Why Strict Religions Succeed

Across cultures, religious communities that expect more from their members thrive (or religious communities in which members face greater consequences for leaving). Meanwhile, lenient religious groups struggle to maintain membership. Why is this? Wouldn't you assume most people would want to join the easiest religion? Recent research suggests that strict religions are sociologically and psychologically predisposed to succeed.
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Sources and Bibliography:
Connor Wood, "Ritual Well-Being: Toward a Social Signaling Model of Religion and Mental Health," Religion, Brain, and Behavior, 7:3, 223-243, 2017.
L. Iannaccone. “Why Strict churches are Strong,” American Journal of Sociology, 99 (5), 1180-1211.
W. Irons (2011). “Religion as a Hard-to-Fake Sign of Commitment. In Evolution and the Capacity for Commitment, 290-309.
D.M. Kelley (1972). Why Conservative Churches are Growing. New York: Harper and Brown
Montserrat Soler, “Costly Signaling, ritual and cooperation: Evidence from Candomblé, an Afro-Brazilian Religion,” Evolution and Human Behavior, Volume 33, Issue 4, July 2012, 346-356. doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbeha... / www.montclair.edu/profilepage...
Sosis and Ruffle (2004). Ideology, religion, and the evolution of cooperation: Field Experiments on Israeli Kibbutzim. Research in Economic Anthropology, 23, 89-117.
W.J. Wildman and Sosis (2011). “Stability Groups with Costly Beliefs and Practices.” Journal of Artificial Societies and Social Simulation, 14 (3) 1-25. jasss.soc.surrey.ac.uk/14/3/6....
Dimitris Xygatlatas, “Extreme Rituals Promote Prosociality,” Psychological Science, 24(8), 1602-1605, 2013.
journals.sagepub.com.ezproxy.b...
Vox article: “Mainline Churches are emptying. The political effects could be huge”: www.vox.com/the-big-idea/2017...
Definition of Strict Church Theory: www.thearda.com/rrh/bestpracti...
Connor Wood blog post: “Why is Liberal Protestantism Dying Anyway?": www.patheos.com/blogs/scienceo...
Another Connor Wood blog post: “Religion Builds Self Control and Excludes Outsiders Simultaneously," www.patheos.com/blogs/scienceo...
UCC Stats: uccfiles.com/pdf/Summary-Stats...
Computer modeling: www.bu.edu/today/2017/what-com...
PC USA stats: www.firstthings.com/article/2...
PCA stats: www.pcaac.org/resources/pca-st...
Amish stats: www.citylab.com/equity/2012/0...
LDS stats: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Chu...
Picture Attribution:
Amish buggy: commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
Buggy and Car:
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
Candomblé Priestesses:
Antonio Milena, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candomb...
Candomblé: upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...

[@danielmacmaster5822]

The more strict the religion; the harder it is to leave.

[@formerlyLadyMacbeth]

I grew up in a Mennonite church and I don't even remember about the religion part of it, but I can say it was a very positive community environment. Everyone helped each other, we had weekly potlucks, all the parents took turns looking after each others kids, all of the congregation was very invested in the kids wellbeing and development. Sometimes I wonder how I would've turned out if we had stayed... (we left because we moved for my mom to work, not because of any controversy).

[@Aipe97]

For some reason this reminds me of something I heard about Fallout 76. The game is so terrible that it weeded out almost everyone except the most dedicated players, so it accidentally formed really friendly and close communities from the remaining people.

[@Ninja-Alinja]

Family planning or lack thereof seems important too. Not to mention frowning upon abortion

[@shadbakht]

Kinda makes sense though. The more the religion is liberal-humanist the more people realize they don’t need it, and can achieve the same thing without it. It reminds me of a quote from Voltaire, “the enemy of the best is the good.”

[@bagnon]

Joseph Smith, founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints taught that “a religion that does not require the sacrifice of all things never has the power sufficient to produce the faith necessary unto life and salvation.”

[@bereftspud279]

You should discuss the Great Schism of 1054 which caused the split between the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church.

[@CynicalHistorian]

This prompts another interesting topic I'd like to see you cover: ostracization. How would you interpret things like excommunication, purges, and counter-reformation in religious studies?

[@AarmOZ84]

Here in Utah, Mormons have church ran farms they volunteer at and help to can goods and harvest food. No one in their church goes hungry. If you are in need, you can go to a Bishop's Storehouse and get most food and household goods for free. Non-members can also receive goods and food in exchange for volunteer hours at the Bishop's Storehouse. I can't imagine mainline churches running something this strongly community oriented.

[@jordancasti11o]

The name of the Church is “The Church of

[@zacharyyan4898]

3:46

[@Hopeof7suns]

I will also add, all these ideas you discuss are alive and well in Judaism and Islam as well. And I really feel like procreation plays a role. The community thing is true and is a benefit we are intended to have (since were social creatures by nature/design anyway), but that doesn’t imo reflect on why they grow in numbers.

[@diphyllum8180]

Sikhi is an interesting case study, in that it started off extremely open to everybody, in fact the founder Nanak said that everybody already praises Waheguru no matter what words they use and invited the participation of everybody as equals, but then became strict 200 years later during a time of severe persecution.

[@connorsyrewicz5453]

fantastic video--learning a lot from you and, as an athiest, I'm glad to better understand religion from an academic POV (especially one that isnt implicitly making a value judgement for or against religon)

[@rumrunner8019]

Here is the thing: when people join a religion, they want something that offers them what they can't get anywhere else. Few join a religion to be a part of the mainstream. They instead join to go against the mainstream and religions that try to integrate into modern, liberal societies fail because people who want religion generally want to get away from materialistic, mainstream, liberal society and not be part of it.

[@MsFitz134]

This is what I've been saying for years! If your church/religion doesn't expect anything from you, you aren't likely to stick around. Setting expectations of members/adherents creates a sense of belonging and community. You feel like a part of the community, that the community needs you, and that you make a valuable contribution to a common goal.

[@germainegrewal8833]

I have finally found a channel dedicated to religion, it’s a dream come true.

[@timesnewbabylonian8088]

I absolutely love your work. Stay strong like you are 💪

[@sarahharris2729]

exclusivity, feeling special, and encouraging spiritual growth (through increasingly more disciplined practices were growth doesnt stagnate in outer practice.)

[@hollyhartwick3832]

One of the pitfalls of Costly Signaling is the potential of falling under the weight of a Sunk Cost Fallacy. Sometimes people who want to leave feel trapped because they have too much to lose. This is often seen in groups that practice shunning such as the Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons and various sects of the Pennsylvania Dutch (Amish, Mennonite, etc.)