[Paleopsych] god and uncertainty

[Michael Christopher]

>>Clearly, a belief in God is empirically related to
better coping, lower stress, and so forth. Lynn<<

--Depending on how that belief is expressed in the
crowd. If the belief is associated with anxiety and
fear of punishment, the whole group can become more
and more paranoid, eventually lashing out at a
scapegoat ("redirecting God's fury"). If the belief is
expressed in a calm, benevolent way, it may have the
opposite effect. 

I would make a distinction between the same belief
expressed in different ways by different groups. My
wife's Christian church has a *totally* different
character from some of the fundamentalist churches
I've been to, even though their belief is technically
fundamentalist (Biblical infalliblity, etc). The
nonverbal characteristics of the group are more
important than the belief, I think. It is what would
distinguish the sheep from the wolves in sheep's
clothing.

Michael 


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