Hunter-gatherer gods are weak, morally indifferent, and self-interested

Evidence

In this strictly defined subsample, he found that the gods and spirits occasionally intervene, but typically care little about human affairs that we would consider falling under the label moral. Despite substantial coverage of each society’s religion, few reveal supernatural sanctions for lying, stealing, disrespect to elders, adultery, fighting, or cheating. For example, only four of the eighteen societies have gods that prohibit cheating, and only seven prohibit murder, even though all societies disapprove of and socially sanction these behaviors. — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 415 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

In fact, they varied in size and social complexity. Nevertheless, the point remains that in the smallest-scale foraging societies, many gods and spirits have limited or little concern for human moral behavior. — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 815 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Hunter-gatherer religion exists entirely without moralizing deities or organized worship.; Hunter-gatherer gods lacked wide moral concern and omniscience — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 415; Foraging societies’ gods rarely enforce moral rules that humans themselves uphold — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 815 (+1 more)

Related

• Hunter-gatherer religion exists entirely without moralizing deities or organized worship. (similarity 0.96)
• Hunter-gatherer gods lacked wide moral concern and omniscience (similarity 0.94)
• Foraging societies’ gods rarely enforce moral rules that humans themselves uphold (similarity 0.90)
• Early hunter-gatherer gods cared about ritual, not moral behavior. (similarity 0.89)
• Moralizing gods were rare in ancestral foraging religions (similarity 0.87)
• Forager deities are weak, ignorant, and indifferent to human morality (similarity 0.86)
• Water-scarce societies tend to develop moralizing gods (similarity 0.85)
• Foraging peoples’ deities lack power, knowledge, and moral concern (similarity 0.84)
• Moralizing gods are a minority across documented world cultures (similarity 0.84)
• Small-scale foraging societies lack omniscient moralizing gods, refuting gene-only accounts (similarity 0.83)
• Some deities possess spatially bounded omniscience limited to their own territory (similarity 0.83)
• Hunter-gatherer groups lack the Big Gods of modern religions (similarity 0.82)
• Gods’ moral involvement grows with group size culturally (similarity 0.79)
• Big Gods are absent among hunter-gatherer societies like the Hadza (similarity 0.78)

Broader Connections

• Hunter-gatherer gods lacked wide moral concern and omniscience #corroborates (0.95) — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 415
• Foraging societies’ gods rarely enforce moral rules that humans themselves uphold #expands (0.92) — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 815