The Catholic Church and Group Selection

This idea is way out there, and I just want to see it will go anywhere. The Catholic Church operates similarly to group selection.

The idea of group selection highlighted in “Why do we Believe” suggests that over time traits that are beneficial to the survival of a group will many times be an evolutionarily stable strategy (Dawkins) even if it involves self-sacrifice. This is an argument explaining the development of religion as “hardware” in humans. The act of building a temple does not promote the survival of the builder because he would be better off spending his time and resources finding food or shelter. However, once the temple is built it will promote the survival of the society as a whole because it unifies the people and motivates individuals to act for the good of one, but for the good of many.

The structure of the Catholic Church is similar. Many individuals with authority in the Church take vows of abstinence, an obvious sacrifice that few are willing to make. However, some believe that the sacrifice of sex and other pleasures that may be restricted by the vows of certain clergy members is a crucial part in maintaining the Catholic Church and spreading their message effectively. The Catholic Church has processes that are similar to those in group selection which may be one of the reasons for its survival thus far.

To sum it up:

à = Analogous to

Clergy members à Temple builder

n these people exhibit behavior that does not benefit themselves, but is for the good of the group

Vows of Abstinence à Building the temple instead of collecting food.

n This is the sacrifice made by the individual

The Catholic Church à The temple builder’s society

n this is the group being promoted

Maintaining the Catholic Church à The survival of the society

n the premise for the theory of group selection


Again this is just a weird idea I had. I don’t mean to belittle Catholic Church in any way.