chaos magician<\/a> Peter Carroll: \u201cmagic works in practice but not in theory.\u201d Religious theory helps us locate our practices and beliefs within the wider world, but it is not necessary to \u201cprove\u201d it\u2019s real.<\/p>\nOur proof comes in living our lives: does our religion help us live fuller, more meaningful lives? Does it help us form and strengthen connections with other people, other tribes, and other species? Does it help us draw close to the Gods and to Their virtues and values?<\/p>\n
So yes, if you want to investigate the origins of religion, you can dispassionately dissect all the worlds\u2019 religion, distill it down and see what remains. You\u2019ll find something\u2026 whether it\u2019s meaningful or not remains to be seen. But if you really want to understand the origins of religion, begin with the reality of religious experience.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Pulitzer Prize winning geography professor Jared Diamond presented yet another non-theistic explanation of the origins of religion. He overlooked the most important factor: the interaction of humans with Gods and spirits. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1129,"featured_media":5073,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[1036,1037,4,5,1039,8,1038],"class_list":["post-5070","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-theology","tag-jared-diamond","tag-origins-of-religion","tag-pagan","tag-paganism","tag-peter-carroll","tag-polytheism","tag-religious-evolution"],"yoast_head":"\n
Dispassionately Dissecting Religion<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Pulitzer Prize winning geography professor Jared Diamond presented yet another non-theistic explanation of the origins of religion. He overlooked the most important factor: the interaction of humans with Gods and spirits.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2016\/06\/dispassionately-dissecting-religion.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Dispassionately Dissecting Religion\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Pulitzer Prize winning geography professor Jared Diamond presented yet another non-theistic explanation of the origins of religion. He overlooked the most important factor: the interaction of humans with Gods and spirits.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2016\/06\/dispassionately-dissecting-religion.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"John Beckett\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-06-01T12:29:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-05-30T13:42:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/243\/2016\/05\/ECG-2015-13-600x300.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"300\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"John Beckett\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"John Beckett\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2016\/06\/dispassionately-dissecting-religion.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2016\/06\/dispassionately-dissecting-religion.html\",\"name\":\"Dispassionately Dissecting Religion\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-06-01T12:29:21+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-05-30T13:42:33+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/#\/schema\/person\/b4c8980dc36f971434424c304ca429ad\"},\"description\":\"Pulitzer Prize winning geography professor Jared Diamond presented yet another non-theistic explanation of the origins of religion. He overlooked the most important factor: the interaction of humans with Gods and spirits.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2016\/06\/dispassionately-dissecting-religion.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2016\/06\/dispassionately-dissecting-religion.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2016\/06\/dispassionately-dissecting-religion.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Dispassionately Dissecting Religion\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/\",\"name\":\"John Beckett\",\"description\":\"Musings of a Druid, Pagan, and Unitarian Universalist.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/#\/schema\/person\/b4c8980dc36f971434424c304ca429ad\",\"name\":\"John Beckett\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0f50bfa2a79f70103847fe75540bb29c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0f50bfa2a79f70103847fe75540bb29c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"John Beckett\"},\"description\":\"I grew up in Tennessee with the woods right outside my back door. Wandering through them gave me a sense of connection to Nature and to a certain Forest God. I\u2019m a Druid graduate of the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids, the Coordinating Officer of the Denton Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans and a former Vice President of CUUPS Continental. I\u2019ve been writing, speaking, teaching, and leading public rituals for the past eleven years. I live in the Dallas \u2013 Fort Worth area and I earn my keep as an engineer.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/author\/johnbeckett\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Dispassionately Dissecting Religion","description":"Pulitzer Prize winning geography professor Jared Diamond presented yet another non-theistic explanation of the origins of religion. He overlooked the most important factor: the interaction of humans with Gods and spirits.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2016\/06\/dispassionately-dissecting-religion.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Dispassionately Dissecting Religion","og_description":"Pulitzer Prize winning geography professor Jared Diamond presented yet another non-theistic explanation of the origins of religion. He overlooked the most important factor: the interaction of humans with Gods and spirits.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2016\/06\/dispassionately-dissecting-religion.html","og_site_name":"John Beckett","article_published_time":"2016-06-01T12:29:21+00:00","article_modified_time":"2016-05-30T13:42:33+00:00","og_image":[{"width":600,"height":300,"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/243\/2016\/05\/ECG-2015-13-600x300.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"John Beckett","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"John Beckett","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2016\/06\/dispassionately-dissecting-religion.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2016\/06\/dispassionately-dissecting-religion.html","name":"Dispassionately Dissecting Religion","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/#website"},"datePublished":"2016-06-01T12:29:21+00:00","dateModified":"2016-05-30T13:42:33+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/#\/schema\/person\/b4c8980dc36f971434424c304ca429ad"},"description":"Pulitzer Prize winning geography professor Jared Diamond presented yet another non-theistic explanation of the origins of religion. He overlooked the most important factor: the interaction of humans with Gods and spirits.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2016\/06\/dispassionately-dissecting-religion.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2016\/06\/dispassionately-dissecting-religion.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2016\/06\/dispassionately-dissecting-religion.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Dispassionately Dissecting Religion"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/","name":"John Beckett","description":"Musings of a Druid, Pagan, and Unitarian Universalist.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/#\/schema\/person\/b4c8980dc36f971434424c304ca429ad","name":"John Beckett","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0f50bfa2a79f70103847fe75540bb29c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0f50bfa2a79f70103847fe75540bb29c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"John Beckett"},"description":"I grew up in Tennessee with the woods right outside my back door. Wandering through them gave me a sense of connection to Nature and to a certain Forest God. I\u2019m a Druid graduate of the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids, the Coordinating Officer of the Denton Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans and a former Vice President of CUUPS Continental. I\u2019ve been writing, speaking, teaching, and leading public rituals for the past eleven years. I live in the Dallas \u2013 Fort Worth area and I earn my keep as an engineer.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/author\/johnbeckett"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5070","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1129"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5070"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5070\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5073"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5070"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5070"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5070"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"04](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/243\/2016\/05\/04-232-Knowth.jpg\")
<\/a>I just came across this story from early May about a lecture given by Pulitzer Prize winning geography professor Jared Diamond titled \u201cThe Evolution and Function of Human Religion<\/a>.\u201d Diamond is best known for his books Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies<\/em> and Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed<\/em>. He\u2019s demonstrated a brilliant insight into human behavior and if he has thoughts on the evolution of religion I thought I\u2019d like to hear them.<\/p>\n![\"ECG](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/243\/2016\/05\/ECG-2015-13-600x300.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n