Paul states that greater social and economic instability is expected to produce greater religiosity. He points to the neo-liberal policies of Thatcher and Reagan. These economic policies have been used to transfer wealth to the rich.
Richard "Selfish Gene" Dawkins developed a following of libertarians pushing social darwinism as their religion. While the term "Selfish Gene" itself is not used in the professional literature, the individualism implied has played a major role in, for example, the debates about group selection in evolutionary theory, in Friedman's and related economic theories, in certain lines of research in artificial intelligence, such as genetic algorithms, etc. So, the concept has served as a lens through which many of the “soft” science questions have been viewed over the last thirty years. Therefore, it is Dawkins' devotion to extreme individualism that has led to the increase in religious belief that he makes a business of opposing.
See the book "Unto others" for support of group selection on an intro. level.
For a more advanced treatment, see for example:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p04rhc27
ReplyDeleteCreation of Intergroup Representations in Uncertainty and Uncontrollability Conditions
ReplyDelete(Grant awarded by the Polish Ministry of Science and Education to Dr Marcin Bukowski,
in co-operation with Prof Ulrich von Hecker and Prof Małgorzata Kossowska; duration:
2009-2011)
http://www.psychologia.uj.edu.pl/images/uploads/weblog_files/SPU_profil_2009_dc22ad86c05e563aa436be9bb769231c.pdf