Commitment to one god does not require denying other gods’ existence

Evidence

I quickly came to the realization that religion in Nepal is like soccer in Europe or hockey in Canada. One could be a passionate fan of Manchester United, but this devotee of Man U would not, of course, deny the existence of Barcelona. These observations led to two insights: (1) that commitment to a god does not imply denial of the existence of other gods (except in the peculiar Abrahamic tradition), and (2) that one can believe in the existence of a god without worshipping this god. Once again, what explains passionate commitment to a particular god is influenced by what kind of cognitive content this god has, but not just—to get potent Big Gods, cultural exposure and the witnessing of credible displays of commitment to that particular god in one’s group are also required. — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 374

Categorization

• SHARE: The soccer analogy for polytheistic commitment is a perfect nerdy tidbit for someone into comparative religion.
• ADDENDUM: Directly evidences the mechanism the reader seeks: credible public displays of commitment (like refusing the fumi-e) build group solidarity, while observable apostasy destroys partner choice.