Loading ...Claim: Believing in hell is good for the economy
flockwoodMichael Fitzgerald, writing in the Boston Globe, passes along some fascinating information:
“What makes economies grow? It’s a question that has occupied thinkers for centuries. Most of us would tick off things like education levels, openness to trade, natural resources, and political systems.
Here’s one you might not have considered: hell.
A pair of Harvard researchers recently examined 40 years of data from dozens of countries, trying to sort out the economic impact of religious beliefs or practices. They found that religion has a measurable effect on developing economies – and the most powerful influence relates to how strongly people believe in hell.
That hell could matter to economic growth might seem surprising, since you can’t prove it exists, let alone quantify it. It stands as one of the more intriguing findings in a growing body of recent research exploring how religion might influence the wealth and prosperity of societies.”
To read it all, click here.
November 16th, 2009 at 4:35 pm
Once again, folks, let’s be careful to make a distinction between correlation and causality.
November 17th, 2009 at 12:00 pm
Religion may not have a direct influence on economic wealth, but it does influence culture which in turn has an effect on economic affluence.
One member of my church’s Quorum of the Twelve spent years in the Philippines overseeing the Mormon Church there. He said the Filipino culture was rife with corruption. Lying was simply an accepted part of their culture and had actually developed into an art form of sorts. Everyone would steal any chance they got and nobody thought anything of it–they would just steal in turn. No economy of any worth can develop in those conditions. Since Western religion was introduced more aggressively in the last 50 years or so, their economy has slowly improved.
There is a 95-year-old lady in my community here that spent years living over there beginning during World War II. She personally watched and was instrumental in helping the Mormon Church grow from being completely non-existent to one of the major religions in the Philippines. They lived in abject poverty back then, but today, though not yet near our standards, they are many times over better off. Our Quorum of the Twelve member said that it is a generational thing. The third and fourth generation of Church members there are better off economically and stronger in the Church than their pioneer forbearers. They are much more honest and trustworthy (they don’t steal the tithing money), and are, on the whole, wealthier than most non-believers.
Of course, how much of this is attributable to the Mormons, or other religions, or even Christianity in general, is surly debatable. But, it is interesting see in this article the same correlations being made that my church leader and my experienced friend have already noted. Certainly many, many other factors are in play here, but once people are “enlightened” with a higher purpose and the Christian attributes of love and putting others first (and they’ve reached a “critical mass” within the society), there is no longer anything seriously stopping them from reaching the full potential God wants for them.
Not sure why non-Christian and non-Islamic cultures don’t seem to fare as well. Certainly Buddhism and Hinduism don’t teach dishonesty and so forth. Maybe it’s just the jolt of a foreign religion being introduced that gives the culture a sort of “revival.” Then again, other religions may not emphasize charity towards others as being as critical to redemption like Christianity and Islam do.
November 17th, 2009 at 1:44 pm
I think it has a lot to do with infrastructure as well. Monotheists have large congregations, they tithe, and they can organize their efforts. Atheists and other secularists rarely congregate, do not tithe, and lack the organizational structure to mount large-scale charity campaigns.
November 17th, 2009 at 2:45 pm
I’m not sure we’re reading the same article here, John. The article makes the correlation between the belief in hell and prosperity: “They found that religion has a measurable effect on developing economies – and the most powerful influence relates to how strongly people believe in hell.”
You say: “Certainly many, many other factors are in play here, but once people are “enlightened” with a higher purpose and the Christian attributes of love and putting others first (and they’ve reached a “critical mass” within the society), there is no longer anything seriously stopping them from reaching the full potential God wants for them.”
Don’t get me wrong; I like your sentiments better, but learning to love each other wasn’t the factor the article points out: The belief in hell was. One could suggest that, perhaps, people who believe in a literal hell are easier to control than those who don’t, because you’ve got something to threaten them with.
November 17th, 2009 at 6:18 pm
Cheese:
Good point. Didn’t think of that. That could probably be a big factor. So, it’s our specific religious culture, as opposed to just spiritual belief in general, that may contribute to a more affluent economy. Interesting.
Caleb:
Yeah, I see your point, but my quest to put a positive spin on everything sometimes makes me miss the main point. They talked about a lot of things in the article, the Protestant work ethic and such. I just picked up on what I liked. Hell is definitely a great motivator, if you believe in it. However, in Mormon theology we don’t believe in a literal hell in the standard Christian tradition of fire and brimstone. Hell is more figurative and is essentially temporary–everyone gets degree of glory in the eternities according to our theology. Therefore the “fear of hell” factor probably doesn’t play as big a role in my example of Mormons in the Philippines.
Any religion worth its salt has got to have a major emphasis on the here and now. Thoughts of future rewards or punishments are too ethereal to have a major impact on the daily lives of most people. I think that’s one reason Mormons are so successful in our proselytizing. We are an extremely practical religion. Nobody wears robes or burns incense in our churches. Most other religions that are successful in the Third World are the same way for the most part. Except the Catholics who gained much of their success through force.
November 18th, 2009 at 11:14 am
Hell might motivate people to work harder, but what about the anxiety such a belief also causes? I knew this guy in high school who took his Catholicism very seriously. He was always talking about the gospel and wearing a cross around his neck. It wasn’t until much later that I learned that he was gay and felt he needed to somehow atone for his “sinful nature.” I think his belief in hell gave way to self-loathing.
November 19th, 2009 at 9:53 am
Fear of hell may work in the short term, but like anything negative, it eventually has worse long-term effects, in my opinion. That’s one thing that is appealing to some about the Mormon faith. Hell is more a guilt and remorse for not living up to you full potential rather than a literal painful eternity of fire. I’m sure other religions preach something like this too. We Mormons, however, believe everyone will eventually be “saved” to a different degree of glory in the eternities. The absolute lowest of these degrees of glory is infinitely more pleasurable than our current mortal life.
Religions that emphasize the positive, I think, will always fare better in the long run and be more economically prosperous. We don’t use the cross as a symbol in our church simply because it tends to promote the negative, the suffering we caused Christ. We would rather put the major emphasis on His resurrection and the gift He offers of eternal life and redemption. Nothing against the use of the cross in other churches, we don’t think it is wrong or anything, and we even use it on occasion.
Negativity is never a great motivator. Like corporeal punishment (spanking and such) it may get the desired effect in the short-term but resentment and self-loathing eventually surface and cancel out anything good that was gained. I really don’t think the “fear of hell” plays as big a role in developing countries becoming more prosperous as do the correct and positive principles taught in the Western traditions and specifically in the Christian and Islamic religions. Not that these are perfect by any means, but I think we’ve been lucky to hit upon and more clearly define some essential eternal truths than many of the native religions have done.