Geneticists exposes insincere believers

The incredibly sweeping inclination for belief in God among the Russian population is getting really intricate nowadays

Today, the basically atheistic world, not only Russia but also America and Europe, reveals incredibly sweeping inclination for belief in God. Most likely, people always believed in God but never made it a public issue. However, within the two centuries of atheism the belief in God has somewhat gone out of fashion.

What we have been witnessing during the two centuries of atheism was a war with God, the other side of belief; at that the vehemence with which the war was waged revealed its religious origin. Ardent atheism in fact proves to be the reverse side of belief, Russian writer Fyodor Dostoyevsky emphasized the fact in his works. Recently, Francis Fukuyama stated we must admit that both religion and religious feelings are still alive.

The faithful may consider the statement rather stupid. However, this makes sense for the secular society. The craving for divine has survived among people even in the present pragmatic epoch, which is a serious fact indeed.

Researchers also realize that belief in God has become widely spread in the society these days. It is reported that American biologists have opened the gene of belief in God. They say electronic equipment may help determine if people are sincere believers or not. It is really a sensation to explain man’s natural religiousness with the aid of genetics. One of John Updike's last novels "Roger's Version" is devoted to the computer explanation of God's existence.

Today, the demonstration of belief in God has become part of everyday life and is getting really habitual for us. Many of us wear gold crucifixes just like ordinary jewelry, keep the fast to lose flesh or dip into ice-holes to make health stronger. People’s way to belief in God is not always hard and conscientious as it must be. People just love the poetic tradition of baptizing children, wedding, sanctifying of water and fruits and Orthodox divine services. They are clear even for ordinary people who are unaware of the anapest and never read the theological literature.

In fact, the belief in God is not just mere fashion or an attempt to employ religious traditions for the sake of propagation and for some political intrigues. At the same time, this sweeping popularity of belief in God is not just a merit of the church. This is probably the necessity for ordinary people to change their life cluttered up with TV shows. This is also the natural desire to plunge into the kind, solemn and natural atmosphere of religious life. The sincerity of the world is undoubted as it is very old. The belief in God has become part of the mass culture in its positive meaning. For many people it has become a life style to put on a candle in church and ask God to take care of their relatives' health. May be there is some molecular explanation to the fact, but it is rather the desire to have some stable mode of life, observe traditions and change the routine. In other words, the belief in God is an unconscious necessity to get protected from the rude world.

On the photo: The Temple of Christ The Savior in Moscow

Nikolay Klimontovich