Feb 04 2009
A Supernatural Ability to Divide the Opposition
“An adult male [chimpanzee] sometimes suddenly charged into a group of adult males who were peacefully grooming or resting in close proximity. As a result of the charge, the other males scattered in all directions.”
- Nishida, T., and Hosaka, K. (19)May God arise, may his enemies be scattered; may his foes flee before him. (Psalms 68:1)
A god is the invisible alpha of a group of people. Although he may chase away the enemies of his people, he will also frighten and punish his own. Why? To keep group members loyal. Be careful, he may chase you. The god of the Bible is a jealous god. And while he certainly doesn’t want you to enter into a relationship with another god, he also doesn’t want you to establish bonds with other human beings that could be perceived as a threat to his power. So be humble, be like sheep, be like children. And, whatever you do, don’t go around forming alliances with non-loyal others. As one example, in many verses of the Bible the Israelites are forbidden from marrying someone from another religion. That is a no-no to a dictatorial god.
“When an alpha male is well established, he can intimidate any hostile coalition or, for that matter, the entire community. He maintains his status by means of frequent displays, which are accompanied by a chorus of fearful screams and hostile waa-barks coming from those he intimidates. In a stable dominance situation (which can go on for years) these displays serve to reinforce the alpha male’s position.” (20)
In the above quote we can see similarities between natural primates, chimpanzees, and the “most high” supernatural primate-god.
[T]hose who oppose the LORD will be shattered. (1 Samuel 2:10)
Believers today, particularly in affluent and peaceful societies, have difficulty understanding and accepting the wrathful side of their god. But placed in the context of tribes competing for a homeland, perhaps they could understand better a god that despises cheating and deceit, not only directly with him but also in relationships viewed as disloyal or outright oppositional.
To break up potentially threatening alliances among group members the alpha male will frequently behave in a manner that has been described as “separating intervention” by de Waal. “For one adult male to displace two or more adult males, he must be able to dominate all others in combination. Thus, separating intervention is likely to be performed only by high-ranking males.” (21)
While alphas welcome coalitions built with/around them, they are threatened by those that don’t include them. There is power in numbers, and power is the currency hierarchies are built and sustained with.
Of course, tactics and expectations change depending on whether the target of a display is perceived as a misbehaving “one of us” or a “them.” When an alpha charges, he desires a different outcome, depending on whether he charges at group members or foreigners. If it is a group member, the expected compliant response is not to flee and keep going. It may be as subtle as a lowered body posture or the emitting of a fear bark. The primate alpha “runs through the colony, pounding the ground, heading towards a series of apes that, by ducking, acknowledge his supremacy — and he may slap one or two of them anyway for good measure.” (22)
Primate alphas are notoriously quick-tempered. It goes with the turf. In many passages the Bible god shows this trait in spades. Consider 1 Samuel 6:19:
But God struck down some of the men of Beth Shemesh, putting seventy of them to death because they had looked into the ark of the LORD. The people mourned because of the heavy blow the LORD had dealt them.
By heavily punishing select individuals, an alpha can “send a message” to the all those he lords over or aspires to. Without a subsequent emotional impact any gesture carries little weight. This verse from the Hindu Bhagavad Gita illustrates the desired outcome well.
“O Lord of lords, O refuge of the worlds, please be gracious to me. I cannot keep my balance seeing thus Your blazing deathlike faces and awful teeth. In all directions I am bewildered.” (chapter 11, verse 25) (24)
In the passage above from 1 Samuel, why did the Judeo-Christian supernatural alpha slap some of his own men out of existence ? Because they had disrespected him.
When outsiders or lost-cause insiders are chased, the chaser recognizes no compliance gesture. He will turn a “deaf ear” to them.
In furious anger and in great wrath the LORD uprooted them from their land and thrust them into another land, as it is now.” (Deuteronomy 29:28)
Interestingly and relevantly, I think, those who believe they have an alliance with a god will often respond aggressively when non-group members question their god. Why? The superstructure of their own status is threatened. As Daniel Dennett noted in his book, Breaking the Spell, “The psychologist Philip Tetlock identifies values as sacred when they are so important to those who hold them that the very act of considering them is offensive.” (25)
Hierarchies and status are about power. Alphas will respond to things that threaten their power, as will followers loyal to an alpha respond to threats to their leader.
Here is a select few Bible verses that reflect the theme -
I will cut you off from the nations and exterminate you from the countries. I will destroy you, and you will know that I am the LORD. (Ezekiel 25:7)
Punishment for heinous disloyalty is being chased from all bands of people you might want to associate with. And destroyed.
[T]o perform great and awesome wonders by driving out nations and their gods from before your people. (2 Samuel 7:23)
God shows his awesome alpha-ness by driving out whole nations of foreigners and their gods from their territory.
Part your heavens, O LORD, and come down; touch the mountains, so that they smoke. Send forth lightning and scatter {the enemies}; shoot your arrows and rout them. (Psalms 144:5-6)
Another verse that echoes what is known about primate scattering displays.
Even the bravest warriors will flee naked on that day,” declares the LORD. (Amos 2:16)
The message: unless you accept the cloak of protection provided by loyalty to me/our-deity, you will be vulnerable.
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(19) Nishida, T., and Hosaka, K., “Coalition strategies among adult male chimpanzees of the Mahale Mountains, Tanzania” in McGrew, W. C. , Marchant, L. F. & Nishida, T., Great Ape Societies , Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, 1996, p. 123
(20) Boehm, C., Hierarchy in the Forest: The Evolution of Egalitarian Behavior , Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA., 1999, p.25
(21) Nishida, T., and Hosaka, K., 1996, p. 123
(22) Wright, R., The Moral Animal: Evolutionary Psychology and Everyday Life , Vintage, NY, 1995, p. 250
(23) Goodall, J., My Friends the Wild Chimpanzees , National Geographic Society, Washington, D.C., 1967.
(24) Prabhupada, A.C. Bhaktivedanta, Bhagavad Gita As It Is , Collier Books, NY, 1972.
(25) Dennett, D., Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon , Viking, New York, 2006, p. 22
