Majority and elite endorsement boosts a religious belief’s cultural spread.

Evidence

Second, some variants of beliefs travel well not only because of their potent content but also because of the features of the cultural models who happen to endorse the beliefs. Setting aside the content of what to believe, when in doubt, people typically turn to the majority opinion (“when in Rome, do as the Romans do”). People also care deeply about what the prestigious or successful individuals in their local societies believe, and often selectively adopt beliefs or behaviors from these potent cultural models. Religious beliefs and behaviors are no exception to this general principle: supernatural watchers get a big boost in the cultural marketplace if they are already endorsed by (1) the majority opinion, and (2) the high-status opinion-makers in a group. — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 129

Categorization

• XREF: Directly relevant to the reader’s fumi-e analysis: destroying public endorsement (via forced trampling) yanks away both the majority-opinion and prestige channels that propagate the Big God belief.
• QUESTION: If Big God beliefs spread partly through prestige copying, does public apostasy destroy their spread even without coercion working on belief itself?