Introducing The God Gene

Since I'm no scientist, I can't say yea or nay to the story above. I have noted all my life, however, that some will believe no matter what happens and others will never be able to accept any form of a god. I call it predisposition, but the underlying cause is not for me to determine.

wow , what's next ? since we live in a city with a number of penetentiaries in the area (five federal penetentiaries plus a provincial jail), we get a lot of courtcases here. the accused don't blame their genes very often, but many a times they'll state before the presiding judge : "we was framed. your honour !". perhaps they can blame their problems on their genes now, sounds much more scientific. hbg

Get ready for the discovery of the GULLIBLE GENE

It seems true - we all know people who have a spiritual side which is more intense, developed, present, and contrasting people who are down to earth and no-nonsense. I think it's astrological myself, but I'll be howled down by scientists and religious types alike.

don't we all have the "God Gene" since we are made in His image? Just a thought.

If we remove a certain gene from our DNA, a certain body function will stop to function.
So if we remove the God gene, should a faithful person stop believing in God?
And if we add the God gene, should an atheist start to believe in God?

This is a total heresy

What is his image, Kristie, I'd like to know? What sort of genes does he have? Does he have a god gene? I don't believe in heresy, only truth as we can best understand it, and a continual search for it.

Kristie ** The human for is continually growing and changing and has been for the past 3 million years. There is no final form and there cant be one. But its your belief so believe what you want.

As a reply to the god gene thing, i have serious doubts about it. Maybe a gene that makes you more of a faithful person but im pretty sure experiences drive your faith.

My statement had nothing to do with form.

Well unless gods image is an ever changing one . . . then we cant be in his image/form .

um hello....from the perspective of spirituality/religion, God doesn't have a "form". how can one who is everywhere have a form?

I was refering to the soul.

Well until humans self realized, there could be no soul nor such a concept. If our soul is in gods image, is our soul everywhere then? Please define a soul in your terms as well.

I'll buy that Edgar. Not an exact science... but a predisposition or lack thereof? Very easy to swallow. Too many of us looked for Dude, and couldn't find him… and too many find him when they're not looking.

A predisposition is more believable but a gene that dictates your belief seems to be a little absurd to me anad proof would be needed.

It wouldn't be hard to believe such a gene exists. All it would take is a load of real proof.

Well of course any load of proof would make me believe it. Proof is proof. But without any proof presented right now it shard for me to suppose it.

So far the only ones refuting it in the article at least are the ones who least wish to believe it. There were no comments pro or con from scientists.

Dean Hamer believes some of us have a variation of "VMAT2". He says it is a god gene (one of many), and if it is in a different variation it dubs you into being "spiritual" He believes "the" god gene evokes a feeling of "self-transcendence". This feeling is responsible for spirituality, yet not religion. "Our genes don't get directly involved in writing legislation (in what we believe)" said Hamer. He also says, "My findings are agonostic on the existence of God." If there's a God, there's bluntly a God. Just knowing what brain chemicals are involved in, acknowledging that, is not going to change the fact." He once believed he had found "the gay gene". This brought huge media fanfare. Once again, his work could not be replicated?-it was soon discarded.

While he was at the national cancer institute, Hamer found himself looking for the genetic responsibility for cigarette addiction. He took about 1,000 people and gave them a 140-question test. This was called the TCI, Temperament and Character Inventory. A man named Robert Cloninger identified the questions on the test, which had to do with self-transcendence. Interestingly enough, Hamer then decided to conduct a little "spirituality study on the side." Hamer studied the DNA of the subjects looking for differences between the spiritual, and the spiritually inept people. Then he soon found a variation in VMAT2. Within the variation, there were more "spiritual" subjects. (spiritual, according to the test). This is how he claims he found the god gene. VMAT2 is also responsible for cleaning out Neuro-toxins in the Brain. That is, the so-called God gene. "The presence of some chemicals in the brain that regulate mood and motor control is acceptable. But if the conclusion of Dean Hamer is based on a standardized quiz, I consider it as speculation only and not a scientific view!"

According to a review of his new book, found in the scientific American magazine. This article is entitled Faith Boosting Genes. In it we have no evidence supporting the god gene "findings" other than what he has presented in his book! His book has not been submitted to any scientific journal and has not gone through the riggers of peer-review. Many scientists have claimed that they found genes responsible for certain personality traits in the past "But as researches tried to replicate them, they added away in statistical noise". It happened to be Hamer in 1993 when he found the gay gene that faded away in statistical noise. Which it probably will happen to him again if he dares to submit his new findings to a scientific journalist.

If you look at Dean Hamer's findings from an evolutionist's point of view, it makes sense from the standpoint of "The Survival of the Fittest!" an article by Times Magazine. Is God In Our Genes, by Jeffrey Kluger says, "if we sometimes misuse the ideas of our Gods-and millenniums of holy wars prove that we do-the benefits of being a spiritual species will surly outweigh the bloodshed," what he is saying is that society will fall into utter chaos without religion. In other words having a religion provides us with morals. One example of this is found inside Canada's eastern arctic. In the isolated 500-person town of Pont Inlet every month there was at least one suicide. According to one man, almost every child was abused sexually and wife beatings were reported exceptionally often. Drugs were everywhere; it was so bad that a CNN reporter reported that the rate of suicides was 20 times the normal Canadian suicide rate. The land was barren because of the harsh weather was getting even more barren still! "It was like we were under a curse," a local leader reported. Then in 1996 many intercessors began to pray for revival. Somehow people were getting drawn to God and the mud paths to the local church were filled with people hungry for him. The community had a huge bonfire and according to the police with at least $80,000 dollars worth of illicit material was burned. Ever since there hasn't been one suicide! The barren land isn't so barren anymore just because of religion. (Story from Transformations 2, 1st story) Yes, without religion there is no "moral cop, " but why were the people not religious before this revival? I believe that it is because spirituality is from nurture, not nature as I think it isn't just inherited from one generation to the other, instead passed on through the word of mouth and in writings.

I think that Dean Hammer is a gay loving God hater. All of his work seems to be trying to promote evolution and provide justification for sin. "In support, Hamer offers up bits and pieces of research done by other scientists, along with sketches of spiritual people who he has met." -Zimmer. Personally, I think that Dean Hamer is not reading into our genes correctly. My thoughts believe he is reading our genes like a theistic creationist would read the bible, making whatever he/she reads be whatever they would like it to mean to him or herself.