============================================ John W. Kulig Professor of Psychology Plymouth State College Plymouth NH 03264 ============================================
"Nothing will benefit human health and increase chances for survival of life on Earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet" - Albert Einstein > -----Original Message----- > From: Jim Guinee [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Monday, December 13, 2004 10:45 AM > To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences > Subject: Re: Psychology & Religion [Was: Famous Atheist...] <snip> > > Happy post-finals to all (how's that for ecumenical?), > Jim Guinee > Or should we say happy "shortest day of year", followed by "happy vernal equinox" (the anchors for major religious events, it seems). I know this topic is as taboo as money and sex, but, I am looking forward to a "religion as behavior" discussion one of these days. From the standpoint of "how much coverage should this topic get" I think there is a happy middle ground between detailed theological discussions that very few can follow, and the "No, No, can't talk about this!" reaction. And that's unfortunate. Just a quick glance at any newspaper shows religious practice to be a basic, common, perhaps universal facet of human behavior. It's right up there with warfare (another easily overlooked basic behavior). Perhaps I'm "out to lunch" on this, but I have always been impressed with the human habit of rationalizing behaviors after they occur (as in reducing cognitive dissonance). Religious _behavior_ appears to be a multi-determined behavior rooted in family, ethnicity, geography, and many other events, and I am surprised it's not covered much in the literature (seems to be changing). But it seems unlikely religious behavior springs directly from a priori intellectual process, and those that have determined their religious behavior this way (this Flew person) are the exceptions, not the rule. But being scientists we pride our intellectual analyzes as precursors to behavioral choice. Given the internal struggles within Christianity and Muslim, I think this topic, properly focused, is very important. I may return to it after the ... holidays: as Jon Stewart recently described it, either the time to celebrate the birth of the savior, or, the lamps not going out. Have a good one! --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
