Is religion all in the genes?

The incredible confusion of terminology in the 'God gene' nonsense is fully in evidence in Kristof's Op Ed piece:

Nicholas D. Kristof:
Is religion all in the genes?by Nicholas D. Kristof The New York TimesTuesday, February 15, 2005

NEW YORK An "analysis" of Democrats and Republicans
from the Ladies' Home Journal in 1962 concluded:
"Republicans sleep in twin beds - some even in
separate rooms. That is why there are more Democrats."

That biological analysis turns out - surprise! - to
have been superficial. Instead, modern science is
turning up a possible reason why the religious right
is flourishing and secular liberals aren't: instinct.
It turns out that our DNA may predispose humans toward
religious faith.

Granted, that's not very encouraging news for the
secular left. Imagine if many of us are hard-wired to
be religious. Imagine if, as a cosmic joke, humans
have gradually evolved to leave many of us doubting
evolution.

The notion of a genetic inclination toward religion is
not new. Edward Wilson, the founder of the field of
sociobiology, argued in the 1970s that a
predisposition to religion may have had evolutionary
advantages.

In recent years evidence has mounted that there may be
something to this, and the evidence is explored in
"The God Gene," a fascinating book published recently
by Dean Hamer, a prominent American geneticist. Hamer
even identifies a particular gene, VMAT2, that he says
may be involved. People with one variant of that gene
tend to be more spiritual, he found, and those with
another variant to be less so.

There's still plenty of reason to be skeptical because
Hamer's work hasn't been replicated, and much of his
analysis is speculative. Moreover, any genetic
predisposition isn't for becoming an evangelical, but
for an openness to spirituality at a much broader
level. In Alabama, it may express itself in
Pentecostalism; in California, in astrology or
pyramids.

Still, it's striking how faith is almost
irrepressible. While I was living in China in the
early 1990s, after religion had been suppressed for
decades, drivers suddenly began dangling pictures of
Mao from their rear-view mirrors. The word had spread
that Mao's spirit could protect them from car crashes
or even bring them sons and wealth. It was a miracle:
Ordinary Chinese had transformed the great atheist
into a god.

One bit of evidence supporting a genetic basis for
spirituality is that twins separated at birth tend to
have similar levels of spirituality, despite their
different upbringings. And identical twins, who have
the same DNA, are about twice as likely to share
similar levels of spirituality as fraternal twins.

It's not surprising that nature would favor genes that
promote an inclination to faith. Many recent studies
suggest that religious people may live longer than the
less religious. A study of nearly 4,000 people in
North Carolina, for example, found that frequent
churchgoers had a 46 percent lower risk of dying in a
six-year period than those who attended less often.
Another study involving nearly 126,000 participants
suggested that a 20-year-old churchgoer might live
seven years longer than a similar person who does not
attend religious services.

Partly that's because the religious seem to adopt
healthier lifestyles - they are less likely to smoke,
for example. And faith may give people strength to
overcome illness - after all, if faith in placebo
sugar pills works, why not faith in God?

Another possibility involves brain chemistry. Genes
that promote spirituality may do so in part by
stimulating chemical messengers in the brain like
dopamine, which can make people optimistic and
sociable - and perhaps more likely to have children.
(Dopamine is very complex, but it appears linked to
both spirituality and promiscuity, possibly explaining
some church scandals.)

Evolutionary biologists have also suggested that an
inclination to spirituality may have made ancient
humans more willing to follow witch doctors or other
leaders who claimed divine support. The result would
have been more cohesive bands of cave men, better able
to survive - and to kill off rival cave men.

Of course, none of that answers the question whether
God exists. The faithful can believe that God wired us
to appreciate divinity. And atheists can argue that
God may simply be a figment of our VMAT2 gene.

But what the research does suggest is that
postindustrial society will not easily leave religion
behind. Faith may be quiescent in many circles these
days, or directed toward meditation or yoga, but it is
not something that humans can easily cast off.

A propensity to faith in some form appears to be
embedded within us as a profound part of human
existence, as inextricable and perhaps inexplicable as
the way we love and laugh.

http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/02/14/opinion/edkristof.html