Belief in a god is separable from commitment to it, except in monotheism.
Evidence
Commitment implies belief, but one could believe in the existence of a god without being committed to that god. In the Abrahamic tradition, belief and commitment are conflated, but that is just an odd consequence of monotheism, which, despite its spectacular cultural success in the last two millennia, was historically a rarity in the cultures of the world. — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 373
Categorization
Category: Definitional Content
- XREF: Conflicts with the reader’s claim that the fumi-e destroys partner choice—the Japanese targeting visible commitment rather than private belief fits this split exactly.
Related
- Commitment to a god and belief in that god are separable mental states. (similarity 0.91)
- Belief in a deity and committed worship of that deity are psychologically distinct (similarity 0.85)
- Belief-commitment differs fundamentally from mere mental representation of gods (similarity 0.81)
- Belief-commitment, not mental representation alone, distinguishes worshipped gods (similarity 0.80)
- Supernatural beliefs require cultural commitment to become religion, not just cognitive content. (similarity 0.80)
- Commitment to one god does not require denying other gods’ existence (similarity 0.80)
Broader Connections
- Worshiping one god does not require denying other gods exist.
#contradicts(0.85) — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 374 - Religious belief requires intuitive mentalizing about a personal God
#corroborates(0.82) — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 584 - Believing in God is inseparable from anthropomorphizing God as a personlike mind
#corroborates(0.80) — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 77 - Supernatural beliefs require cultural commitment to become religion, not just cognitive content.
#corroborates(0.80) — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 367