Religion drives intergroup conflict through three mutable pathways, not belief alone

Evidence

The entire argument in this book can be summarized in eight interrelated principles. … 2. Religion is more in the situation than in the person. … 5. Religious actions speak louder than words. … 8. Religious groups cooperate in order to compete. — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 19 (#expands, via linked claim)

Thus, unlike the Good Samaritan study and ones like it, religious involvement predicted greater contributions to the public good, and greater likelihood of cooperation. One key difference is that reminders of God are likely to be more chronically present in religious kibbutz, madrassahs, and Candomble communities, where religious prayer and attendance are a daily part of life. Another is that prosociality in these communities clearly benefited in-group members (despite being anonymous), whereas in the Good Samaritan study, the victim was a total stranger. It is also possible that regular, communal prayer involves public ritual participation, which, independent of devotion to a morally concerned deity, might also encourage more prosociality. — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 183 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Religion factors into most wars but rarely causes them — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 512; Religion bundles separable traits whose conflict roles must be disaggregated; Religious participation, not belief, drives support for intergroup conflict (+4 more)

Related

• Religious participation, not belief, drives support for intergroup conflict (similarity 0.95)
• Religious behavior depends on situational context, observable action, and intergroup competition (similarity 0.88)
• Prosocial religious groups outcompeted rivals through internal cooperation. (similarity 0.86)
• Chronic, communal, in-group religious practice drives the prosociality effect (similarity 0.86)
• Costly religious requirements directly explain group longevity in communes (similarity 0.85)
• Religion drives conflict through three fluid pathways that also allow it to reduce conflict (similarity 0.84)
• Religion bundles separable traits whose conflict roles must be disaggregated (similarity 0.83)
• The religious-belief explanation for intergroup violence remains scientifically untested. (similarity 0.82)
• Prosocial religions helped groups scale up, especially in intense borderland conflict (similarity 0.82)
• Religion factors into most wars but rarely causes them (similarity 0.82)
• Costly rites mobilize male solidarity and spread culturally through intergroup competition. (similarity 0.82)
• Situation beats stated religiosity in predicting selfishness (similarity 0.81)
• Religion’s civic effect depends on cross-group connections beyond private virtue (similarity 0.81)
• Religiosity predicts helping only when one can be seen doing it (similarity 0.81)
• Witnessing an intense ritual boosts prosociality as much as participating in it (similarity 0.80)

Broader Connections

• Religious participation, not belief, drives support for intergroup conflict #corroborates (0.95)
• Religious behavior depends on situational context, observable action, and intergroup competition #expands (0.85) — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 19
• Chronic, communal, in-group religious practice drives the prosociality effect #corroborates (0.80) — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 183
• Crisis-time scapegoating of religious out-groups masks political and economic causes #exemplifies (0.78)