Includes bibliographical references and index.

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Intro; Practicing Safe Sects: Religious Reproduction in Scientific and Philosophical Perspective; Copyright; Dedication; Contents; Preface; 1 Having "The Talk" about Religious Reproduction; Where Do Gods Come From?; What are the Consequences of "Doing It"?; Explaining the Nature and Nurture of Supernatural Conceptions; The Mechanisms of Anthropomorphic Promiscuity; The Mechanisms of Sociographic Prudery; The Reciprocal Reinforcement of Theogonic Mechanisms; The Anaphrodisiacal Effects of Science, Philosophy and Theology; 2 Bearing Gods in Mind and Culture

Anthropomorphic Promiscuity and Sociographic PruderyConceiving God; The Fracture of an Illusion; Talking to the Enemy; Supernatural Selection; The Philosophical, Psychological, and Political Significance of the Bio-Cultural Study of Religion; 3 Excavating Theogonies; "Bearing Gods" in the Neolithic; Burials, Bulls, and Proprietary Production; Anthropomorphic Promiscuity at �Catalh�oy�uk; Sociographic Prudery at �Catalh�oy�uk; Theolytic Mechanisms in Science and Theology; 4 How to Survive the Anthropocence; Climate Change, Cultural Cognition and "Religion"; Homo deiparensis

The Reciprocity of God-Bearing BiasesAdaptive Atheism; 5 Can Theism be Defeated?; Step 1. Leave the Cul-de-sac of Deductive/Inductive Arguments; Step 2. Start at the Site of Alleged Religious Abductions; Step 3. Don't be Afraid to Pursue Retroductive Destinations; 6 The Atheist Machine; Atheism and Schizoanalysis; Theogonic Mechanisms: How Gods are Born(e); Monotheistic Memories: The Birth of (A)theism; Deleuzian Social-Machines in Bio-Cultural Perspective; Becoming-Atheist; 7 Theology after Pandora; Bearing Gods in Mind and Culture; Avatar Theology; Evangelical Supernatural Agent Coalitions

Iconoclastic Theology for TerrestrialsTheology after Pandora (and Eve); 8 Wising Up: The Evolution of Natural Theology; The Sophianic Theo-drama Hypothesis as a Religious "Adaptation"; Is the "Natural" Niche of Christian Theology Shrinking?; The Evolution of Natural(ist) Theology; 9 What's the Use?; Neville's Anthropomorphic Prudery and Sociographic Promiscuity; Pragmatic Reflections on Religious Reproduction; 10 Dis-integrating Psychology and Theology; Letting It All Fall Apart; Dis-integrating Psychology; Dis-integrating Theology; Dis-integrating Selves; Dis-integrating Gods

Holding It All Together11 Religion and the Prizing of Peace; Kailash Satyarthi; Malala Yousafzai; Children, Religion, and Violence; 12 Practicing Safe Sects; But Isn't "Religion" Supposed to be Good for Us?; Safe Sects and Analytic Thought; Safe Sects and Altruistic Behavior; The Reciprocal Reinforcement of Theolytic Mechanisms; The (Methodological) Joy of (Simulating) Sects; Bibliography; Index

Where do gods come from - and what is the cost of bearing them? In Practicing Safe Sects F. LeRon Shults argues for the importance of having "the talk" about the causes and consequences of participating in religious sects. To survive and thrive as a social species, we humans are likely to continue needing some kind of sects (as well as sex) for quite some time. But can we learn how to practice safe sects? Can we live together in healthy and productive social networks without reproducing the superstitious beliefs and segregative behaviors that are engendered and nurtured by shared ritual engagement with imagined supernatural agents? In this provocative and timely book, Shults provides scientific and philosophical resources for answering these questions.

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