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It would seem from the research Biological and cognitive underpinnings of religious fundamentalism that traumatic brain injury to the ventromedial prefrontal cortex and/or dorsolateral prefrontal cortex would be associated with religious fundamentalism, or the narrowing of religious beliefs.
Religious beliefs are socially transmitted mental representations that may include supernatural or supernormal episodes that are assumed to be real. Religious beliefs, like other beliefs, are embedded in different ways in different people and societies (Cristofori & Grafman, in press).
One form of religious belief, religious fundamentalism, embodies adherence to a set of firm religious beliefs advocating unassailable truths about human existence (Altemeyer & Hunsberger, 1992). According to the Baylor Religion Survey, a national survey study conducted with a nationally representative sample of 1721 respondents from the United States, 7.7% of all respondents reported being “Fundamentalist” as a part of their religious identity; 1.0% agreed that “Fundamentalist” was the one term that best described their religious identity (Bader, et al., 2006).
[...] Our study explores whether fundamentalism is modulated by the prefrontal cortex (PFC), an important brain area involved in social event knowledge, abstractions and higher order social belief systems. Substantial evidence indicates that damage to the PFC can modify individuals’ belief systems (Forbes & Grafman, 2010; Krueger & Grafman, 2012). For instance, patients with ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) lesions rated radical political statements as more moderate than matched controls (Cristofori, Viola, et al., 2015) and focal damage to the vmPFC resulted in greater religious fundamentalism, compared to healthy controls (Asp, Ramchandran, & Tranel, 2012). Thus, although a collection of cortical sectors function together to help shape and formulate beliefs, the PFC may be a critical hub for the representation of the diverse and abstract social beliefs that lie at the core of many religions.
(Score: 2, Disagree) by RamiK on Friday April 19 2019, @04:21PM (11 children)
Not a single religion does that since they all have internal inconsistencies that would make such a practice impossible. What you're thinking about is modern Churches as they were all gradually weakened by the secular state and had to adopt or perish.
Go ahead and name me one religion that doesn't enforce it's social norms and order to the full extent of its power.
Look, you're too hangup on trying to classify religions as distinct social structures. Whenever a group of people holds a common faith in some fundamental principle they value without being too concerned about explaining why it's valuable, they're practicing a religion. Money is a religion. Hard work is a religion. Good and evil are religions. Sports is a religion... And there's always the priest that would tell you what's right and wrong. It's just human nature to follow shepherds.
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(Score: 4, Insightful) by sjames on Friday April 19 2019, @04:55PM (7 children)
Buddhism, Baha'i, Unitarianism, Wicca, The Church of Binary Consciousness, etc.
There's no point in broadening a word until it is meaningless. There is especially no point in broadening a word beyond what the speaker clearly meant.
For example, you have managed to forget that I was talking about FUNDAMENTALISM and that only some religious people are fundamentalists.
(Score: 2) by Bot on Saturday April 20 2019, @09:14PM
Also, Francis' Catholicism lite...
Account abandoned.
(Score: 2) by RamiK on Sunday April 21 2019, @04:25PM (5 children)
A child born to any of these isn't given a choice. A community of the faithful will excommunicate the non-believers and won't suffer mixed families.
It's not about what their texts say. It's how a religious community handles itself. And they all do the same: Use religion to draw a line between themselves and everyone else. Because that's how leaders rule.
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(Score: 2) by sjames on Sunday April 21 2019, @05:43PM (2 children)
How many of those faiths have you even met people from?
(Score: 2) by RamiK on Monday April 22 2019, @06:41AM (1 child)
Nearly all the Abrahamic religions. Most of the eastern ones too. Admittedly not all though. And each and every one was a thin veil hoping to cover tribalism, racism and a leader hoping to secure more power.
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(Score: 2) by sjames on Monday April 22 2019, @04:52PM
So your knowledge of the religions I mentioned is quite limited.
(Score: 2) by Nobuddy on Monday April 22 2019, @01:30PM (1 child)
>A child born to any of these isn't given a choice.
wut? The most basic tenet of Buddhism, Wicca, and Unitariansim is self determination. These are examples of those that make it a very basic right to decide for yourself without pressure or societal blowback for that choice.
(Score: 2) by RamiK on Tuesday April 23 2019, @06:25AM
This can be summed up by something every child to liberal parents grow up hearing in form or another: "Sure you can choose to adopt a different way-of-life. Not in our house of course... But sure! Free choice is essential! You naturally won't receive assistant from us... And of course we'll continue to vote for laws making you dependent on our assistance for everything from college tuition to being approved for a mortgage... But sure! F R E E D O M ! ! !".
Religious organizations are really good at this sort of thing. Here's a recent one where the catholic church had an internal struggle over condom distribution as part of an African AIDS relief that ended with someone losing his power: https://wikileaks.org/popeorders/ [wikileaks.org] I can guarantee you there Buddhist organization that similarly won't provide aid to Muslims through indirect peer pressure following the same dynamics.
After all, why build a Church/temple if not to distinguish between them and us?
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(Score: 2) by Osamabobama on Friday April 19 2019, @05:14PM (1 child)
We can debate the accuracy of my interpretation of it, but Buddhism comes to mind. There doesn't seem to be much enforcement going on.
I suppose there's that problem in Bangladesh with the Buddhists and Rohingya, but I'm not sure that is religion-based conflict.
Appended to the end of comments you post. Max: 120 chars.
(Score: 2) by RamiK on Sunday April 21 2019, @04:38PM
It's never a religion-based conflict. It's always part of the social order. The religion simply supports and defines the order that lends itself into persecutions... And that's the whole point. Regardless of the religion, because it's purpose is to define a community, when that community's leadership feels threatened by external factors, the religion will play the role of agitator. It doesn't matter what the texts say. What matters is what done in practice.
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(Score: 2) by Nobuddy on Monday April 22 2019, @01:28PM
>Not a single religion does that
Incorrect. this defines fundamentalism, and there are several in every major religion.
>since they all have internal inconsistencies that would make such a practice impossible.
No shit, Sherlock. Thus the mental illness of fundamentalism.