8fb8be45_ior__Darwin_s_Powerful_Science__Area
[Mechanism of Replication] Closely analogous to viruses which parasitise genetic replication mechanisms, religions behave as though they are parasites on human memetic replication, converting the culture into a means for their own replication. Many forms of religion contain a meme for aggressive intolerance towards other forms so these tend to be dominant within that culture but act to isolate that culture from others, giving rise to cultural 'speciation' having no benefits to the humans within those cultures but producing highly favourable environments for perpetuation of the parasite within that isolated culture. Some forms of religion contain a meme for ensuring prolific reproduction of its carriers often resulting in poor quality of life, high perinatal mortality and high rates of poverty, and additional memes offering a spurious and irrational hope for an escape from the conditions imposed by it in the first place. Many religions offer the opportunity for a good quality of life to those who devote their lives to ensuring the perpetuation of the virus by persuading others to become infected by it by lies, deception and false promises. Ironically, the religion parasite encourages other parasites rather like viruses encourage opportunistic infection, and forms a symbiotic relationship with them. [Notes] Just as some parasites can act to control the behaviour of their hosts and bend it to their own needs, so religions appear to control the minds and behaviour of individual carriers, sacrificing them for the benefit of the religion rather than the culture they parasitise. Aggressively expansionist cultures are often driven by religious zeal, especially where the religion contains an incentive to infect ('convert') others or to remove those not infected or infected by other species of religion. Because, like other memes, religious inheriance is Lamarckian, we can choose whether to pass on the infection to our children or not, and we are free to change it at will. Religious reproduction tends to be inhibited or abolished by education which can act as an antidote giving a high degree of immunity. As with viral infections, people who have been cured of religion tend to be highly resistant to re-infection. [Area] 
Religion. Non-scientific views derived from superstition which have no basis in reality, existing as distinct memeplexes within many human cultures.
Rosa Rubicondior: Darwin's Powerful Science
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