[{"id":140,"title":"Naturalness of Atheism and Unnaturalnes of Religion","sha":"4ed82f88af3d32867a5489847a4fb334","user_id":257,"state":"published","body":"The standard model of Cognitive Science of Religion (CSR) explains religion as some kind of natural phenomenon. Religious ideas and beliefs are considered as natural not only in the sense of their foundation on cognitive processes and mechanisms, but also as obvious, intuitive, and in some sense inevitable. What is more CSR suggests that religious ideas and beliefs are more natural and evident than atheism. In consequence atheism is considered as unnatural cultural phenomenon which requires special conditions, first of all high development of education and science, in the modern times associated with the Enlightenment. However, biological and evolutionary approaches show that the human being is a species which focuses on natural, sensual information and behaviors which are strategic for survival. Therefore, how can we connect natural selection with religious beliefs which are counter-intuitive and unnatural? Here I would like to show that naturalness of religion hypothesis is not compatible with biological long-orientation perspective. Religion was useful tool after agricultural revolution – however, not for transmission of good moral behavioral patterns. Its main aim was consolidation and strengthening in-group trust and internal network for the purpose of inter-group conflicts and aggression at the level of large groups.   ","created_at":"2015-04-05T16:35:41.347Z","updated_at":"2015-04-10T19:22:24.186Z","zenodo_id":26413,"doi":"http://dx.doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.16628","subject":null,"tags":["atheism","religion","evolution","biology","morality"],"vote_count":2,"view_count":1,"score":2.1,"deleted":false,"muted":false,"tweeted":false,"attachment_file_name":null,"attachment_content_type":null,"attachment_file_size":null,"attachment_updated_at":null},{"id":143,"title":"Naturalness of Atheism and Supernaturalness of Religion - A Role for Theological Science","sha":"c4fcf79b9c0be4b2b24ee2baa941a221","user_id":540,"state":"published","body":"Scientific approaches (\"science\" narrowly defined as the \"sciences of nature\") metaphysically exclude divine effects as appropriate--in other words, science itself is structured to exclude divine action (pragmatically). The problem with the \"natural\" study of religion is that religion cannot be reduced to its natural causes and effects. This is precisely because divine causes and effects are the source and telos of religious life, with natural causes being more appropriately \"effects which follow from divine causes\". Science can contribute, because of its structure, studying natural phenomena associated with religion understood as natural phenomena and not as divine phenomena. Therefore, the word \"natural\" must be defined here as \"strictly scientifically natural\", suggesting that atheism is a strictly scientifically natural belief (excluding divinity not only pragmatically but substantially), whereas religion, limited to strictly scientific investigation, is \"natural\" because of its natural effects, but points to something outside of strictly natural explanations. The word \"unnaturalness\" applied to religion by [konrad szocik](/users/76d3c51025e2ea94f969165c2ad98be7) signified the opposite of only a strictly scientific \"naturalness\". A more appropriate word than \"unnaturalness\" would be \"supernaturalness\". This word is more proper to the object of study (religion) and is not contradictory to \"natural\" but suggests explanatory plausibility \"outside\" or beyond the structure of nature, suggesting reality beyond nature. Here is where theology might begin to have significant input.","created_at":"2015-04-10T18:35:46.345Z","updated_at":"2015-04-12T06:01:06.958Z","zenodo_id":26806,"doi":"http://dx.doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.16762","subject":null,"tags":["religion","atheism","science","philosophy","evolution","biology","morality"],"vote_count":0,"view_count":1,"score":0.1,"deleted":false,"muted":false,"tweeted":false,"attachment_file_name":null,"attachment_content_type":null,"attachment_file_size":null,"attachment_updated_at":null}]