
Stumbled across a documentary called God on the Brain from BBC that aired in April 2003. From that page:
"Rudi Affolter and Gwen Tighe have both experienced strong religious visions. He is an atheist; she a Christian. He thought he had died; she thought she had given birth to Jesus. Both have temporal lobe epilepsy.
Like other forms of epilepsy, the condition causes fitting but it is also associated with religious hallucinations. Research into why people like Rudi and Gwen saw what they did has opened up a whole field of brain science: neurotheology."
Interesting. I wonder what Richard Dawkins would have to say? Oh wait...
"Horizon introduced Dr Persinger to one of Britain's most renowned atheists, Prof Richard Dawkins. He agreed to try his techniques on Dawkins to see if he could give him a moment of religious feeling. During a session that lasted 40 minutes, Dawkins found that the magnetic fields around his temporal lobes affected his breathing and his limbs. He did not find god."
/me goes off to scour youtube and such places.
Neurotheology, eh? I'm
Neurotheology, eh? I'm having a difficult time with Mr. Sykes' connection between meditation and faith. At the risk of sounding naive, I've always thought of a meditative state as one where a person quietens his/ her inner self or shuts off the inner chatter in order to relax and just be. Faith, on the other hand, is believing in something that may or may not be there. The only tie between the two that I can make is that some people, steeped in the trappings and imagery of their religion, and having the expectation of meeting god, could conjure a religious experience while in a meditative state. While this may reinforce the person's faith, it does in no way prove the existance of god to anyone else.
Talent for religion? hmmm ...