I agree with the author of the meme here, and I believe that if we were to follow the course he suggests we’d be a lot less steamed about these issues than we are now.

Having said that, it appears that science is in the process of proving that our belief systems are wired into our brains, and that we ourselves have far less agency than we think we do in determining how we think and act.

Take me as an example.   As readers know, I’m an atheist and a progressive.  From my earliest memories at three years old, I’ve been an animal lover and a disbeliever in God.  Mustn’t there be some basis for this in my genetic code?

In terms of experiences, I went to a private Quaker (pacifistic, non-violent) school, spent six years of college/graduate school studying Western philosophy, and had a business career that served clients in a dozen different countries.  You could take 100 people with this make-up, and I doubt you’d find a single Trump supporter.

Now, do I understand the far right?  Of course I do.  I had the incredible good fortune to have all this line up, starting with my birth in Philadelphia my adoption at age five months by two kind, intelligent, and honorable people.  But it’s not to imagine having been born in Saudi Arabia, Paraguay, Mali, or Mississippi.

We all carry with us the idea that our basic personalities are self-determined, that we create our characteristics from our own choosing.  I question that.

Discussing Religion and Politics