The attendance-violence link generalizes across six major religions internationally

Evidence

We found that reminders of synagogue attendance increased the odds of approving Goldstein’s violent act. Reminders of prayer, if anything, decreased these odds. Once again, we find that some aspects of religion are implicated in violent conflict, others aren’t, or may even work to soften conflict. Going further, we found that these patterns are not at all unique to Palestinians and Jews. In an international survey of six major religions in six nations, regular attendance at religious services encouraged a combination of willing martyrdom and outgroup hostility. But regular prayer did not. Religious participation cements social ties and builds group solidarity. — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 536

Categorization

• XREF: This causal pattern across six religions is the empirical anchor for the reader’s Silence-analytical argument that public ritual observance (visible commitment) rather than private belief drives both solidarity and its violent or apostasy-testing flip side.