Kevin,

You bring an invaluable perspective to this board. I'm curious, how did your dramatic shift in political positions happen? Was their an "Ah ha" moment or was it a gradual process? My late great dad was a conservative Roman Catholic and he remembers his Ah ha moment. He was in his 40s reading Newsweek and it talked about the age of the universe and Earth, the origin of our species, etc. and it didn't square with what he'd been told since childhood. He remembered feeling utterly embarrassed that he hadn't questioned much of anything until he was well into adulthood. His path lead him to change his views on politics and religion.

Have you paid a social price for change in views? Do members of your family, social network, and church understand you? Do they shun you? Do they think the Devil has a role in this?

I have relatives, though we're not close, who still inhabit the political and worldview that you once had. I get the social cohesion that their churches provides, the tight network for likeminded friends, the certainty that that text and rituals provide in a fast-paced, and often scary world. Everything seems to orbit around my relatives' church. And I'm sure in many, many ways, they're better for it. It's just that I don't believe the books, for innumerable reasons which I won't go into.

What are your thoughts about how it all serves to reinforce the views and opinions of the group? Understanding the role that religion plays for people, its evolution around the world, and its powerful political, social, and psychological effects, has been a bit of an obsession of mine for 15 years or so.

I have something that may interest you and others. Here’s a great show that I didn’t fully appreciate when it was released a few years ago. There are two interviews and the first is tedious and not worth your time. But, if you fast forward to the 28 minute mark, you’ll hear Sam Harris and social psychologist, Jonathan Haidt, tackle religion, psychology, morality, immigration, evolution, etc. It’s very dense listening but really so enlightening and fun too, at least for me. I’m on my third listening as I don’t want to miss anything. If you’re so inclined, take it out for a test drive.

And again, Kevin, thanks for sharing the Facebook find. I've thought of variations on much of that imagined conversation before but I hadn't assembled them in such a thoughtful and illustrative manner.

Peter T.

https://samharris.org/podcasts/evolving-minds/