in a society.^8 There could be connections between these epigenetically inherit-
ed characteristics and some religious habits and values: for example, puritan-
ism might be related to an adjustment to the scarcity of resources, leaving
descendants whofind themselves in much better conditions not only with
peculiar values but also with health hazards such as diabetes, hypertonia, and
obesity, caused by their bodies’outdated approach to nutrients. It can in fact
happen that“the parents have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are
set on edge”(Ezekiel 18:2, NRSV).
2.4 BEHAVIORAL INHERITANCE AND RELIGIONThe importance of the behavioral inheritance system in religion seems self-
evident. Whereas Biblical Studies has always been under the influence of a
certain Protestant bias, focusing on theological ideas at the expense of other
dimensions of religion, recent developments in ritual studies and other areas
have somewhat compensated for this imbalance (Uro, 2010, 2016). Rituals and
other religious behaviors are often too complex to be considered as the result
of the evolution of a single trait in a single mode of inheritance. For example,
so-called superstitious conditioning develops in animals in response to repeat-
ed stimuli, such as the presentation of food to a pigeon or rat (Skinner, 1948;
Morse & Skinner, 1957). The result is ritualized behavior associated with
access to the reward (appearing in fact independently of the animal’s behav-
ior), which has also been observed in humans (Ono, 1987, pp. 261–71; Vyse,
1997). Whereas psychological traits underlying such behavior might have
evolved as adaptations (or perhaps as products of neutral evolution) (Foster
& Kokko, 2009), actual superstitious rituals can be copied as successful
cultural memes, irrespective of their influence on the individual. Magic inte-
grates such behavioral elements with symbolic interpretation and technologies
(see Chapter 6 below).
Rituals can be adaptive at the individual or group level. The study of the
connection between religion and health is aflourishing area, even if some
research too hastily establishing positive effects has come under criticism
(Hood et al., 2009, pp. 437–45). The rather straightforward beneficial effects
of stress-relieving ritual behavior, for example, cannot be denied (Sosis, 2007;
Hood et al., 2009, p. 439). Other behavior leading to subjective religious
(^8) A well-studied human case is the Dutch “hungerwinter” of 1944/5 (Moore, 2015,
pp. 125–6). Children who were gestated during this period suffered long-term problems from
the malnutrition of their mothers. Unexpectedly, children who were impacted in thefirst six
months of pregnancy ran higher risk of obesity as adults. Animal studies confirmed this and
related effects.
Evolution 41