Moist Meat

Professor Lionel Tiger

Lionel Tiger is an anthropology professor at Rutgers University who wrote a piece in The Wall Street Journal titled Is the Supernatural Only Natural? He thinks God is brain chemistry.

Tiger believes faith in God is the result of  “links between social behavior and brain chemistry.” He notes that social interaction causes secretion of serotonin, an opiate-like hormone, and asserts “… religion is a natural system that replaces what we call “brainpain,” with its antidote, “brainsoothing.”” In other words, religious social interaction triggers serotonin to soothe our souls (or whatever it soothes, considering that Tiger doesn’t believe in souls).

Another observation: “Religion tastes sweet to the brain – especially the remarkable idea of an afterlife that holds people accountable for their sweaty and ambiguous earthly lives and rewards or deprives them elsewhere.” Tiger thinks the afterlife is a ridiculous idea and “… research concerning the moist meat in our skull” shows brain function is the source of religion, not the supernatural.

He thinks religion depends “more on the imaginative and deeply felt assertions of thinkers and advocates than on the kind of tough evidence, for example, required in a legal trial for fraud.” Let’s ignore the smugness and look at what he’s saying.

His claim that faith can't produce trial evidence is a cheap shot because Tiger's position on religion wouldn’t pass muster in court either. The question is, “What does the evidence support?” whether it's usable in court or not.  He claims the brain produces religious experience. If so, why does this ability exist at all? Isn't  it more plausible to believe man is deliberately wired to experience a real God than to think it's just there for no particular reason?

Tiger believes “very few people are convinced by theology”. It’s anybody’s guess why he thinks this, since there are questions that can only be answered by faith. For instance, where did our highly organized universe come from? Tiger probably thinks it magically “appeared” while the faithful see the hand of a Creator, just like Einstein did.

And how does he account for verifed out-of-body experiences or personal miracles that can’t be chalked up to coincidence? There’s more to these than serotonin.

Tiger rejects the idea of reward and punishment in an afterlife. But the prospect of divine judgment is a practical incentive to live by the Golden Rule. Without God’s influence, why would man behave morally? If we’re just soulless “moist meat” we’re merely self-absorbed critters– which is the way many have been behaving.

Our society has developed major problems after flouting God’s teachings and this decline demonstrates the rightness of God’s direction. It’s a vindication of His teachings and further proof of His reality.

It’ll be hard for Tiger to convince a jury in his “legal trial for fraud” that serotonin even comes close to explaining it all.



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