Word: hamer
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My hat goes off to TIME for the provocative piece "Is God in Our Genes?" [Oct. 25]. I am a deeply spiritual person and often wonder why more people are not also that way. Has molecular biologist Dean Hamer with his discovery of a God gene, one that inclines a person toward spiritual beliefs, answered that question for me? Is it really in the genes? That makes sense to me. MARGOT ROBINSON Greensboro...
When I read about Hamer's discovery that brain chemicals responsible for regulating our mood are found in people who have traits of spirituality, a light came on. For 35 years I tried to regulate my wild mood swings with drugs, alcohol and relentless exercise. Not until I recently re-found my faith did my mood swings stop--completely. Now I understand why. JIM DUFFY Fort Atkinson...
Your article on molecular biologist Dean Hamer's discovery of a gene for spirituality, the so-called God gene, put too much emphasis on the religious aspect of spirituality [Oct. 25]. While such a gene may very well cause those who carry it to experience self-transcendence and to have a feeling of connectedness to a larger universe, that does not always translate into religious beliefs. I tend to get caught up in an experience, have fleeting revelations and insights and feel connected to the world outside me, all of which, according to your article, are indications of spirituality. Having...
When I was a teenager, TIME published a cover asking "Is God Dead?" [April 6, 1966]. I believed this was the case and became a molecular geneticist. I thought I had found the Holy Grail in DNA. Maybe Hamer has found the gene in humans that is responsible for the continual creation of God in man's image, but the truth is a different matter altogether. It sets people free...
...with the genes and the smarts to cooperate in such a clever way is a God who ought to be appealing even to religious purists. Nonetheless, sticking points do remain that prevent genetic theory from going down smoothly. One that's particularly troublesome is the question of why Hamer's God gene--or any of the others that may eventually be discovered--is distributed so unevenly among us. Why are some of us spiritual virtuosos, while others can't play a note? Isn't it one of the central tenets of religion that grace is available to everybody? At least...