Table of Contents  (pdf version)

1. Why is Religion Like an Elephant's DNA?

You Don't Know Yahweh
The Replicating Chicken Meme
Xeroxing Information
The Expensive Carpool Lane
A Meme by Any Other Name
Three Sources of Knowledge
Our Path
A Bit About Evolution

Interlude: Grandpa and the Sunset

2. Religion's Infancy

1st Trend: The General-Purpose God Meme
2nd Trend: The Monotheism Meme
3rd Trend: The Intolerance Meme
4th Trend: The Globalization Meme
5th Trend: The Abstract-God Meme
6th Trend: The Godly-Origin-of-Morals Meme
7th Trend: The Kindness Meme
8th Trend: The Asexual Meme
9th Trend: The Anti-Rationalism Meme
The Synergy of the Nine Trends

Interlude: The Big V

3. Evolution and Memes

When Does Information Become a Meme?
Reproduction
Survival of the Fittest
Mutation
Wrestling with God
Overpopulation
The Ideosphere and Niches
Memeplexes
Religion as Memes
The Danger of the Metaphor
An Example: Was Joseph Jesus' Father or Not?
Summary: Evolution and Memes

Interlude: A Prayer

4. Religion Grows Up

Reprise: Abraham to Jesus
3rd Trend Revisited: The Intolerance Meme Grows Up
4th Trend Revisited: St. Paul expands the Globalization Meme
10th Trend: The Guilt Meme
11th Trend: The Heaven and Hell Memes
12th Trend: The Proselytism Meme
13th Trend: The Martyrdom Meme
14th Trend: The Armageddon Meme
Synergy: Guilt, Heaven, Hell, Monotheism, and Intolerance

Interlude: Going to the Moon

5. The Invisible Watchmaker

The Worst Programmer in the World
The Invisible Watchmaker
Hierarchical Design: The Golden Gate Bridge
Design without a Designer
A Corollary
Religion Has No Design or Purpose

Interlude: Billy the Racist

6. Why Do Humans Talk?

Is Language Adaptive or Accidental?
Evolution is Slow
The Speedy Alternative
Intentional Memes
Bad Memes Aren't Fatal
High-Bandwidth Evolution
Meme Stability
Memes: One of Evolution's "Good Tricks"

Interlude: The Southern Baptists

7. Why is Religion So Appealing?

Dogs and Cuckoo Birds
What is a Parasite?
What is Natural Selection?
Why Is Religion So Appealing?
Why Start so Young?

Interlude: My Wife's Faith

8. Aliens, Parasites and a Paradox

Religious Niches
Epidemics
Parasites, Hitchhikers, and Symbiotes
Alien Invaders
Sickle-Cell Anemia – Taking the Good with the Bad
The Atheist's Paradox

Interlude: Shakespeare, Genesis and the Big Bang

9. Religion, Technology and Government

Cargo Cults
Religion and Military Technology
Guns, Germs and Steel
The Synergy of Religion, Technology and Government
One Nation Under God

Interlude: Aunt Carolyn's Un-Baptism

10. Closing Sermon

Reprise: Where We've Been
Where are we Going?

References