Religion? Like, oh, wow!

In today’s Times, David Brooks raises the topic of how neuroscience is affecting the debate between science and religion and sees changes in store for both. In sum, he says:

We’re in the middle of a scientific revolution and it’s going to have big cultural effects. In unexpected ways, science and mysticism are joining hands and reinforcing each other. That’s bound to lead to new movements that emphasize self-transcendence but put little stock in divine law or revelation. Orthodox believers are going to have to defend particular doctrines and particular biblical teachings. They’re going to have to defend the idea of a personal God, and explain why specific theologies are true guides for behavior day to day.

Here’s the link to his column: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/13/opinion/13brooks.html

Brooks recommends reading Andrew Newberg, Daniel J. Siegel, Michael S. Gazzaniga, Jonathan Haidt, Antonio Damasio and Marc D. Hauser.

I don’t know Newberg’s latest book, Why We Believe What We Believe: Uncovering Our Biological Need for Meaning, Spirituality, and Truth, but I read his earlier work, Why God Won’t Go Away, and found it interesting in a technical sort of way. It explores the brain states that exist during religious ecstasy and meditation and concludes that these states are the result of turning off the parts of the brain that orient us in space, thus giving us the “spacey” feeling of being everywhere and nowhere that we recognize so well from being stoned. Religion? Oh, wow!