Supernatural monitoring needs neither monotheism nor creator status

Evidence

Big Gods are sometimes equated with monotheism, and are often creator gods, but they need not have either of these two features to be effective supernatural police. I think this is just a cultural bias that has crept into thinking about religion from an Abrahamic cultural perspective. A Big God need not be the only god (hence the emphasis on the plural), and need not be a creator god. Big Gods started as a rare cultural variant of supernatural agents, but the idea of a singular god is even rarer. It so happens that one of the most culturally successful Big Gods is the Abrahamic God (which over time became both a creator and only God), but in principle any Big God can take on the duties of supernatural monitoring. The Kwaio people in the Solomon Islands, for example, believe in ancestor spirits called adalo. The adalo are interventionist spirits who are constantly monitoring and meddling. They can bring good luck to those who are good and bring misfortune to those who violate group norms. — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 425

Categorization

• DEFINE: Clarifies what ‘Big God’ actually means analytically: interventionist moral monitor, not necessarily monotheistic or creator.
• XREF: Connects directly to the analytical bridge with Baumard’s partner-choice model and the novel’s God concept — Rodrigues’ God is interventionist and moral even before any monotheistic confession. — connects to: Large anonymous groups need supernatural monitoring to avoid splintering; Supernatural watchers and rituals jointly forged large-scale moral communities; Early Chinese civilization may have relied on supernatural monitoring despite the stereotype
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 425

Broader Connections

• Large anonymous groups need supernatural monitoring to avoid splintering #expands (0.80)
• Supernatural watchers and rituals jointly forged large-scale moral communities #expands (0.75)