Strong secular institutions substitute for and undermine belief in God

Evidence

Despite the American exception, as a rule, and with the usual caveat “all-else-being-equal,” strong secular institutions significantly dampen believers’ distrust of atheists. Nevertheless, cross-cultural studies such as this one, as insightful as they are, have one big weakness: they cannot tell us with certainty the causal direction of the effect. There is always the possibility that some other third variable that we did not think of causes societies to develop strong institutions and causes people who live in these societies to trust atheists. The gold standard for establishing causality is the experiment with random assignment and a control condition. In a series of such experiments led by Will Gervais, we wanted to know if mere reminders of secular authority would reduce distrust of atheists. — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 307 (#expands, via linked claim)

It is interesting to note that these three factors are likely to operate in tandem and could be mutually reinforcing. As societies increasingly rely on secular institutions to enforce cooperation, religiosity declines, and so does distrust of atheists. With more secularization and greater acceptance of atheists, atheism spreads, and as atheists become more prevalent and visible, distrust of atheists declines further, which in turn contributes to more secularization. — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 315 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Secular societies now compete against religiously organized cooperation; Modern secular ideologies are secularized extensions of Christian universalism.; Faith in God and faith in government substitute for each other (+10 more)

Related

• Religious cues harness situational power where secular institutions are absent (similarity 0.92)
• Strong secular institutions reduce believers’ need to distrust atheists (similarity 0.91)
• Secular institutions, atheist prevalence, and religiosity decline reinforce each other in a self-amplifying loop (similarity 0.89)
• Prosocial religious cohesion inherently requires excluding nonbelievers from trust (similarity 0.88)
• Nonbelievers show mild trust toward believers while believers trust only their own (similarity 0.87)
• Strong secular institutions raise trust and cooperation for believers and nonbelievers alike (similarity 0.86)
• Secular governments and religious belief serve interchangeable functions, so strong states supplant gods. (similarity 0.85)
• Divine and secular authority are inseparable in explaining belief (similarity 0.85)
• Strong secular rule of law sustains trust and cooperation without religion (similarity 0.85)
• Strong secular welfare institutions make religion socially unnecessary. (similarity 0.84)
• Distinct pathways to atheism reinforce one another in real populations (similarity 0.84)
• Effective secular monitoring can erode the root cause of atheist distrust. (similarity 0.84)
• Atheism can become stable once multiple enabling conditions align (similarity 0.83)
• Religious belief withers when governments provide the cooperation religion once supplied. (similarity 0.83)
• An unlikely mechanism reduces atheist distrust even among believers (similarity 0.83)

Broader Connections

• Strong secular institutions reduce believers’ need to distrust atheists #expands (0.85) — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 307
• Secular institutions, atheist prevalence, and religiosity decline reinforce each other in a self-amplifying loop #expands (0.85) — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 315
• Secular welfare states displaced religion by replicating its cooperative functions #corroborates (0.85)
• Religious cues harness situational power where secular institutions are absent #corroborates (0.80)
• Secular institutions replace religion as the main motivator of prosocial behavior. #corroborates (0.80)