I actually believe that the sum total of our genetic makeup is more than its parts – I’m a major fan of the notion of emergence and the idea that pieces together create something greater. You get eggs, flour, sugar, vanilla, some chocolate and butter, combine everything, and get a cookie. You cannot break that cookie down into its component parts, and most folks are gonna agree that a cookie is better than its pieces.

But whether or not there is something greater? To me, trying to break it down to a single genetic string, some biologic reason, actually misses the entire beauty of human Beingness. It takes away the wonder and mystery, just a little bit, and tries to nail everything down to the boring, staid, known. Where is the magic in that?

Religion should not be a science – religion is, as you say, belief. Science is not belief. They are separate realms, and shouldn’t be conflated or crossed. Logos, the realm of the written, the logical and scientific, should not be subject to mythos, belief. Likewise, Mythos should not be constrained by the rigidity of logos!

I suffer from three neurological conditions — depression, ADHD, and Restless Legs Syndrome — and I’ve often wondered just how much of who we are is determined by electrochemical processes happening in our grey matter. When I was severely depressed, I was truly a different person. That’s humbling, to say the least.

Nevertheless, through the fog of my depression I was able to reach out for help and with years of therapy and medication, I emerged from the experience strong and stable. I believe we are capable of transcending biology to a degree, and that we are not the sum total of our genetic makeup. I have no scientific basis for this belief, and it may amount to sloppy thinking. But such “sloppy thinking” saved my life.

I believe in God. Why? Because even if my faith is “misplaced” because there is no God, my faith leads me to strive to be a better person. I acknowledge that I have “bet my life” on something that may not be true, but I am comfortable with that.

I do not subscribe to any organized religion or set of beliefs, by the by. But that’s a topic for another time and another place, because this ain’t my blog. 🙂

Or, “Richard Dawkins’ wet dream.”