Secular cooperative societies emerged through institutions that displaced religion

Evidence

In the popular imagination, religion is the antithesis of secularism, yet history and psychology reveal unexpected continuities. The final great surprise of the argument in this book is the religious origins of secular societies, which is the topic of chapter 10. How did Big Groups manage to emerge and thrive without Big Gods in the last few hundred years? Largely atheist social welfare states in Scandinavia give us striking clues as to the particular kinds of institutions, practices, and social conditions that can displace religion and build godless but cooperative societies. — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 54

Categorization

• XREF: Directly relevant to the reading purpose: the mechanism of how secular states substitute for Big Gods tracks the Big God/partner-choice framework and what might replace omniscient-gaze enforcement. — connects to: Secular society is the first major cultural rival to religiously organized cooperation — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 502
• QUESTION: What specific institutions in Scandinavia displaced religion while sustaining cooperation? This is the promised payoff that chapter 10 will detail.