Video excerpts from Michael Dowd presentation: Cold Spring, May 2008
16 minutes
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*QUICKTIME *Phone(Reprinted from www.thankgodforevolution.com with permission of the author)Governor of New York, Lieutenant Governor of New York, Mayor of
Detroit: Recently, the men occupying these powerful posts have had
their sexual indiscretions publicly aired. The Governor’s alleged
cross-state tryst with a prostitute, and the mayor’s indictment for
perjury in his previous denial of sexual impropriety entangled in
government business, could subject both to felony charges. Governor
Eliot Spitzer, now-Governor David Paterson, and Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick
thus join the ranks of American political (and religious) leaders whose
legacies have been marred or even destroyed by sex scandals.
Among the reports and commentaries I have sampled on these three
events, none thus far has offered a perspective that will provide
future governmental leaders with any real help in staying the path.
Heightened fear, perhaps. But fear subsides over time — or is
decisively over-ruled in the moment by the powerful urges of (what I
like to call) our “Lizard Legacy,” supercharged by jolts of
testosterone that are both cause and consequence of a significant rise
in status. As I wrote in my book (referring to the fall of Pastor Ted
Haggard and the impeachment proceedings of President Bill Clinton),
“Have we learned anything from these personal and public tragedies? I would venture this: So
long as religious and political leaders continue to ignore our
evolutionary heritage, and thus do not put in place structures of
internal and external support that can withstand the high dosages of
testosterone that high status and power necessarily confer, then there
will be no hope for a less calamitous future. — TGFE p. 148
How, specifically, would an evolutionary understanding offer
effective guidance? First, let us consider the science. Again from my
book:
“Our reptilian brain [what I call, our Lizard Legacy] truly has its own
agenda, a set of three ultimate goals: sustenance, survival, and sex.
Evolution found ways to make sexual fulfillment extraordinarily
pleasurable in order to ensure procreation. But the penis, in
particular, doesn’t remember the ‘in order to’ part of the deal.” —
TGFE p. 147
“Sexual drives that would lead to marital infidelity may, of course,
be quiescent in some individuals, but there is a well-established link
between high levels of testosterone and how insistent and relentless
the sexual drives become. Moreover, there is a well-established link in
mammals between gains in status and elevated levels of testosterone.
Either can cause an upswing in the other. So even if we begin our
social climbing with our internal ‘assassin’ adequately restrained,
once our status exceeds a threshold, without support and accountability
our elevated hormones may be our undoing. As our secret indiscretions
become public, our paleomammalian drive to maintain high status kicks
in big time, such that we are tempted to violate other moral principles
as well—by lying, blaming others, covering up, perhaps even
blackmailing possible informants and threatening them with physical
harm. — TGFE p. 147
Science leads to self-understanding, which opens the way for truly effective self-help practices:
“Appreciating that unwanted inclinations are part of
our heritage doesn’t mean we must do their bidding. But it does help us
accept that the yearnings themselves need not be judged as shameful —
and thus we don’t have to be in denial about their existence. A man
choosing to live in a committed, monogamous relationship with a woman,
for example, can accept that sexually promiscuous thoughts
(heterosexual and/or homosexual) are natural and to be expected from
time to time. This is true even for those who are completely happy with
their partner. Only from the stance of acceptance can one effectively
notice and then seek peer support and accountability to remain in
integrity when unwanted urges do arise.” — TGFE p. 145
“As I walk an evolutionary path of personal salvation,
humility is a requisite, for I cannot save myself by myself. Original
Sin runs deep. My Lizard Legacy is too powerful, and my Furry Li’l
Mammal lives in a world of small and often selfish concerns. I need
others and, in fact, I need the Whole of Reality. Here we see another
face of deep-time grace in and through evolutionary psychology and
brain science. How much more workable to accept ourselves, in all our
flaws, rather than to resist those inborn aspects as if they shouldn’t
be! Instincts simply are, and we can see how they served our
ancestors. Now, how do we go about the task of channeling those
energies in integrous ways, with equanimity and insight rather than
white-knuckle horror?” — TGFE p. 169
Accountability is key. Here are some practices that promote accountability and community nurturance:
“Integrity is not a solo sport; it is a community undertaking. For this reason, I dream of the day when baptism
in a Christian church comes to mean this: We know that Original Sin
cannot be washed away by a daub of water. Rather, the baptismal act is
a commitment by the community to lovingly guide the baptized individual
through all of life’s stages and through every challenge, using the
awareness and tools that God has revealed and will continue to reveal
through the time-tested wisdom of our cultural and religious
inheritance and the public revelations of science. The religious
community would provide structures of education and support that would
acquaint us with our evolved Quadrune Brain: our Lizard Legacy, our
Furry Li’l Mammal, our Monkey Mind, and our Higher Porpoise. In
adolescence and continuing throughout adulthood, our baptismal
community would be counted for peer counseling, recovery work, and
encouragement of our Higher Porpoise through participation in
evo-integrity groups.” — TGFE p. 174
In summary,
“There is profound relief in knowing that the
inclinations we most dislike in ourselves and others are often not of
our or their own doing. In a way, our flaws are not our fault. We
didn’t choose them; nor did others. We all, to some extent, inherited
them. Our inherited proclivities were shaped by the particulars of our
human, mammalian, and vertebrate evolutionary journeys, nuanced by the
developmental journey each of us navigates from womb to tomb. This gift
of understanding is the foundation for any lasting transformation. It
encourages us to move beyond denial or condemnation and simply accept
that there are powerful drives within all of us that we did not choose.
Once relaxed and accepting, we can begin to forgive self and others for
past transgressions. This forgiveness, in turn, clears the board and
gives us the courage to look full-square at our current situation and
from that vantage to embark on realistic paths for bettering our lives,
enriching our relationships, and blessing our world.” — TGFE p. 154
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