Elaborating on one of the questions I posed in IdeasAboutIdeas

Question: Why do religious adherents who rely upon a Holy book of laws follow secular laws? What kinds of psychological gymnastics are going on there? (Question derived from Max Weber, Calvin, my hometown community)(Look most closely at the Folklore of Capitalism, Lawyerland)

I'm trying to refine my thoughts about the above question but as you can see below, what I've got so far is pretty much gibberish. I'm trying to distill a single idea out of this that I can really latch onto.

Potential Idea - y=β_1 X_1+ β_2 X_2+ ε

y = expected utility over span of life (assume soul is immortal so "life" is for all of eternity)

X_1 = temporal utility

β_1 < ∞

X_2 = heavenly utility

β_2 = ∞

β_1 X_1 < β_2 X_2 always

ε = error term (what does this capture with respect to X_2?)

Assuming this equation dictates behavior of religious adherents, a rational actor has no reason to do anything to improve their temporal condition. If heavenly utility is infinity, why care at all about earthly affairs.

• Luther's reaction to the peasant revolt as support for this function
• Luther's Freedom of a Christian essay

More of a helpful heuristic than a mathematical truth.

Discounting future preferences is irrelevant because coefficient is ∞

Miracle Motif

Kierkegaard on paradox of faith

"Mathematically correct" laws (Holmes) are those contained in the Bible. Why tolerate anything other than a theocracy if the perfect laws have already been written?

Eternity as a dissociative tool

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