IN MY EMAIL THIS MORNING:
From: "Robert Nordlander" <nord@famvid.com>
Subject: WHY BUSH THANKS GOD FOR BLESSING AMERICA
Date: Fri, 13 Feb 2004 02:42:48 -0600
------------------------------------------
WHY BUSH THANKS GOD FOR BLESSING AMERICA
The following opinion editorial is based on my theory of the evolution of
morality in The Science of Good and Evil. To order or read more go to
www.skeptic.com
Los Angeles Times Opinion Editorial, Thursday, Feb. 5, 2004, p. B15
COMMENTARY
The Divinity of Politics
Throughout history, leaders have claimed a supernatural link.
By Michael Shermer
George W. Bush says he prays before making his most important decisions. He
sprinkles his speeches with religious references and often thanks God for
blessing our country. Perhaps, then, this is a good time to reflect on what
science tells us about why political leaders throughout history have linked
themselves to the divine. It has to do with the evolution of morality.
For the first 90,000 years of our existence as a species, humans lived in
small bands of tens to hundreds of individuals. In the last 10,000 years,
these bands evolved into tribes of thousands; tribes developed into
chiefdoms of tens of thousands; chiefdoms coalesced into states of hundreds
of thousands; and states conjoined into empires of millions. How and why
did this happen?
By 10,000 years ago, our species had spread to nearly every region of the
globe and people everywhere lived where they could hunt and gather. This
system tended to contain populations, but agriculture allowed them to
explode. With those increased populations came new social technologies for
governance and conflict resolution: politics and religion.
The moral emotions--guilt, pride, shame, altruism--evolved genetically in
those tiny bands of 100 to 200 people as a form of social control and group
cohesion. One means of accomplishing this was through reciprocal altruism--
"I'll scratch your back if you'll scratch mine."
But as Lincoln noted, men are not angels. People defect from informal
agreements and social contracts. In the long run, reciprocal altruism works
only when you know who will cooperate and who will defect. This information
is gathered in various ways, including through stories about other
people--more commonly known as gossip.
Most gossip is about relatives, close friends, those in our immediate
sphere of influence and members of the community or society who have high
social status. It is here we find our favorite subjects of gossip: sex,
generosity, cheating, aggression, social status and standings, births and
deaths, political and religious commitments, and the various nuances of
human relations, particularly friendships and alliances. Gossip is the
stuff of which not only soap operas, but also grand operas are made.
When bands and tribes gave way to chiefdoms and states, religion developed
as a principal social institution to accentuate amity and attenuate enmity.
It did so by encouraging altruism and selflessness, discouraging excessive
greed and selfishness and revealing the level of commitment to the group
through social events and religious rituals. If I see you every week
participating in our religion's activities and following the prescribed
rituals, that indicates you can be trusted.
As organizations with codified moral rules and the power to enforce the
rules and punish their transgressors, religion and government responded to
a need. Church and state have always been tightly interlocked. The "divine
right of kings" was not the invention of European monarchs. Every chiefdom
and state society known to archaeologists justified political power through
divine sanction, in which the chief, pharaoh, king, queen, monarch,
emperor, sovereign, prime minister or president claimed a relationship to
God or the gods, who allegedly anointed him or her to act on behalf of the
divinity. Bush is part of a long tradition.
Consider the biblical command to "Love thy neighbor." In the Paleolithic
social environment in which our moral sentiments evolved, one's neighbors
were family, extended family and community members who were well known to
all. To help others was to help oneself. In chiefdoms, states and empires,
the decree meant only one's immediate in-group. Other groups were not
included. This explain the seemingly paradoxical nature of Old Testament
morality, where on one page high moral principles of peace, justice and
respect for people and property are promulgated, and on the next page
raping, killing and pillaging people who are not one's "neighbors" are
endorsed. Deuteronomy 5:17 admonishes, "Thou shalt not kill," yet in
Deuteronomy 20:10-18, the Israelites are commanded to lay siege to an enemy
city, steal the cattle, enslave those men who surrender and kill those who
do not.
The cultural expression of this in-group morality is not restricted to any
one religion, nation, or people. It is a universal human trait common
throughout history, from the earliest bands and tribes to modern nations
and empires. The long-term solution is to view all people as members of our
in-group: the species Homo sapiens. We have a long way to go to get there.
Reform begins with recognition of the cause, which science gives us.
Resolution comes through social action, which democracy gives us. We can
change. As Katharine Hepburn explained to Humphrey Bogart in the 1951 film
"The African Queen": "Nature, Mr. Alnutt, is what we were put in this world
to rise above."
Michael Shermer, publisher of Skeptic magazine, is a columnist for
Scientific American and the author of the just-released book, "The Science
of Good and Evil" (Henry Holt/Times Books).
.
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| User: "ZenIsWhen" |
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| Title: Re: BUSH AND GOD |
13 Feb 2004 09:06:42 AM |
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<buckeye-ELO@nospam.net> wrote in message
news:7tbp20htfcl8bt1ktkflgqcp0qprk0df2i@4ax.com...
IN MY EMAIL THIS MORNING:
From: "Robert Nordlander" <nord@famvid.com>
Subject: WHY BUSH THANKS GOD FOR BLESSING AMERICA
Date: Fri, 13 Feb 2004 02:42:48 -0600
------------------------------------------
WHY BUSH THANKS GOD FOR BLESSING AMERICA
The following opinion editorial is based on my theory of the evolution of
morality in The Science of Good and Evil. To order or read more go to
www.skeptic.com
Los Angeles Times Opinion Editorial, Thursday, Feb. 5, 2004, p. B15
COMMENTARY
The Divinity of Politics
Throughout history, leaders have claimed a supernatural link.
By Michael Shermer
George W. Bush says he prays before making his most important decisions.
He
sprinkles his speeches with religious references and often thanks God for
blessing our country. Perhaps, then, this is a good time to reflect on
what
science tells us about why political leaders throughout history have
linked
themselves to the divine. It has to do with the evolution of morality.
What science tells us about political leaders who have linked themselves to
the divine is that we should NEVER trust such fanatics!
.
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| User: "Carol Lee Smith" |
|
| Title: Re: BUSH AND GOD |
13 Feb 2004 11:15:11 AM |
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On Fri, 13 Feb 2004 wrote:
From: "Robert Nordlander" <nord@famvid.com>
Subject: WHY BUSH THANKS GOD FOR BLESSING AMERICA
Date: Fri, 13 Feb 2004 02:42:48 -0600
------------------------------------------
WHY BUSH THANKS GOD FOR BLESSING AMERICA
The following opinion editorial is based on my theory of the evolution of
morality in The Science of Good and Evil. To order or read more go to
www.skeptic.com
Los Angeles Times Opinion Editorial, Thursday, Feb. 5, 2004, p. B15
COMMENTARY
The Divinity of Politics
Throughout history, leaders have claimed a supernatural link.
By Michael Shermer
Michael Shermer will be the guest on Ben Merens' public radio show today,
Friday the 13th, at 3PM CST.
You can hear the program on the internet--live or in the archives
afterward. http://www.wpr.org/merens/
WHAD 90.7 FM
3:00 PM CST
Ben Merens - 02/13K
After three, Ben Merens and his guest talk about "the science of good and
evil....why people cheat, gossip, care, share, and follow the golden
rule".Guest: Michael Shermer, author of "The Science of Good and Evil: Why
People Cheat, Gossip, Care, Share, and Follow the Golden Rule" published
by Times Books. He is the founding publisher of Skeptic magazine and
Director of the Skeptics Society. www.skeptic.com
.
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| User: "Roger" |
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| Title: Re: BUSH AND GOD |
13 Feb 2004 07:29:04 AM |
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Shermer's a genius.
<buckeye-ELO@nospam.net> wrote in message
news:7tbp20htfcl8bt1ktkflgqcp0qprk0df2i@4ax.com...
IN MY EMAIL THIS MORNING:
From: "Robert Nordlander" <nord@famvid.com>
Subject: WHY BUSH THANKS GOD FOR BLESSING AMERICA
Date: Fri, 13 Feb 2004 02:42:48 -0600
------------------------------------------
WHY BUSH THANKS GOD FOR BLESSING AMERICA
The following opinion editorial is based on my theory of the evolution of
morality in The Science of Good and Evil. To order or read more go to
www.skeptic.com
Los Angeles Times Opinion Editorial, Thursday, Feb. 5, 2004, p. B15
COMMENTARY
The Divinity of Politics
Throughout history, leaders have claimed a supernatural link.
By Michael Shermer
George W. Bush says he prays before making his most important decisions.
He
sprinkles his speeches with religious references and often thanks God for
blessing our country. Perhaps, then, this is a good time to reflect on
what
science tells us about why political leaders throughout history have
linked
themselves to the divine. It has to do with the evolution of morality.
For the first 90,000 years of our existence as a species, humans lived in
small bands of tens to hundreds of individuals. In the last 10,000 years,
these bands evolved into tribes of thousands; tribes developed into
chiefdoms of tens of thousands; chiefdoms coalesced into states of
hundreds
of thousands; and states conjoined into empires of millions. How and why
did this happen?
By 10,000 years ago, our species had spread to nearly every region of the
globe and people everywhere lived where they could hunt and gather. This
system tended to contain populations, but agriculture allowed them to
explode. With those increased populations came new social technologies for
governance and conflict resolution: politics and religion.
The moral emotions--guilt, pride, shame, altruism--evolved genetically in
those tiny bands of 100 to 200 people as a form of social control and
group
cohesion. One means of accomplishing this was through reciprocal
altruism--
"I'll scratch your back if you'll scratch mine."
But as Lincoln noted, men are not angels. People defect from informal
agreements and social contracts. In the long run, reciprocal altruism
works
only when you know who will cooperate and who will defect. This
information
is gathered in various ways, including through stories about other
people--more commonly known as gossip.
Most gossip is about relatives, close friends, those in our immediate
sphere of influence and members of the community or society who have high
social status. It is here we find our favorite subjects of gossip: sex,
generosity, cheating, aggression, social status and standings, births and
deaths, political and religious commitments, and the various nuances of
human relations, particularly friendships and alliances. Gossip is the
stuff of which not only soap operas, but also grand operas are made.
When bands and tribes gave way to chiefdoms and states, religion developed
as a principal social institution to accentuate amity and attenuate
enmity.
It did so by encouraging altruism and selflessness, discouraging excessive
greed and selfishness and revealing the level of commitment to the group
through social events and religious rituals. If I see you every week
participating in our religion's activities and following the prescribed
rituals, that indicates you can be trusted.
As organizations with codified moral rules and the power to enforce the
rules and punish their transgressors, religion and government responded to
a need. Church and state have always been tightly interlocked. The "divine
right of kings" was not the invention of European monarchs. Every chiefdom
and state society known to archaeologists justified political power
through
divine sanction, in which the chief, pharaoh, king, queen, monarch,
emperor, sovereign, prime minister or president claimed a relationship to
God or the gods, who allegedly anointed him or her to act on behalf of the
divinity. Bush is part of a long tradition.
Consider the biblical command to "Love thy neighbor." In the Paleolithic
social environment in which our moral sentiments evolved, one's neighbors
were family, extended family and community members who were well known to
all. To help others was to help oneself. In chiefdoms, states and empires,
the decree meant only one's immediate in-group. Other groups were not
included. This explain the seemingly paradoxical nature of Old Testament
morality, where on one page high moral principles of peace, justice and
respect for people and property are promulgated, and on the next page
raping, killing and pillaging people who are not one's "neighbors" are
endorsed. Deuteronomy 5:17 admonishes, "Thou shalt not kill," yet in
Deuteronomy 20:10-18, the Israelites are commanded to lay siege to an
enemy
city, steal the cattle, enslave those men who surrender and kill those who
do not.
The cultural expression of this in-group morality is not restricted to any
one religion, nation, or people. It is a universal human trait common
throughout history, from the earliest bands and tribes to modern nations
and empires. The long-term solution is to view all people as members of
our
in-group: the species Homo sapiens. We have a long way to go to get there.
Reform begins with recognition of the cause, which science gives us.
Resolution comes through social action, which democracy gives us. We can
change. As Katharine Hepburn explained to Humphrey Bogart in the 1951 film
"The African Queen": "Nature, Mr. Alnutt, is what we were put in this
world
to rise above."
Michael Shermer, publisher of Skeptic magazine, is a columnist for
Scientific American and the author of the just-released book, "The Science
of Good and Evil" (Henry Holt/Times Books).
.
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