The Biology of Religious Behavior

This title offers a fresh and detailed take on the evolution of religious behavior from a biobehavioral perspective, promoting a new understanding that may help build bridges across the religious divide. Religious conflict and divisiveness have been important themes in human history, and their effec [...]
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This title offers a fresh and detailed take on the evolution of religious behavior from a biobehavioral perspective, promoting a new understanding that may help build bridges across the religious divide. Religious conflict and divisiveness have been important themes in human history, and their effects are no less evident today. The scientific study of religion cannot by itself mend these divisions, but by enhancing our understanding of behavior, it can make an important contribution towards that end. There has been much recent interest in the study of religion from the perspective of Darwinian evolution. "The Biology of Religious Behavior: The Evolutionary Origins of Faith and Religion" offers a broad overview of the topic, written by internationally recognized experts. In addition to its primary focus on religious behavior, the book addresses other important aspects of religion, such as values, beliefs, and emotions as they affect behavior. The contributors approach the evolution of religion by examining the behavior of individuals in their everyday lives.After describing various religious behaviors, the contributors consider the behaviors with reference to their evolutionary history, development during the lifetime of the individual, proximate causes, and adaptive value. Happily, this foray into understanding religion from a biobehavioral perspective demonstrates that, at the biological and behavioral levels, what unites the different religions of the world is far greater than what divides them. This title attempts to explain the link between biology and religious behavior. It takes a multidisciplinary approach, offering new insights into religious beliefs and behavior that may help bridge religious divisions. It demonstrates that religious belief and behavior have evolved in a similar fashion for all religions. It provides a means of understanding how religion could have evolved, spread, and become what it is today.