In the Name of God

Subtitled 'the evolutionary origins of religious ethics and violence', this fascinating study argues that religious violence is grounded in the moral psychology of religion, which can be accounted for through evolutionary psychology. Adopting an approach of methodological naturalism, the author argues that evolution has 'designed' the human mind with a set of mental tools that shape our morality is that religions. Accordingly, his first chapter is devoted to the evolution of the moral brain with five layers: kin selection, reciprocal altruism, indirect reciprocity, cultural group selection and moral emotions, all leading to the emergence of moral grammar and moral systems. Moving on to moral religions, he applies his analysis to the 10 Commandments in Judaism and the morality of Jesus in the New Testament. He argues against the view that Christianity has developed beyond reciprocal altruism by pointing out that there is a reward for turning the other cheek, but from God rather than another person. He contends, rightly in my view, that religions are both peaceloving and violent on the basis that they always constitute an in-group and an out-group, hence 'the tragic flaw in religious moral psychology begins by drawing a boundary around the group, setting it apart from the other.' This both creates a sense of communal identity while at the same time creating a limit of moral obligation, thus setting up the conditions for religious violence. In his conclusion, the author offers an inclusive vision of humanism which he hopes will resolve this contradiction, even though he admits that the new atheists perpetuate the distinction between an in-group and an out-group.