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familial connections. The dominant forms of these larger grouping mechanisms have long been grounded in religion.

Religion, theology and policy are three concepts that are intertwined and together provide the focus of the collectives that form much of the basis of human evolutionary success. These collectives derived initially from the basic family unit and evolved into ever increasing ensembles of individuals, culminating in religious congregations that have been foundational in their provision of social structure that has been so essential in the ascent of mankind. We use the term religion to identify a system of beliefs generally shared by its adherents, including the basis in trust for that sharing. Theology in turn refers to the specific framework for those beliefs including how they are to be applied and the potential consequences of that application. Finally, we evoke the realm of policy in specific regards to the beliefs themselves, essentially defining for the individual those actions selected from among various choices whose objectives are both the furtherance of the religion on which are based the actions and the benefits to the individual suppliants of the religion.

Religions are grounded in the facilities of the human mind. They draw their strength from emotions and their behaviors from cognitive processes. By exploiting these physiological characteristics, religion provides the framework for commonly held belief systems through which the actions of groups of people are focused and directed. Through the affirmation of moral and ethical values that are shared by the group, codes of conduct that guide the behavior of individuals within the group can be defined. These moral and ethical values posit a justification for actions aimed at the well being of the many, even at the expense of sacrifice on the part of the one. Thus is formed a basis for personal altruistic behavior; a behavior that is often asymmetric in its application and effect. Consider for example the soldier who throws himself upon the grenade thereby accepting certain death for himself in return for the possibility of saving his comrades. In a like manner, the mother in a poor and starving family might forego food for herself thereby accepting the ravages of continuing hunger in order to provide a little more sustenance for her children. Closer to religion, a similar stimulus drives a pilot to crash his aircraft into a ship of war or a building of commerce to placate his perceived responsibility to the prevailing social order. These are all illustrative of a policy system grounded in profound trust that evokes an action presumably beneficial to others at the expense of self as being the preferred response to threats of a given type. While such acts are not the exclusive domain of religion, we suggest that altruism is a characteristic of a general model of social organization for which religion is an iconic example. Acts of altruism or of its harsher sibling, sacrifice, are harbingers of uncertainty within the biological concepts of evolution and natural selection. Indeed, altruistic behavior is generally viewed as counter intuitive from the perspective of natural selection. It is, however, an undeniable, recurring theme of social organization, and it is through social organization that mankind achieves its evolutionary eminence.

We can readily discern through its repetitive occurrence over the ages that religion provides its groups of believers with sets of common values. Further, we can also observe that the stimulation of actions based on such values is the central aspect of the concept of policy. To fully understand this connection between values and actions, it is necessary to consider the complete environment within which policy is defined and implemented; an environment we term a trust and policy infrastructure. The establishment of effective policy infrastructures elevates the trust infrastructures of religion and religious systems to the forefront of human social order. Religion is not a mere perturbation of the human cognitive system; it is a natural product of that system. The long ages of natural selection have wrought theologically guided religious practice just as they’ve culminated in the opposing thumb. Within the implementations of distinct religions are found the

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