Sunday, September 8, 2013

Are Humans Hard Wired for God and Religion?

In a 2009 article in Fiona Macrae said,"Religion is part of human nature and our brains are hard wired to believe in God, scientists believe." Here is a link to that article:

 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1136482/Brains-hardwired-believe-God-imaginary-friends.html

So, if humans are hard wired for religion, why are we so disappointed with our religious institutions. Why don't we find there what we expect to find?

Saturday, September 7, 2013

Spirituality in a time of Religious Decline

Philip Sheldrake argues that the importance of spirituality has grown in contemporary Western culture concurrently with a decline in the importance of religion. (A Brief History of Spirituality, Blackwell 2007) Why do you think spirituality is so important when religion and church membership have declined in their importance? Obviously one can lead a devotional life apart from organized religion but the church used to be the place where one's spirit was raised up and nurtured.