Syncretic belief systems require material access and weakened authority

Evidence

Such belief systems can fl ourish only in an environment in which two conditions are present. The fi rst requirement is that a wide range of potential material—motifs that might be incorporated into a belief system—be easily accessible. The second is that existing authority structures be suffi ciently weakened so that novel combinations of ideas can be proposed and taken seriously. — Michael Barkun, A Culture of Conspiracy, 143

Categorization

• DEFINE: Identifies the two environmental preconditions for improvisational millennial belief systems to take root.
• XREF: connects to: Belief system coherence is socially, not logically, driven — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 1857; Self-endorsed ideologies substitute for physical coercion in hierarchy

Broader Connections

• Belief system coherence is socially, not logically, driven #complicates (0.75) — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 1857
• Self-endorsed ideologies substitute for physical coercion in hierarchy #complicates (0.72)