Human behavioral patterns are influenced by cultural norms, not biologically determined. To this extent there exists in every culture a (broader or narrower, dependent on the culture) range of “normal” behavior and a corresponding way of dealing with behavior that deviates from this norm. Both the determination of what is normal and the way of dealing with deviant behavior are relevant to religion: deities have created or guaranteed the order of life and of the world and they are involved in dealing with deviations.
The treatment of deviations can be roughly divi…