Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon | Daniel C. Dennett

Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon | Daniel C. Dennett | A timely and important book

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Breaking the Spell...

	Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon Daniel C. Dennett Penguin (Non-Classics), 2007 - 464 pages average customer review:based on 151 reviews view larger image
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A call to conduct scientific research into religion

Daniel Dennett's "Breaking the Spell" argues that religion should be scientifically investigated. Dennett presents his personal view of why religions exist - which takes an evolutionary view - and the problems he sees in religion. He also briefly addresses some of the arguments for the existence of gods, but does this sparingly.

Dennett's argument (which is based mostly on evolutionary and cognitive psychology) about how religions developed is thorough, clear, and interesting. However, there was one factor in the success of religion that I think he overlooked: ostracism. Almost all religions practice some form of ostracism. For example, Catholic excommunication, Amish shunning, and Jehovah's witnesses' defellowship - just to pick a few from Christianity. Moreover, nearly all religions threaten that people will be excluded from the preferable alternative in the afterlife if they don't follow their rules. Ostracism is an amazingly powerful force because it strongly threatens basic human needs for belonging, interaction, and companionship (see Kip Williams's "Ostracism: the power of silence" for a scientific exploration of this concept).

Dennett raises some fascinating questions about religion that could be tested scientifically - that is, tested against systematically and objectively collected evidence. For example, we sometimes hear stories of people addicted to drugs turning their life around after converting to Christianity, or to Islam, or to Buddhism, or via psychological therapies. Dennett asks the question: Is one religion better than another at curing drug addiction, and are religions better at this than psychological therapies? It's the kind of question I had never thought to ask of religion, but it seems to be a good one. This inspired me to ask: does the bowed praying position of some religions differentially affect joint flexibility as compared with the kneeling praying position of other religions? The answer to Dennett's question and mine is: we don't know. And, I agree with Dennett that, because religion is so influential in society, we should find out the answers to these and other questions.

One point to note for first-time readers of Dennett's work is that he does draw quite heavily on his knowledge of consciousness and philosophical/psychological discussions about conscious will and free will. For people who are unfamiliar with these academic discussions some of the arguments in this book will be difficult to follow.

Finally, there are four substantial appendices in "Breaking the Spell". I think these could be safely ignored by readers who are familiar with the concepts they cover (e.g., memes) but may be of interest to people without a background in these areas.

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A timely and important book

This is a finely-argued plea for the examination, by the scientific method, of belief - why it is important to humankind and what it means for our ability to live together. Dennett is unabashed in his atheism, yet conciliatory in his willingness to learn from people of faith what they derive from their beliefs and rituals. He is also remorseless in arguing the moral imperative, in a post 9/11 world, for closer examination of religion. He points out to the faithful that, whatever your religion, more people in the world disagree than agree with you - so you should have an interest in examining why they are so mistaken.

Entertainingly synthesising evolutionary biology, social anthropology and philosophy, Dennett presents some provisional hypotheses on the utility of religion to human society, and suggests some next steps to better understanding of the religious impulse and toward the disarming of the religious memes' defenses. One suggestion I particularly like is the compulsory teaching of comparative religion in all schools, so kids can understand the full spectrum of belief systems, and not just that of their parents. We could start in Cobb County, GA and imagine the effect in Saudi Arabia and Pakistan...

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advancement

The one single biggest obstacle to advancement of the human race and science is religion. Religions that rely on blind faith MUST be examined for what they represent and what they DO. The present is NOT just a painful stepping stone to the hereafter, some of us LIVE here. We are not automatons meant to suffer without question. To not question or examine religion and religious fervor is to commit the single most deadly act of negligence in todays world. The "spell" must be broken! God help us! Thomas Paine was right!

A bit of a dissapointment.

This work has a lot of interesting information, and is a very resourceful piece. Certain chapters make for an incisive reading, and the analysis of religion today in the States is fascinating. Overall though, it's a bit of a cluttered presentation of the material- it doesn't quite fit nicely into a coherent or engaging piece. Richard Dawkins' The God Delusion is a more clear cut and arresting piece.

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