One of the most fundamental quandaries in theology and philosophy is the pernicious difficulty of using the mind to examine itself. The trickiness of inverting conscious attention back towards itself has caused countless philosophers (and their students) to throw up…
Research Associate Catherine Caldwell-Harris, Founding Director Patrick McNamara and Co-Authors The 33rd Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society Boston Massachusetts, 2011 Abstract: The cognitive science of religion is a new field which explains religious belief as emerging from normal…
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There are many ways to study theology: read sacred texts, study great theologians, neuroimage someone’s brain – wait, what was that last one? In an attempt to develop a scientifically grounded theology rather than a purely speculative one, advocates of…
We’ve all seen it: religious extremists with signs protesting a seemingly innocuous event. Or perhaps hardcore believers dogmatically arguing with someone about religion. But are these diehards really more dogmatic and less open-minded than others? Does this common perception have…
Research Associate Catherine Caldwell-Harris and Co-Authors Mental Health, Religion & Culture October 12, 2010 Abstract: Atheists are America’s least trusted group, and stereotypes about them abound: Atheists are non-conformist, sceptical, cynical, and joyless, rarely experiencing awe. Atheists (N = 42) were recruited from…
It is often taken for granted that children will just inherit the religion of their parents. Clearly, it seems, nurture trumps nature in terms of religion. In 1990, Neils G. Waller and others (all from the University of Minnesota) dared…
Religion affects every domain of human behavior, from our decisions about politics to our choice of a spouse. In fact, research collected over the past several decades suggests that even the very emotions we feel in our day-to-day lives are…
Existing accounts of the religion-and-science relationship—most notably the typology developed by Ian Barbour in the 1980s—tend to construe “religion” and “science” as sharply separated realms battling for cultural supremacy, working for détente, or perhaps striving for reconciliation. Such accounts take…
“Conservative” and “liberal” – they’re words we hear every day, so we know what they mean, right? Well, in a religious context, we’re not so sure. For example, does “conservative” religion refer to Biblical literalism or to strongly held beliefs…
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It’s one of the most basic human experiences. The world and I are different things – the world is out there, and I’m looking out at all the action. But this division might not be so strict for everyone. Researchers…
Long-term meditators know that meditation can change people’s experience of the world, usually for the better. Highly experienced practitioners of meditation often report greater feelings of equanimity, patience, and compassion for others – even at times when they’re not meditating,…
Religion, said Marx, is the “opiate of the masses.” This well-known phrase has come to represent the pacifying impact of religion, especially popular religion, used for the social control (or exploitation) of the majority by the elite. The assurance of heaven…
Do liberals and conservatives really see the world differently? Maybe it’s more like they feel it differently. Recent research (e.g., Tomkins 1995) has suggested that conservatives and liberals experience different sorts of emotional responses. Specifically, some emotions, like joy and…
Religion, Brain & Behavior has a CiteSchore of 3.5, which ranks #2 among 594 Religious Studies journals in SCOPUS. Note: Authors in the list below link to the publisher’s web site for the issue in which the author’s contribution appears. IBCSR…