Religious belief and social belonging form one integrated system.

Evidence

The argument in this book is an attempt at integrating these two perspectives—the social and the cognitive—which are currently seen as competing accounts. … I argue instead for a third way, which nevertheless retains key insights of these distinct views. Belief in certain kinds of supernatural watchers—Big Gods—is an essential ingredient that, along with rituals and other interlocking sets of social commitment devices, glued together total strangers into ever-larger moral communities as cultural evolution gained pace in the past twelve millennia. Thus, we do not have to choose between Hume and Durkheim. On the contrary, believing and belonging come together in religion as an integrated whole. — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 49

Categorization

• DEFINE: States the book’s central synthesis thesis: belief (Hume/cognitive) and belonging (Durkheim/social) are not competing accounts but two halves of one mechanism — the exact frame the reader needs for the Silence analysis.
• XREF: Directly integrates with the reader’s purpose: the omniscient-gaze (belief) and public ritual/partner choice (belonging) are precisely the two halves this thesis unifies, and the fumi-e is where they are forcibly severed. — connects to: Consensus governance across diverse Tribes held together by a shared spiritual foundation — Luke W. Cole and Sheila R. Foster, From the Ground Up: Environmental…, 627; Congregational life generates communal belonging while steering clear of politics — Robert P. Jones, White Too Long: The Legacy of White…, 212