Religious belief withers when governments provide the cooperation religion once supplied.

Evidence

We know that supernatural monitoring is far from the only source of prosociality in the world. Secular authorities have joined (and perhaps supplanted) watchful gods as guarantors of cooperation in some places, with interesting psychological consequences that I discuss in more detail in chapter 10. There is extensive evidence for this claim from the field, and preliminary evidence from the lab. In the field, economists and sociologists consistently find that people living in societies with strong secular institutions, compared to those living in societies with weak institutions, are far more trusting of other citizens, more prosocial, and more likely to punish freeriders. In the laboratory, we have seen in chapter 3 that reminders of secular concepts (for example, civic, jury, police) are as effective as reminders of a watchful God in promoting generous behavior among Canadians. This suggests an intriguing dynamic, that when it comes to enforcing cooperation and trust, gods and governments may be interchangeable. — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 302 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Chinese civilization may have scaled up through secular alternatives to religion; Secular welfare states displaced religion by replicating its cooperative functions; Gods and governments may be interchangeable enforcers of cooperation — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 302 (+8 more)

Related

• Gods and governments may be interchangeable enforcers of cooperation (similarity 0.93)
• Divine and secular authority are inseparable in explaining belief (similarity 0.92)
• Gods and governments serve interchangeable functions of surveillance, comfort, and control (similarity 0.91)
• Secular institutions and watchful gods are interchangeable in enforcing cooperation and trust (similarity 0.89)
• Secular governments and religious belief serve interchangeable functions, so strong states supplant gods. (similarity 0.86)
• Big Gods historically bound anonymous strangers together where courts and police were absent (similarity 0.85)
• Chinese civilization may have scaled up through secular alternatives to religion (similarity 0.85)
• Strong secular rule of law sustains trust and cooperation without religion (similarity 0.84)
• Gods and governments occupy the same functional niche in human psychology (similarity 0.84)
• Gods functioned as witnesses enforcing commercial oaths in ancient markets (similarity 0.84)
• Secular institutions substitute for supernatural monitoring by enabling trust in strangers. (similarity 0.83)
• Religious cues harness situational power where secular institutions are absent (similarity 0.83)
• Strong secular institutions substitute for and undermine belief in God (similarity 0.83)
• Strong secular institutions raise trust and cooperation for believers and nonbelievers alike (similarity 0.83)
• Secular institutions can replace religion’s community-building and cooperation functions (similarity 0.82)

Broader Connections

• Secular welfare states displaced religion by replicating its cooperative functions #corroborates (0.95)
• Secular institutions achieved large-scale cooperation by usurping religion’s community-building role #corroborates (0.95)
• Gods and governments may be interchangeable enforcers of cooperation #expands (0.88) — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 302