Moral intuitions bind strangers into sacred communities that outcompete rivals

Evidence

In light of the intergroup competition that has marked so much of human history, commitment mechanisms delivered by religious prosociality begin to make sense. They collectively facilitate the sacrificing of self-interest for the common good, a hallmark of prosocial religious groups that binds individuals—often complete strangers—into cohesive moral communities. As Jonathan Haidt shows, much of morality is rooted in social intuitions in the service of gluing individuals together to form “sacred” communities. These moral binds make collective but anonymous social life possible and successful in competition with rival groups. This idea contradicts a long line of thinking in psychology and philosophy, which asserts that moral judgments are the product of abstract decision-making among isolated, rational individuals. — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 465

Categorization

• XREF: Connects directly to the reader’s Big Gods analytical integration — moral systems functioning as commitment mechanisms mirror the omniscient-gaze mechanism enforcing moral behavior in the novel. — connects to: Ritual participation plus perceived threat converts disputed preferences into sacred values. — Hammad Sheikh and Jeremy Ginges and Alin Coman and Scott Atran, Religion, group threat and sacred values, 58; People behave as intuitive theologians defending sacred values, not just as economists or scientists. — Philip E. Tetlock, Thinking the unthinkable: sacred values…, 39; Moral communities reject Enlightenment rationality for certain sacred domains — Philip E. Tetlock, Thinking the unthinkable: sacred values…, 41
• DEFINE: Introduces Haidt’s view that morality is rooted in social intuitions binding communities, contrasting with rationalist models.