Model Predicts 'religiosity Gene' Will Dominate Society

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In the past 20 years, the Amish population in the US has doubled, increasing from 123,000 in 1991 to 249,000 in 2010. The huge growth stems almost entirely from the religious culture’s high fertility rate, which is about 6 children per woman, on average. At this rate, the Amish population will reach 7 million by 2100 and 44 million by 2150. On the other hand, the growth may not continue if future generations of Amish choose to defect from the religion and if secular influences reduce the birth rate. In a new study, Robert Rowthorn, emeritus professor of economics at Cambridge University, has looked at the broader picture underlying this particular example: how will the high fertility rates of religious people throughout the world affect the future of human genetic evolution, and therefore the biological makeup of society?

Rowthorn has developed a model that shows that the genetic components that predispose a person toward religion are currently “hitchhiking” on the back of the religious cultural practice of high fertility rates. Even if some of the people who are born to religious parents defect from religion and become secular, the religious genes they carry (which encompass other personality traits, such as obedience and conservativism) will still spread throughout society, according to the model’s numerical simulations.

“Provided the fertility of religious people remains on average higher than that of secular people, the genes that predispose people towards religion will spread,” Rowthorn told PhysOrg.com. “The bigger the fertility differential between religious and secular people, the faster this genetic transformation will occur. This does not mean that everyone will become religious. Genes are not destiny. Many people who are genetically predisposed towards religion may in fact lead secular lives because of the cultural influences they have been exposed to.”

The model’s assumptions are based on data from previous research. Studies have shown that, even controlling for income and education, people who are more religious have more children, on average, than people who are secular (defined here as having a religious indifference). According to the World Values Survey for 82 countries, adults attending religious services more than once per week averaged 2.5 children, those attending once per month averaged 2.01 children, and those never attending averaged 1.67 children. The more orthodox the religious sect, the higher the fertility rate, with sects such as the Amish, the Hutterites, and Haredi having up to four times as many children as the secular average. Studies have found that the high fertility rates stem from cultural and social influences by religious organizations rather than biological factors.

But while fertility is determined by culture, an individual’s predisposition toward religion is likely to be influenced by genetics, in addition to their upbringing. In the model, Rowthorn uses a “religiosity gene” to represent the various genetic factors that combine to genetically predispose a person toward religion, whether remaining religious from youth or converting to religion from a secular upbringing. On the flip side, the nonreligiosity allele of this “gene” makes a person more likely to remain or become secular. If both parents have the religiosity allele, their children are also more likely to have the religiosity allele than if one or both parents did not have it. However, children born to religious parents may have the nonreligiosity allele, while children born to secular parents may have the religiosity allele. Having the religiosity allele does not make a person religious, but it makes a person more likely to have characteristics that make them religiously inclined; the converse is also true.

All individuals, whether they have religious or secular upbringings, have a chance of defecting. Rowthorn explained that the rates of defection from religious to secular and from secular to religious preferences depend on time and place.

“Amongst Christian Churches in Europe and North America, defection rates are higher than conversion rates,” he said. “In some cases, such as the Amish, these losses are greatly outweighed by their very high fertility. However, for mainstream Churches, such as the Catholics or Anglicans, the birth rate is not high enough on its own to offset defections and they rely on immigration to maintain their numbers. In certain other parts of the world, such as East Asia, mainstream Christian Churches are growing through conversion.”

Rowthorn’s model shows that, even when the religious defection rate is high, the overall high fertility rate of religious people will cause the religiosity allele to eventually predominate the global society. The model shows that the wide gap in fertility rates could have a significant genetic effect in just a few generations. The model predicts that the religious fraction of the population will eventually stabilize at less than 100%, and there will remain a possibly large percentage of secular individuals. But nearly all of the secular population will still carry the religious allele, since high defection rates will spread the religious allele to secular society when defectors have children with a secular partner. Overall, nearly all of the population will have a genetic predisposition toward religion, although some or many of these individuals will lead secular lives, Rowthorn concluded.

“The rate at which religious people abandon their faith affects the eventual share of the population who are religious,” Rowthorn said. “However, it does not alter the conclusion of the article that the religiosity allele will eventually take over. If the defection rate is high, there will be lots of children who are brought up as religious and carry the religiosity allele, but who give up their faith. Such people will carry the religiosity allele into the secular population with them. Many of their descendents will also carry this allele and be secular. In this case, the high fertility group is constantly sending migrants into the low-fertility secular population. Such migrations will simultaneously boost the size of the secular population and transform its genetic composition.”

Rowthorn acknowledges that he can only speculate on how a genetic predisposition toward religion may manifest itself in a secular context. Previous research has suggested that a genetic predisposition toward religion is tied to a variety of characteristics such as conservatism, obedience to authority, and the inclination to follow rituals. In this instance of evolution, it’s possible that these characteristics may become widespread not for their own fitness but by hitching a ride with a high-fitness cultural practice.

http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-01-religiosity-gene-dominate-society.html
 
Cool article. I do find that emotions of humans tend to bring out the feeling of spirituality. Fear of the unknown is within and speculation with imagination brings it to other levels. The religious part is what comes about from the culture utilizing our tendencies to wonder about our existence. Atheists still wonder about life but rituals are not necessary as it only feeds our built in paranoias.
 

Often religion takes care to explain or answer things we don't fully understand.

All those miracles, creation myths and other unanswered concepts get answered by religion most of the time. It likely makes you feel more comfortable and for sure makes you feel you understand the world much better. Faith and such is not a bad thing in itself, as long as it doesn't stop you from learning new stuff that might make you question your religious beliefs.

Back then, it was a crime to say something against a religious belief. They didn't want people to think out of the box at all, it wasn't necessarily a good thing.

Sounds like religion might be the answer to everything. I'm definitely not sure about this.
 

Some religions go with the times and change according to current knowledge. That is fine but almost seems a little like cheating. It is only that religion attempts to answer it while most people are smart enough to say "i don't know". It isn't really that religion has the answer it is just someone going through a test and guessing on the multiple choice questions. True that it is alright if they continue to learn and haven't closed there self off to answers thinking they already have them. Religions often warn about pride but many religious people have a lot of it, particularly the "true" religions.
 
well I never realy thought about it to much but now that YOU GOT ME STARTED thank you very much 7:p it makes perfect sence the parents took the kid to church and the cycle began. every religon I have looked at states very clearly that they are to teach it to there children and every one they meet, so it becomes like the flu spreading to every one. now look up and see what is the fastest growing thing on the planet RELIGON thow it takes many forms it spreads like a fire. with this info about a gene that leads you that way we are pretty much screwed soon every one will be involved in it and all trying to prove theres is the rite,only,true, one well thats when the fights on jackson.:eek: galleee sargent carter that sounds like todays head lines huh???when you see the people of one group gather in the streets and chant kill the????? its getting scary. we might do well to heed the words of the old prophets.( they will make a word a crime and in that day a prudent man will keep silent) that never made much sence befor but it sure does now. so is this gene on the same line as the one they say a drunk will pass on to the kids?? they have said the same about it . by its self it won't make you one but gives you a tendancy to be a substance abuser of some type. I have many drunk's for uncles and my dad was one. while I do drink now and again. I don't make it a daily thing,or even weekly. however I do smoke peach flavored cigars and truely like them. so I guess that makes me an abuser too not to mention the fact that grandma had a drug problem too.yeh dear sweet old granny, she drug me to the chathlic church every time they opened the doors:( its a wonder I can think at all. anyways good find there 7 explains quite a bit about human nature. and the strange tendancey's we have to look for some type of outside guidance.
 
Atheists and liberal tend to have fewer children than Christian Fundamentalists and they do not understand that this has implications in coming years. For example, where I like there were few Amish 50 years ago. That is not the case now. It is like people are starting to see them more and more. Nature abhors a vacuum and they are filling it in.

Shall the fundamentalists inherit the earth

Often an atheist will complain that a small town has six churches - yes six. Yet, each church has a function as a social gathering area. People in small communities attend services. Priests and pastors will make announcements of community events that are occurring.

Typically, farm families are large in size. Whereas in a tiny little apartment in a big city, it is hard to maintain a large family because there is no money.

TAKEN FROM Demographic Projections Predict Fundamentalist Populations Surpassing Secular Counterparts - Harvard - Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs

"While the overall TFR is on the decline, the TFR among those on the more religious end of the spectrum remains well above replacement. American Jews have a very low TFR of 1.43, but within this group, ultra-Orthodox Jews (Haredim) stand out as exceptionally fertile: they increased their share of American Jewry from 7.2 to 9.4 percent during 2000–2006 alone. In Israel, the Haredim had a TFR of 7.61 in 1996 while other Israeli Jews' TFR stood at just 2.27. This will enable the Haredi to form a majority soon after 2050. Kaufmann hypothetically asked lecture attendees to consider the impact this could have on the peace process since the orthodox and Haredim are particularly attached to Jerusalem — where they are a majority — and to the holy places and "promised" land of the West Bank."

Atheists typically have very few children or none. Religious fundamentalist say that children are gifts from God, and that abortion is killing the atheists of tomorrow. Typically, fundamentalist have six kids - yes six. Atheists have only one. Do the math on that one.

Atheism is doomed: the contraceptive Pill is secularism's cyanide tablet – Telegraph Blogs

Finally, we end with this one.

Chief Rabbi: atheism has failed. Only religion can defeat the new barbarians » The Spectator
 

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