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Article: Biologist looks at religion's evolutionary value.(Darwin's Cathedral: Evolution, Religion, and the Nature of Society by David Sloan Wilson)
- Article from:
- National Catholic Reporter
- Article date:
- October 4, 2002
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 National Catholic Reporter. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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DARWIN'S CATHEDRAL: EVOLUTION, RELIGION, AND THE NATURE OF SOCIETY By David Sloan Wilson University of Chicago Press, 268 pages, $25
There has been much discussion in recent years on whether institutionalized religion has a future. We hear people expressing their convictions that "religion" has been a con, a quest for power over people, pie in the sky escapism, brainwashing, superstition or an institutionalized form of repression that impoverishes believers.
Elements of truth and personal experience underlie these convictions. The importance of this book is its caution to us: Yes, but wait, look, examine carefully, there's a lot more to it. And the lot ...