Existential anxiety increases religious conviction while appeased anxiety weakens it

Evidence

The notion that death and suffering intensify religiosity is surprising to some—shouldn’t these conditions make people lose faith and turn into apostates? This is the well-known problem of theodicy that has troubled some theologians and philosophers: how can we reconcile the existence of human suffering with a God who is omnipotent, omniscient, and benevolent? But of course, such a rational response to suffering is a luxury few can afford. In the face of existential angst, believers typically seek refuge in religion. Experimental studies from psychology show that when existential worries intensify, religious inclinations increase. And conversely, when these worries are appeased, religious conviction wanes. — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 615

Categorization

• XREF: Directly relevant to the reader’s analytical project: Rodrigues’ suffering under persecution should deepen rather than weaken his faith — supports the novel’s depiction of the apostatizing priest’s inner turmoil. — connects to: Existentialist anxiety is the vertigo of realizing one’s own freedom — Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café: Freedom,…, 61; The demand for concreteness in philosophy stems from primordial anxiety — Herbert Marcuse, One-Dimensional Man: Studies in the…, 744
• QUESTION: Does terror management theory’s God-spike explain why martyrs hold firm while apostates crack? The novel hinges on exactly this asymmetry.