Belief in all-knowing, punitive gods aided the growth of human societies, study says

Los Angeles Times ^ | 2/10/2016 | Amina Khan, cheap labor reporter

[Reeses]

Belief in moral-watching, all-knowing, punitive gods might have helped human societies grow far beyond small, close-knit groups, a new study shows. Researchers who ran an experiment with a total of 591 people in eight different small-scale societies around the world found that people who believed their deity of choice knew about their misdeeds and would punish them were more likely to play fairly in a game where money was on the line.

The findings, described in the journal Nature, hint at the integral role that certain religious beliefs may have played in the dramatic expansion of human societies.

[ameribbean expat]

Tough sledding. Textual analysis vs peyote buttons...

[Robert A Cook PE]

Well, today’s Islamic and socialist worlds: 52 million US abortions, 63 million Chinese killed under Mao, 32 million Russians killed under Stalin, 6 million jews + 4 million others killed under Hitler, 3 million Cambodians, 2 million Vietnamese, 4-12 million Africans killed since the 1970’s ...

have I forgotten anyone?

Oh. 4 arrested wire-tapping the Watergate hotel under Nixon.

[To Hell With Poverty]

I'm pretty sure the Neanderthals had some religion. They did bury their dead with care and ceremonial objects after all. Whether there was a sense of morality or final judgement we may never know.

[To Hell With Poverty]

Amina Khan, cheap labor reporter

Heh.

[gleeaikin]

There is some evidence that Neanderthals may also have had beliefs that could be interpreted as being of a religious or spiritual nature.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paleolithic_religion

[SunkenCiv]

Yup — although that idea has been fought tooth and nail by the Replacement model/master race / unreconstructed Darwinian idiots of G.B.

[SunkenCiv]

:’)

[chesley]

It all depends on which diety you worship. There’s really only two, and one of them is not Eternal, hence, not God.

[chesley]

then they reach the “omega” of their society. Tha’s what.

[BroJoeK]

Rarestia: “...Democrats are doing everything in their power to destroy God and replace the controlling mechanism with ‘the State.’ “

If you listen carefully, you’ll notice that Dems are totally happy to put God to work supporting **their** agenda, even when that means perverting the Word’s original intent.

[gleeaikin]

George Bush or something else?

[SunkenCiv]

Great Britain.

[SunkenCiv]

let’s get this party started:

History shows that atheism is as natural to humans as religion
http://www.pasthorizonspr.com/index.php/archives/02/2016/history-shows-that-atheism-is-as-natural-to-humans-as-religion