– Advertisement –

Have Scientists Established a Link Between Brain Damage and Religious Fundamentalism?

by | May 15, 2019 | Blog, News | 0 comments

✪ Read this article ad-free and leave comments here on Substack

Raw Story reports that scientists have established a link between brain damage and religious fundamentalism, stating that in a study published in the journal Neuropsychologia,

The findings suggest that damage to particular areas of the prefrontal cortex indirectly promotes religious fundamentalism by diminishing cognitive flexibility and openness—a psychology term that describes a personality trait which involves dimensions like curiosity, creativity, and open-mindedness.

Of course, the problem with this “study” is that it comes to the table with the presupposition that “open-mindedness” is necessarily a good thing. Did they also establish a link between atheism and brain damage? Atheists tend to be some of the most closed-minded people in the world, actually, many admitting that even if there were some form of scientific proof of God, they still probably wouldn’t believe.

The study, obviously biased and clearly not based on sound scientific reasoning — something that only biblical theism can provide, by the way — paints religious fundamentalism as an erroneous expression of conservatism based on a faulty “transmittal” of supernatural events and entities.

Religious beliefs can be thought of as socially transmitted mental representations that consist of supernatural events and entities assumed to be real. Religious beliefs differ from empirical beliefs, which are based on how the world appears to be and are updated as new evidence accumulates or when new theories with better predictive power emerge. On the other hand, religious beliefs are not usually updated in response to new evidence or scientific explanations, and are therefore strongly associated with conservatism.

Claiming that religious beliefs are not updated in response to new scientific evidence is asinine. While I can’t speak for all sects of all religions, especially the cults — some cults actually do this — it is clear that this is not a scientific study, this is biased hogwash. It is a historical fact that biblical Christianity opened the doors to the scientific revolution and that an innate belief in God’s revelation — something all human beings possess — lays the groundwork for logic and reasoning. Apart from God’s revelation, there can be no account for logic and reasoning, rendering this supposed “scientific study” null.

Join Us and Get These Perks:

✅ No Ads in Articles
✅ Access to Comments and Discussions
✅ Community Chats
✅ Full Article and Podcast Archive
✅ The Joy of Supporting Our Work 😉



Here are the questions I would pose to the author of this study:

How can you account for logic and reason? How can you account for truth? How can you know for sure that anything is true?

You can’t. Your study is self-defeating.

Three Ways to Support DISNTR


The Dissenter is primarily supported by its readers. The best way to support us is to subscribe to our members-only Substack site where you will receive all of our content ad-free, plus you will get member-only exclusive content.

Support us with a monthly donation on Patreon

Support us with membership to our ad-free Substack

Make one-time or monthly donation on Donorbox


👕 Or make a purchase from our online store. 👕
Make a Dogecoin Donation

- Advertisement -

Latest

- Advertisement -

Subscribe

Store

Follow Us

- Advertisement -

- Advertisement -

You Might Also Like…

The Moral Collapse of America and God’s Looming Judgment

The Moral Collapse of America and God’s Looming Judgment

Rome had a strange smell near the end of its empire. Historians don’t really talk about that part. They write about military campaigns and collapsing currencies and corrupt emperors with grapes hanging from their fingers while boys danced in silk before them. But I...

Parents Handing Their Children Over to Drag Queens is Despicable

Parents Handing Their Children Over to Drag Queens is Despicable

These ... clowns. Literal clowns. Some dude, draped in cheap polyester sequins and a wig that reeks of desperation, sits there. He’s playing pretend with kids. He’s wearing a caricature of womanhood like a skin suit, and he’s doing it in front of a child.“Do I look...

This is What Happens When a Charlatan is Your Spiritual Advisor

This is What Happens When a Charlatan is Your Spiritual Advisor

Over Easter—of all times—spiritual charlatan, Paula White, stood in front of cameras and compared Donald Trump to Christ. Not subtly. Not loosely. Directly. She took the betrayal, the suffering, the cost, the language that belongs to the cross alone—and laid it at the...

- Advertisement -

Want to go ad-free with exclusive content? Subscribe today.
Already a subscriber? Click Here

This will close in 0 seconds