behaviors and experiences, spiritual or otherwise, must originate in the brain".

The key phrases "it is well established" and "MUST originate" are certainly debateable. I don't know if it's well established, and I don't know if beliefs MUST originate in the brain. But the whole article depends on that unsupported statement.

I gotta stay away from this "Religion" forum. Geez, there's sure a bunch of closed-minded anti-religion (admittedly, as well as pro-religion) people around. The talk about "curing" and "getting rid of" religious people, sounds like the Final Solution. Damn.

We need to have diverse opinions and mindsets, scientific and religious, and emotional, and artistic, and political, etc, etc, etc. Consider this: without disagreement, there is no progress, only stagnation.

I love Astromart and the astronomy and observing forums, but a little more of this garbage and I may go away and not come back.

Get back to astronomy. Seriously,

Rick