This is Your Brain on God

Debate has long raged between atheists and the faithful about whether God is all in our heads, and the discovery of a so-called "God module" in the brain has only fanned the flames. While a group of neuroscientists at the University of San Diego were studying the brain patterns of epileptics, they stumbled across something they weren't expecting: that epileptics who suffer a certain kind of seizure are often intensely religious, reporting an unusual number of visions, communications with God and even paranormal experiences. Further tests revealed that there's a specific place in the temporal lobe (the aforementioned "module") which flares up when faithful subjects are asked questions about their faith, and that this spot was a common focal point for electrical discharges during epileptic seizures. Those San Diego neuroscientists quickly issued forth a theory: that "there may be dedicated neural machinery in the temporal lobes concerned with religion, which may have evolved to impose order and stability on society." So did our brains create God -- or did God create our brains?

We're hearing more all the time about religion through the lens of neuroscience, and much of what's come out has been like the two examples above -- a fascinating mixed bag. What do you think? Do these studies prove or disprove anything? Can science and religion be friends and play nice?