Free Blind Sight by Meg Howrey Page A

it was almost because the New Brethren weren’t Christian
enough
for Pearl. Even though she considers fundamentalism to be naive, anti-intellectualist, and anti-women, it’s at least
serious
. Like, she doesn’t call herself a Christian, but she thinks if you do, you should pony up and really
believe
.
    “Whatever else you want to say about these fundamentalists,” Pearl has said, “they are at least committed. They don’t pick and choose which parts of Scripture to believe, like they’re picking through a salad. They eat the whole thing. Give me an honest lunatic over a mush-mouth pseudo-Christian any day.”
    Nana and I get along really smoothly. I do a lot of things with her. I’m her helper. Sometimes she says things like, “I rely on you, Luke,” or “I know you are going to see the Light, Luke, and I pray for you every day.” I don’t say anything back to this, but I nod. I see it as a nod of agreement: I agree that Nana prays for me, and I agree she believes I will see the Light. Okay, sure, whatever.
    There have been some interesting theories floating around lately about what has been called “the God Gene.” Its actual name is VMAT2. VMAT2 codes for a protein that affects levels of serotonin and dopamine in the brain, and studies have shown that it’s those levels that might account for mystical and spiritual feelings. If VMAT2 does have something to do with belief in the supernatural, then belief in God is something that could be, at least partially, heritable. And so then you have to think about whether it’s somethingthat’s been selected because it confers an advantage. Maybe people who believe in God do better than people that don’t. People who believe in “Love Thy Neighbor,” for example, maybe do better than people that believe in “Tell thy neighbor to suck it.” Or, people who believe that there is an afterlife, or a meaning to their existence, are maybe happier than people who think it’s all just random and they are food for worms. Happy people have more babies, and therefore pass on more VMAT2.
    Of course, when you think about it, the most religious people are the ones who are always telling their neighbor to suck it, if their neighbor doesn’t agree with them. Telling someone to suck it in the name of God is, like, most of history. And suicide bombers are obviously not passing along any VMAT2. Maybe suicide bombers have too much VMAT2, or not enough of something else that would regulate it, and the problem should be treated like the way we treat diabetics. If we can capture one before they complete their mission, we shouldn’t interrogate them. We should stick them in an fMRI machine, ask them to think about God, and see what lights up.
    Of course, you don’t talk about these things with Nana, or with Sara, for that matter. There’s the whole “Studies show …” problem with Sara, and Nana would not welcome the idea that belief in God is something hardwired, like opposable thumbs or hair color. Some Christians argue that a gene for believing in God doesn’t disprove an actual God because God could have created the gene to help matters along, like His decision to create the Big Bang and Darwin’s brain. So they would say that Darwin’s brain is a secondary cause of the first cause, which is God.
    My biology teacher, Mr. Stoddard, gave a speech about “non-overlapping magisteria” before he taught us evolution. This is a theory developed by the biologist Stephen Jay Gould. It’s like a separation of powers. You say that science and theology have separate areas of expertise, and that you should let each side do its business. Science shouldn’t interfere with questions of morality and ethics, andReligion shouldn’t try to explain physical phenomena. Mr. Stoddard said that if everybody agreed to stay on their side of the fence, then there would be no problems. I think it’s a pretty flawed argument, but we didn’t have any problems in my AP Biology class. However,