I suspect you mean you value people not stabbing you in the back, and strive to not stab people in the back. That, people you consider close, will work through

I suspect you mean you value people not stabbing you in the back, and strive to not stab people in the back. That, people you consider close, will work through rough patches, to some reasonable degree. Etc. That's just basic, bi-directional, human decency, it's not the "loyalty" they're talking about. They're talking blind devotion, under any and all circumstance. The "superior" can do no wrong. "Loyalty" isn't even the right word for that, but they'll use it anyway, just like they hijack "morality". Same with "tradition". They're talking about the king raping every woman before marriage. Seppuku from anyone that fails to meet their demands. People with "higher cognitive abilities" aren't seriously resistant to the annual potluck. The "purity" thing is just disgusting on it's face. Would love to see someone try to defend that idea here. This isn't a matter of cognitive ability. Even small children easily recognize, and resist, these abuses of power, until it's beaten out of them. There's an accurate name for the people that hold these "morals", it's "submissive". If you still don't see a conflict, perhaps you did actually mean that you value a kind of uni-directional loyalty, but good luck getting much of it without at least 1 other form of power. Theism is a highly effective tool, that's why so many powerful, self-proclaimed atheist, that are seeking more and more power, eventually "convert" anyway. It comes with a huge bag of free rubes.