[Mb-civic] OP-ED COLUMNIST God and Evolution By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF

[Michael Butler]

 The New York Times
February 12, 2005
OP-ED COLUMNIST
God and Evolution
By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF

An "analysis" of Democrats and Republicans from the Ladies' Home Journal in
1962 concluded: "Republicans sleep in twin beds - some even in separate
rooms. That is why there are more Democrats."

That biological analysis turns out - surprise! - to have been superficial.
Instead, modern science is turning up a possible reason why the religious
right is flourishing and secular liberals aren't: instinct. It turns out
that our DNA may predispose humans toward religious faith.

Granted, that's not very encouraging news for the secular left. Imagine if
many of us are hard-wired to be religious. Imagine if, as a cosmic joke,
humans have gradually evolved to leave many of us doubting evolution.

The notion of a genetic inclination toward religion is not new. Edward
Wilson, the founder of the field of sociobiology, argued in the 1970's that
a predisposition to religion may have had evolutionary advantages.

In recent years evidence has mounted that there may be something to this,
and the evidence is explored in "The God Gene," a fascinating book published
recently by Dean Hamer, a prominent American geneticist. Dr. Hamer even
identifies a particular gene, VMAT2, that he says may be involved. People
with one variant of that gene tend to be more spiritual, he found, and those
with another variant to be less so.

There's still plenty of reason to be skeptical because Dr. Hamer's work
hasn't been replicated, and much of his analysis is speculative. Moreover,
any genetic predisposition isn't for becoming an evangelical, but for an
openness to spirituality at a much broader level. In Alabama, it may express
itself in Pentecostalism; in California, in astrology or pyramids.

Still, it's striking how faith is almost irrepressible. While I was living
in China in the early 1990's, after religion had been suppressed for
decades, drivers suddenly began dangling pictures of Chairman Mao from their
rear-view mirrors. The word had spread that Mao's spirit could protect them
from car crashes or even bring them sons and wealth. It was a miracle:
ordinary Chinese had transformed the great atheist into a god.

One bit of evidence supporting a genetic basis for spirituality is that
twins separated at birth tend to have similar levels of spirituality,
despite their different upbringings. And identical twins, who have the same
DNA, are about twice as likely to share similar levels of spirituality as
fraternal twins.

It's not surprising that nature would favor genes that promote an
inclination to faith. Many recent studies suggest that religious people may
live longer than the less religious. A study of nearly 4,000 people in North
Carolina, for example, found that frequent churchgoers had a 46 percent
lower risk of dying in a six-year period than those who attended less often.
Another study involving nearly 126,000 participants suggested that a
20-year-old churchgoer might live seven years longer than a similar person
who does not attend religious services.

Partly that's because the religious seem to adopt healthier lifestyles -
they are less likely to smoke, for example. And faith may give people
strength to overcome illness - after all, if faith in placebo sugar pills
works, why not faith in God?

Another possibility involves brain chemistry. Genes that promote
spirituality may do so in part by stimulating chemical messengers in the
brain like dopamine, which can make people optimistic and sociable - and
perhaps more likely to have children. (Dopamine is very complex, but it
appears linked to both spirituality and promiscuity, possibly explaining
some church scandals.)

Evolutionary biologists have also suggested that an inclination to
spirituality may have made ancient humans more willing to follow witch
doctors or other leaders who claimed divine support. The result would have
been more cohesive bands of cave men, better able to survive - and to kill
off rival cave men.

Of course, none of that answers the question of whether God exists. The
faithful can believe that God wired us to appreciate divinity. And atheists
can argue that God may simply be a figment of our VMAT2 gene.

But what the research does suggest is that postindustrial society will not
easily leave religion behind. Faith may be quiescent in many circles these
days, or directed toward meditation or yoga, but it is not something that
humans can easily cast off.

A propensity to faith in some form appears to be embedded within us as a
profound part of human existence, as inextricable and perhaps inexplicable
as the way we love and laugh.

E-mail: nicholas at nytimes.com

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