Hunter-gatherer gods lacked wide moral concern and omniscience

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

Categorization

• XREF: Directly anchors the reader’s Baumard partner-choice point: moralizing gods are absent in small egalitarian foraging bands, supporting the claim that enforcement concerns appear only with larger, anonymous groups. — connects to: Hunter-gatherer religion exists entirely without moralizing deities or organized worship.; Big God belief enabled group cooperation that agriculture alone could not achieve.; Hunter-gatherer gods are weak, morally indifferent, and self-interested (+9 more)
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 415

Broader Connections

• Agricultural societies favor doctrinal rituals and moralistic Big Gods #expands (0.82) — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 427
• Some cultures may lack a distinct moral domain #corroborates (0.78) — Nicolas Baumard, A mutualistic approach to morality, 489
• Vengeful Gods make more potent moral monitors than kind Gods #expands (0.75) — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 159
• The gods deliberately dimmed human vision to prevent equality with themselves #exemplifies (0.72) — , A Year of World Stories, 10270