Religion can provoke acts of punishment

[Ian David]

A new study examined the link between support for a religion and a willingness to inflict punishment.

Ernst Fehr at the University of Zurich in Switzerland and his team enrolled 304 people sorted into pairs. They played 20 rounds of a game in which the first player was shown a monetary reward and had to choose one of two ways to split it with their partner: they could either share it equally or take a greater share for themselves.

<snip>

Before deciding on the punishment, the second player was subliminally shown a group of words. These either related to religion – like "divine", "holy", "pious" and "religious" – to secular punishment, or were neutral words like "tractor".

<snip>

"We think that the cues give them a reminder they are being watched. To please the supernatural agent they worship, they exact higher punishments. The other possibility is that the cued words awakened the concepts of appropriate punishment in their minds," New Scientist quoted psychologist Ryan McKay of Royal Holloway University of London, as saying.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/spirituality/faith-and-ritual/Religion-can-provoke-acts-of-punishment/articleshow/6981080.cms#ixzz16D7NhBOC

[DonCoquixote]

1. Part of the reason is this

Part of the reason Religion formed is that, to be honest, there is no morality or justice inherent in nature. Nature rewards the predator red in tooth and claw. What many in Religion want is that HELL, because they know that, for the most part, the rich and powerful will escape punishment. Let's face it, even the minor rich like pro athletes and pop stars eventually hit a brick wall, whereas the Paris Hiltons of the world will never get the full consequences of their actions.

[darkstar3]

3. No morality or justice inherent in nature?

Studies of great apes, dolphins, and other higher evolved mammals have shown otherwise. Empathy and society, both of which occur in nature, have bred morality and justice for an immeasurable amount of time.

The nihilistic view that without religion we'd all be killers and thieves is a classic red herring thrown out by religious supporters.

[DeSwiss]

4. +1

K&R

[DonCoquixote]

5. is that morality

or merely survival instinct? Instinct is unconscious, and can be easily overrun and subverted.

[darkstar3]

6. Do you think altruism, an aspect of morality and society, could possibly be a survival instinct?

The two generally contradict each other...

[Jim__]

2. I'd like to see more information on this.

After the game, all players were asked if they had donated money to a religious organisation in the previous year. The team found that those who had donated – about 15 per cent of participants – exacted the most severe punishments, but only after they had been shown the subliminal religious cues.

Really 100%? And what happened before showing the cue words? And, is this correlation with donating or to religion? I'd like to see a lot more information on this.

And the conclusion:

McKay pointed out that being religious can be costly in various ways: donating money, suffering painful rites and avoiding pleasures, for example. So the team wondered how religion survived, despite these apparent costs.

"The answer may be that these sacrifices enable the group to secure more cooperation. The punishing may be unpleasant but it's in the service of the greater good for that particular group or religion, enabling them to thrive and spread the word," he said.

Building stronger groups does seem a possible explanation. Spreading the word doesn't. What is the evidence that early religions were seeking to spread the word?