Alpha God: The Psychology of Religious Violence and Oppression by Hector A. Garcia
“Alpha God” is an excellent book that examines religious violence and oppression through evolutionary psychology. Clinical psychologist Hector A Garcia makes the compelling case that “God” has been drawn in human form, with behaviors inherited from our primate ancestors. This persuasive 290-page book includes the following ten chapters: 1. Enter God the Dominant Ape, 2. Evolutionary Mechanisms: Etiology, 3. The Protector God, 4. Sexual Dominance: From Apes to Men to Gods, 5. Cooperative Killing, In-group Identity, and God, 6. What It Means to Kneel, 7. Maladaptive Submission to the Godhead, 8. The Fearsome Reputations of Apes, Men, and Gods, 9. God’s Territory, and 10. Righting Ourselves.
Positives:
1. Well-written and well-reasoned book.
2. An interesting topic, the psychology of religious violence and oppression. “Dominant apes and men have a long history of securing such biological treasure by perpetrating violence and oppression on lower-ranking members of their societies. Once we observe that God, too, is portrayed as having great interest in these kinds of resources, and as securing them through similar means, it becomes increasingly clear that He has emerged as neither more nor less than the highest-ranking male of all.”
3. Great use of logic and evolutionary psychology to persuade the readers at an accessible level. Garcia has great command of the topic.
4. Good reading rhythm, the author does a good job of making persuasive statements backed by science and sound logic. “Arguably the best way to understand the ultimate basis for male violence and oppression is through the evolutionary sciences.”
5. Provocative statements abound. “Human potential is so vast, but we may have limited ourselves by the gods we created.”
6. Examines dominance and its implications on behavior. “With larger populations, the roles of gods began to reflect social concerns rather than the forces of nature. Notably, gods began to more actively regulate social interactions and punish breeches of morality and cooperation.”
7. Connects dots throughout the book. “It is worth noting that this business of marking over the territorial markers of one's rivals is known to primates and proliferated among the gods of the biblical age.”
8. Describes how politics and religion intertwine. “In a political environment run by strongmen, one needs a god based on strongman psychology, one equipped for maneuvering within the dominance hierarchies of men.”
9. Describes how the grand theory of evolution shaped the mind to anthropomorphize the natural world and how this tendency resulted in man-based gods. “Of note, some theorists in these disciplines describe religion as an adaptation that facilitated cooperation among early humans. Some describe it as a by-product of existing, evolved cognitive capacities. And still others describe it as both.” “
10. The protector “God” explained. “Because the primeval social environments in which our brains evolved required us to seek protection from powerful males against dangerous predators, such a role in male gods is emotionally intuitive. The natural extension is that gods now protect us from predation.” “The results suggest that the tendency to gravitate toward powerful leaders is independent of political affiliation, and thus potentially very ancient.”
11. The concept of eternity. “What better way of assuaging fears of death than with the promise of eternal life? And as we might expect, it is a dominant male savior who provides not only protection from death by predation but protection from death itself.”
12. Sexual domination. “Violence is a prevailing strategy for winning access to females among primates, including the great apes.” “Gods in religions worldwide share an interest in sex, and the male gods seek and acquire sex in patterned, dominant-male style, with a noted preference for virgins—females free of the genes of rival males.”
13. Generous usage of biblical scripture and passages from the Koran to make compelling arguments regarding the author’s theories of violence and oppression. “The Bible is especially frank in claiming that God wants women to submit to men, for example: “Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as it is fit in the Lord.” (Col. 3:18).”
14. The concept of patriarchal altruism. “Like secular culture, religions can engender great empathy and collaboration, but they can also bring about remorseless killing. This pattern of in-group altruism and out-group enmity has been termed parochial altruism.”
15. Many examples of a biblical violence. “He totally destroyed them, as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded…. The Israelites carried off for themselves all the plunder and livestock of these cities, but all the people they put to the sword until they completely destroyed them, not sparing anyone that breathed. (Josh.11:12, 14)”
16. Religion as a source for control. “Similarly, Christianity has a long history of codified ideological control, with one example among Catholics being the dogma of papal infallibility. This dogma was promulgated by the Catholic Church at the First Vatican Council of 1870 and states that any dogmatic teaching that the pope conceives of is infallible. Such teachings are considered to be imparted directly from God and are therefore uncontestable.”
17. Depression as a form adaptation. “Evolutionary researchers have argued that self-esteem is a kind of “gauge” or “index” designed to inform adaptive goals. Such a gauge is critical in social hierarchies where individuals must understand their rank status and choose social behaviors according to their rank, particularly in regard to social competition—for example, not challenging a more dangerous, higher-ranking individual or submitting to a weaker, lower-ranking one.”
18. The origins of reputation. “Like men, God is exceedingly intolerant of threats to his reputation, most seminally in the third commandment: “Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh His name in vain.” (Exod. 20:7). Words spoken against God (or disrespecting, slighting, or otherwise not showing proper reverence) are thereafter forbidden and considered a crime known as blasphemy. This crime is also punishable by death.”
19. Legitimacy of power. “One means of ensuring the legitimacy of God's position of power has been to forbid the questioning of religious doctrines that support it.”
20. The impact od rank and power on the planet. “In sum, the research cited above finds that hierarchical, male-driven societies tend to behave in ways detrimental to the worldwide ecosystem.”
21. Links to notes.
Negatives:
1. Lack of visual supplementary material.
2. A bit repetitive.
3. Needed a little more emphasis on neuroscience.
4. I was hoping to know more about male violence. Is there a genetic difference?
In summary, a 4.5 star book. A very interesting topic done justice by the persuasive arguments made by Garcia. He makes the compelling case that there is an evolutionary connection between our primate ancestors and humans. Furthermore, humans have used hierarchy and religion to impose control on societies. A lot to like here, I highly recommend it!
Further suggestions: “God: The Most Unpleasant Character in All Fiction” by Dan Barker, “Drunk with Blood: God’s Killings in the Bible” by Steve Wells, “The End of Faith” by Sam Harris, “The God Virus: How Religion Infects Our Lives and Culture” by Darrel Ray, “The Christian Delusion” by John W. Loftus, “Fighting Words” by Hector Avalos, “Faith Versus Fact: Why Science and Religion Are Incompatible” by Jerry A. Coyne, “God and the Multiverse” by Victor J. Stenger, “Science and Religion” by Daniel C. Dennett, “Why People Believe Weird Things” by Michael Shermer, “The Soul Fallacy” by Julien Musolino, “Nonbeliever Nation” by David Niose, “Freethinkers” by Susan Jacoby, “Nailed” by David Fitzgerald, and “Think” by Guy P. Harrison.
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