RELIGION: Some books about evolution and civilization

[Guest guest]

I recently read a couple of books that really rocked my faith. The

cantankerous St. said " to each of us is given the measure of

faith, " but sometimes I feel my measure is a bit small.

The first was Manning's " Against the Grain: How Agriculture

Has Hijacked Civilization. " Right after that I discovered

Budiansky's " Covenant of the Wild: Why Animals Chose Domestication. "

Recently I read some quotes in Wild Fermentation from Terence

McKenna's " Food of the Gods " that also piqued my interest.

Manning asserts that at the end of the last ice age, when people

started to settle down and grow grains, the intensive labor required

started an expanding wave of conquest, oppression, industrialism and

environmental destruction that could be nearing its natural limit now.

Budiansky describes the phenomenon of neoteny, by which " wild " animals

carry juvenile traits into adulthood, making them more sociable,

curious and " tame, " while shortening their lives and reducing their

natural defenses in exchange for cooperation with other species. This

evolutionary change is extremely rapid and appears to be a mechanism

for an entire species to adapt to a swiftly changing environment.

McKenna seems to be saying that in early civilization, mind-altering

substances were used only by special people such as priests and

healers. As I gather, their drug-addled visions spawned the religions

of entire societies.

Manning describes how the stories of Genesis have direct bearing on

the birth of agriculture. The Tigris and Euphrates delta, the Ur of

Abraham's origins, was subject to frequent flooding. Forests are

destroyed by floods, but grains grow very well after a flood. The

story of Noah could easily relate to this phenomenon. The expulsion

from Eden could also describe this shift, from freewheeling

hunter-gatherers to hard-slogging farmers.

The remains of early agricultural societies are impressive. Everywhere

they were are huge earth mounds, massive multi-generational labors,

ziggurats, pyramids, stone structures, on up to cathedrals and

temples. Manning posits that the huge labor forces enlisted for

farming were also employed in these constructions of religious

significance. The Tower of Babel story might hint at this work.

Manning and Budiansky hint at the forces behind the change. Neoteny

brings many animals closer to humans, so now creatures such as sheep

depend entirely on humans for their species' survival. Manning

discourages us from blaming governments for the inequities of society

but asks whether humans were actually " domesticated " by the

evolutionary forces of grains -- to ensure those species' expansion

over huge areas of the globe previously occupied by forests. Neither

actually mentions that humans have been subject to neoteny, but it

seems likely to me.

I used to think of monotheism as a sort of coagulation of the

nature-worshipping religions of animism or shamanism preferred by

hunter-gatherers. One God encompasses all, as it were, and in my mind

that resolved a lot of conflicts between religions. I've heard that

the One God is a sun god, and that seemed acceptable too. After all,

all of our power, all of our life, comes from the sun. But after

reading these books, I wonder, is the God of Abraham really a god of

grain, in direct opposition to the gods of hunters and herders?

The Catholic church requires that the communion wafer contain some

quantity of wheat. Since I am gluten-intolerant and can't even have

trace amounts of gluten, I am barred from this sacrament. Since I gave

up yeast and alcohol, I can't have wine either. Even if they offered

grape juice I would not accept it because of sugar and candida issues.

I've heard the assertion that the earliest farmers weren't so much

interested in bread as they were in beer. Alcohol is still a hugely

powerful force in society. Maybe the ultimate evolutionary winner here

is yeast? Maybe our god is really Bacchus, god of drunkenness and

destructive revelry?

The one and only prayer given to us by Jesus Christ himself asks God

to " give us our daily bread. " People tell me this is metaphorical, but

I have trouble with it. When I was trying to convince my family to

keep gluten out of the house, they told me it was cruel to our guests,

since bread is the " staff of life. "

I don't want to give up being Catholic but all this discovery has

given me a headache. Have you read any of these books? What's your

take on it?