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As poverty declines so to does religion. Just look at Ireland. In 1970s church attendance was 91%. But in the 80s and 90s Ireland saw massive economic growth and become one of the most developed countries on earth. By 2011 church attendance fell to 25%. That is a significant decline. This trend is happening across the world until religion finally ceases to exist. You can't fit progress.
A college professor of mine was South American and Catholic. He explained that a major difference in the cultures of predominantly Catholic vs. predominantly Protestant countries was:
- in Catholicism, working (tilling the land, etc) defiled your body, and this was an affront against God.
- in Protestantism, working, labor, sacrifice was a way to HONOR God.
And, I do agree with Joseph Marnix. The English settlers who came to what is now the United States were not here to plunder the natives and carry the loot back to the English king.
Sure, many natives were slaughtered between the arrival of the first Englishmen and the War of Independence (and after), but the English went from travelers to settlers, to people who wanted to build a new society, a new country. Contrast that with the Spaniards and Portuguese who arrived in South America. Their primary objective was to find gold and to take it back to their monarchs. Sure, some stayed behind, and they too morphed into colonists who ultimately built their own nations. But the mentality of plunder remained. This is of course a gross oversimplification of individual national histories with their respective logics and factors, but again, I think Joseph Marnix is right on this.
On ehas to remmber that when what is called the western world doniated they wre catholic countries ;so I thnik it really has no influence.One only has to loo at coutries where no religion dominates to see pverty like afraica and then mnay in middle east that have no chrisianity to speak of to see huge proitio of pverety. is more the socail structure such as tribalism and other things like dominance by leaderhship; corruption;history of colonialism that last until what is really recent history.look at the difference between sotuh and north Korea as a example;then the history of China ;eastern verus western Germanny after WWII etc.A depenhdent system is a doom almost to poverty where the market and profits are controlled by a central govenrment authority.Hunger and poverty tend ,ake people easier to control especailly when survial depednds on ruling class.
A college professor of mine was South American and Catholic. He explained that a major difference in the cultures of predominantly Catholic vs. predominantly Protestant countries was:
- in Catholicism, working (tilling the land, etc) defiled your body, and this was an affront against God.
- in Protestantism, working, labor, sacrifice was a way to HONOR God.
And, I do agree with Joseph Marnix. The English settlers who came to what is now the United States were not here to plunder the natives and carry the loot back to the English king.
Sure, many natives were slaughtered between the arrival of the first Englishmen and the War of Independence (and after), but the English went from travelers to settlers, to people who wanted to build a new society, a new country. Contrast that with the Spaniards and Portuguese who arrived in South America. Their primary objective was to find gold and to take it back to their monarchs. Sure, some stayed behind, and they too morphed into colonists who ultimately built their own nations. But the mentality of plunder remained. This is of course a gross oversimplification of individual national histories with their respective logics and factors, but again, I think Joseph Marnix is right on this.
the biggest imperial plunderers in history were the british and they were a protestant empire , the usa , canada , china , africa and of course india , thier number one priority was extracting wealth from the colony and returnng it to the mother country
as to why catholic countries tend to be less wealthy , the recieved wisdom is that catholics are lazier than protestants , so seeing as cliched generalisations are all the rage , il go ahead and say that protestants are more ruthless and greedy
As poverty declines so to does religion. Just look at Ireland. In 1970s church attendance was 91%. But in the 80s and 90s Ireland saw massive economic growth and become one of the most developed countries on earth. By 2011 church attendance fell to 25%. That is a significant decline. This trend is happening across the world until religion finally ceases to exist. You can't fit progress.
That's because the Irish slowed down in cranking out babies and sped up in their commercial capabilities. I think that most Irish still identify as Catholic, and partake in the "meat and potatoes" ceremonies. OTOH, that dynamic is also prevalent in Mediterranean Europe, where people are having fewer kids and church attendance is lower. Also, we should keep in mind that Italy has the world's 7th largest GNP, slightly ahead of the UK. Those Royals and their expensive ceremonies are a drag on their economy.
A college professor of mine was South American and Catholic. He explained that a major difference in the cultures of predominantly Catholic vs. predominantly Protestant countries was:
- in Catholicism, working (tilling the land, etc) defiled your body, and this was an affront against God.
- in Protestantism, working, labor, sacrifice was a way to HONOR God...
Perhaps such an attitude prevailed in South America, or perhaps your professor was speaking from a particular social point of view. However, NEVER have I heard European catholics say that the rubbish that your professor spouted.
Sounds as if he was referring to the attitudes of social class structure in South America.
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