Jefferson Center hosts video of talk by Hector Garcia, followed by discussion at Historic Ashland Armory
The Jefferson Center will present a program and discussion focusing on the work of Dr. Hector A. Garcia, whose most recent book is “Sex, Power, and Partisanship: How Evolutionary Science Makes Sense of Our Political Divide” at 4 p.m. Sunday, March 12, in Suite 101 in the Historic Ashland Armory, 208 Oak St.
Questions posed by Garcia include: Do big religions have “Alpha Male” gods because men want multiple sexual partners and women are sexually attracted to dominant males? If so, where did this come from? And who can we blame? Our own evolutionary psychology, he says. But we can behave differently.
The clinical psychologist, also author of “Alpha God: The Psychology of Religious Violence and Oppression” (Prometheus Books, 2015), explored these topics in a talk last year at the national convention of the Freedom From Religion Foundation. He stresses “the ancient legacy of instincts that we inherited from our primate ancestors.” We are “bound to biology,” he maintains, accounting for our notions of a God who inspires not only male power and dominance but also is an object of female sexual desire. His theories have implications for current issues, including regulating birth control, violence against women, and legally sanctioned murder of wives, event organizers say.
After viewing a video of the talk, discussion will be led by Sandra Coyner, Ph.D., longtime Jefferson Center member and emerita professor who taught history, women’s studies, and critical thinking, at several universities, including Southern Oregon University. Participants will consider both the validity of Garcia’s claims and his use of evidence from the controversial field of evolutionary psychology.
The event is free and open to the public. It is part of the Salon Series at The Jefferson Center, a Rogue Valley nonprofit focused on critical thinking using secular humanist values to understand and engage with issues important to our community. See thejeffcenter.org for more details on this and other events.
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