Is there a Genetic Link to Religion?

Published March 31, 2007 - Glendale News Press - Los Angeles Time IN THEORY Is there a Genetic Link to Religion? Q: In a recent debate, Daniel Dennett, a Tufts University professor, argued that religions are like genes, the most successful ones survive not necessarily because their ideas are true, but because they have succeeded as the "fittest" religious arguments through the years, Since not all religions can be true, he suggested that other reasons must be at play in perpetuating them -- such as the idea that mankind may be genetically predisposed to being religious. What do you think of this notion? Could there be a genetic link to religion? A: Religion is our way of explaining the human condition and the mysteries of life. Since the beginning of time humankind has struggled with the big questions: Who are we? Where did we come from? Where are we going? Religion has given answers to these questions and to much more. Certainly, along the way, as knowledge and thought have evolved, the parameters in which religion is expressed have changed. Religious systems do not exist in vacuums, and so they evolve. For instance, a primitive man looking out at a field, sees lightning coming down and striking the earth. His only understanding of the storm is in the confines of his own knowledge base. He may assume that someone or something is trying to hurt him; in the same way that he kills an animal to eat or to make clothing. Later in history, as societies developed and justice systems became necessary, moral tags may have been placed on the same storm. Man saw the lightning as a punishment upon him and his possessions by some supernatural being. Today, knowledge takes away the wonder, and we accept the reality of weather systems that charge the air with negative and positive forces. Yes, we are predisposed to religion. We do look for wonder and try to bring order out of chaos. In my own tradition, our history is filled with chaos, with barbarians that stormed through Armenia, raping, pillaging and seeking genocide. The notion of a suffering God, who is betrayed, tortured and crucified, parallels our existence. We find hope, and therefore the will to survive, in the resurrection of our Lord Jesus. To us, this was God intervening in our own history. It is the reason for us to believe in brighter tomorrows. FATHER VAZKEN MOVSESIAN Armenian Church Youth Ministries In His Shoes Mission

First Freedom Project

Published March 3, 2007

IN THEORY

First Freedom Project

Q:

The Department of Justice has reportedly started a "First Freedom Project," to focus on protecting religious freedoms. The effort includes a website, a public education program and task force that will review policies on religious freedom and cases involving religious freedoms. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales says the program seeks to deal with issues such as contradictions in the workplace, where a person may get away with saying something like a famous athlete is a God, but could be fired for saying "Jesus is Lord." What do you think?

A:

Religious freedom is fundamental to the functioning of any society which encourages human expression. For me, a discussion of religious freedom cannot be made apart from a discussion of freedom of expression. Religion is merely an art form that explains what is unknown. Religion should be the "dot-connector," creating a system of understanding for the mystery that takes our breath away. Those expressions come in many forms, sometimes overtly invoking the name of a deity while at other times hiding under the guise of visual or audible art. Nonetheless, each needs to seek its purpose of giving definition to the collective experience of life.

I'm moved that Attorney General Gonzales has brought religious freedom to forum through this project because just this month the Armenian Church commemorated the life and work of General Vartan Mamigonian, an early defender of this sacred freedom. Quite unique for the times, in 451 A.D., Mamigonian was the first defender of the freedom of conscience in the Christian world. His story has stirred interest with scholars and historians in their study of Western civilization. Mamigonian stood against a flow of political, economic and military power in defense of his (and his people's) right to practice the Christian faith.

Today, fortunately, we are guaranteed these freedoms as basic rights. Because we don’t have to fight for them, we run the risk of taking them for granted. Therefore, I hope the First Freedom Project becomes an opportunity to engage in dialog about a freedom so essential for our survival as individuals and as a society.

FATHER VAZKEN MOVSESIAN
Armenian Church Youth Ministries
In His Shoes Mission