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one another from their respective pulpits. It is probably no coincidence that there has been a huge increase in fundamentalist activity in the U.S. militaryeven as the military is in the Islamic world to battle Islamic fundamentalists. Fundamentalist groups like Christian Embassy have infiltrated the very top of the U.S. military and gained positions of influence in the Pentagon. From the U.S. Air Force Academy evangelical scandal, to Campus Crusade for Christ attempting to send thousands of conversion packets to soldiers in Iraq, evangelicals have worked hard to use the military for religious purposes. Scott Blom of Campus Crusade for Christ says in a promotional video: “Our purpose for Campus Crusade for Christ at the Air Force Academy is to make Jesus Christ the issue at the Air Force Academy and around the world. They’re government paid missionaries when they leave here.” 11
    “Fundamentalism isn’t about religion, it’s about power.”
    -Salman Rushdie
     
    Fundamentalism always seeks to infect the institutions that make its propagation easiest. Whether the U.S. military or Islamists in the Pakistani army, the purpose is always to ensure efficient propagation using already established institutions.

Non-Theistic Religions

Symbiotic Religions
    Many religions are less parasitic and more symbiotic. For example, the Druze religion of Lebanon, Syria and Israel is closed to outsiders. It has not accepted converts for over eight hundred years. This is a vertical strategy, propagating down generations largely within family and cultural boundaries. Other religions have similar strictures, such as the Yazidi of Iraq or the Amish in the United States. If you are not born into the community, you cannot become a member. If conversion is allowed, the requirements are such that it is practically impossible or very difficult.
    This can be a successful strategy. The community keeps the virus strong and, in turn, the virus binds the community closely together. Symbiotic religions, like the Druze, Yazidi and Amish, have so completely infected their members that the strictures of the religion become totally integrated into daily life. Many Hindu sects might also be seen as symbiotic as might Hutterites.

Summary
    The god virus embodies strategies for survival and propagation. Advanced viruses have defenses that are more effective than others and, as a result, they have risen to dominance over the less developed. God viruses are always mutating, and new ones may break out of viral reservoirs at any time. The best prophylactic for god viruses, especially fundamentalist variants, is science education. The more science is taught or discussed, the fewer tools a god virus has to infect populations.

CHAPTER 3:
AMERICAN CIVIL RELIGION
     
“Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by the rulers as useful.”
-Seneca the Younger (4 BCE–65 CE)

Overview
    In this chapter, we will show that in modern society, religion and culture are not the same. We will introduce the concept of cultural coupling, which happens when a religion invades an established culture. We will look specifically at the evolution of the civil religion in the United States as a case study in religious coupling.

Religion and Culture
    Culture and religion are different, though related, entities. Culture exists at a broader level than religion, especially in modern societies. Earlier societies, like the North American natives, aboriginals of Australia, Brazilian Amazonian tribes, and others, all had culture-specific religions. That is, the culture and religion were so closely tied together that they could not be separated. For example, it would be inconceivable to an Amazonian tribesman to convert to the Iroquois religion. Religion is a function of being a tribal member – the way the tribe lived and worshipped.
    Thus, tribal religion is like a virus that can only live in one species. The virus may prosper in that single species, but