"Andrew B. Chung, MD/PhD" <love10@thetruth.com> wrote in message

Living by the sword **noted**

Here's something interesting about people like Andrew.
from http://atheistempire.com/reference/brain/main.html

" A group of neuroscientists at the University of California at San Diego
has identified a region of the human brain that appears to be linked to
thoughts of spiritual matters and prayer. Their findings tentatively

that we as a species are genetically programmed to believe in God.

The researchers came upon these cerebral revelations in the course of
studying the brain patterns of certain people with epilepsy. Epileptics

suffer a particular type of seizure are often intensely religious, and are
known to report an unusual number of spiritually-oriented visions and
obsessions. Measurements of electrical activity in the brains of test
subjects indicated a specific neural center in the temporal lobe that

up at times when the subjects thought about God. This same area was also a
common focal point overloaded with electrical discharges during their
epileptic seizures.

Could this heretofore unidentified part of the brain -- nicknamed the "God
module" -- actually be some sort of physiological seat of religious

The scientists who discovered it believe it might be. They have performed

further study comparing epileptic subjects with different groups of
non-epileptics -- a random group of average people, as well as individuals
who characterized themselves as extremely religious. The electrical brain
activity of the subjects was recorded while they were shown a series of
words, and the God module zones of the epileptics and the religious group
exhibited similar responses to words involving God and faith. No word yet

whether the brains of atheists and agnostics might flatline the monitors,
but the parallel results among the strong believers are considered
impressive.

"There may be dedicated neural machinery in the temporal lobes concerned
with religion," the research team announced at a conference for the

for Neuroscience. "This may have evolved to impose order and stability on
society."

Anthropologists and Darwinian theorists have frequently speculated that
religion may have developed as a self-policing mechanism as cooperation

others became useful. With their intelligence and skills at making

there was little to stop early humans from slaughtering each other like

maniacs, until they began to fear unseen beings even bigger and badder

themselves. This sort of adaptation has always been considered a purely
psychological function, but now we have the first evidence that the
religious instinct may be physically hard-wired right into our noggins.

Which brings us to the most intriguing conundrum posed by the discovery of
the God Spot. It's a double-edged sword shoved right through the heart of
the science vs. religion debate, bearing either good news or bad news for
the faithful masses depending on how you answer the chicken-or-the-egg
question: does it mean that God created our brains, or that our brains
created God?

"These studies do not in any way negate the validity of religious

or God," the God module's discoverers took care to note, plainly
anticipating a reception of fire and brimstone from certain quarters.

merely provide an explanation in terms of brain regions that may be
involved."

No matter how inconclusive or sketchy they label their findings as being,
these scientists will inevitably be denounced as heathenistic blasphemers
doing the work of Satan. Yet at the very same time, other equally devout
worshipers will praise this discovery as a beautiful and wondrous epiphany
that spells out God's great plan.

So what'll it be? A sacred temple in the temporal lobes, or an incidental
conflagration of the synapses? The Kingdom of Heaven confined to the

of our skulls, or "I think of God, therefore He is"? Touched in the head

an angel, or brainwashed into belief by biology?

Believe what you want, but either way, I think those who draw any serious
mechanistic or teleological conclusions from this research ought to have
their heads examined, as well.



Sources: The Times (London); The Los Angeles Times

Here's something interesting about people like Andrew.
from http://atheistempire.com/reference/brain/main.html

" A group of neuroscientists at the University of California at San
Diego has identified a region of the human brain that appears to be
linked to thoughts of spiritual matters and prayer. Their findings
tentatively suggest that we as a species are genetically programmed to
believe in God.