Strong state institutions and existential security replace religion’s functions

Evidence

I now turn to two additional paths to atheism, apatheism and InCREDulous atheism. Earlier, we saw that religion declines as societies develop strong institutions that take on the social functions of prosocial religions. Equally important, as social and economic conditions improve, societies become, in the words of Pipa Norris and Ronald Inglehart, existentially secure. Life expectancy and income levels increase, and with better nutrition and health care, infant mortality becomes a thing of the past. Moreover, with unemployment and retirement support, universal medical care, as well as poverty reduction strategies, people are rescued by social safety nets in times of trouble or uncertainty. — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 609

Categorization

• XREF: Directly relevant to the analytical integration: secular institutions taking on religion’s prosocial functions parallels how the Japanese state machinery in the novel substitutes its own enforcement for religious authority.
• DEFINE: Defines existential security (Norris and Inglehart’s concept) as the decline-mechanism for religion in secure societies.