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My Greek Orthodox friend says it was the same as Catholicism. They just celebrate Easter on different days or something.
Germany was two-thirds protestant. Today, half the protestants (particularly those in East Germany) identify as agnostics or atheist.
And Munich (Catholic majority) is fun, but it isn't the economic powerhouse that Frankfurt(Protestant majority) is.
When I was coming back from Netherlands a German guy was sitting next to me and I asked him where I should visit if I was to go to Germany. He literally said go to the Catholic areas. The catholic areas have more fun. The Protestant areas are more boring.
He truly said that. And I can only imagine the protestant areas are more boring because they are more work oriented and less party party.
No, it is not THE SAME.
It is different in one very important way, and the Orthodox countries are extremely corrupt which is not true about the Catholic ones - some are some are not. But Orthodox are ALL corrupt.
you might want to check what caesaropapism means and what it leads to.
And Munich is not only fun, it is booming. as all Bavaria is. There is not difference in prosperity ( and actually never was ) in Germany depending on the religion ( which kind of offsets the traditional view of protestant work ethic to be the reason - maybe it's a German ethnic ethic )
The worst is East Germany but the reason is not Protestantism
If you look at studies after studies, Northern Europe is much financially and socially off. Why is that? What's ironic is that Southern Europe gave rise to European enlightenment through Greek Philosophy.
I think it's mostly because of warmer weather. It makes people complacent and takes away people's incentive to plan for themselves.
I live with a Chinese man. One who actually grew up through the revolution. I have never seen a harder working human being on earth. We have a few Buddhist decorations and our furniture is arranged for good Feng Shui, so some of the culture must still be there.
The Confucian work ethic is in him for sure.
being hard working is not exactly the follower of Confucian ethic principles. They were centered on something else.
You can't survive in China if you are not a hard worker. You either will be killed ( as was during Mao regime) or you will starve to death. It has nothing to do with Confucian principles. It is just the environment they live in.
It is relatively easy to grow from such a low base. Poland was held back by both the dead hand of communism and the dead hand of catholicism.
wrong. they were pretty prosperous country before 1939.
Catholicism actually helped them a lot.
Not to be assimilated.
and they prosper NOW not because their base is low - they do not differ much from a lot of western European countries and are one of the most prosperous countries in the whole previous Eastern bloc ( even better than Eastern Germany).
Religion has SOME influence on the politics of the country, but it is not absolute and many examples in the very Europe prove the oversimplification of "protestant work ethic" to be just that - oversimplification.
If you look at studies after studies, Northern Europe is much financially and socially off. Why is that? What's ironic is that Southern Europe gave rise to European enlightenment through Greek Philosophy.
What time frame we are talking about? It wasn't the most "prosperous" all the time, and it will not be.
Prosperous Northern Europe coincides with industrial age +/-. To make a good industrial worker a person must be deprived in so many ways. It's apparent that Northern European cultural, religious, economic, political, etc. tradition was/is more efficient in depriving people of their intrinsic humanity and turning them into efficient, disciplined workers. Southern Europeans were/are less efficient in imposing (post) industrial depravity and rigor upon themselves. How exactly can you imagine an average American worker, for example, savoring fruits of enlightenment if he's slave driven and anxious 24/7 and almost all his time is consumed by getting ready to work/working/recuperating after work and gulping anti-depressants in between?
I think N. Europeans are more introverted and planful. Germans and Scandinavians, in particular, have a love of order and tidiness that I think spills into many aspects of life. S. Europeans enjoy life, and live for the day. These are grotesque stereotypes, as the personalities overlap, but generally, it is a combination of culture and temperament, which are largely inseparable.
Back in the 1980s, I recall taking a train trip through Europe, from Stockholm to Germany, Czechoslovakia, Austria, Italy, Span, and finally to Morocco. The trains changed from immaculate, timely coaches to rickety cars. It made a strong impression. N. Europeans seemed to be much better at maintaining physical things to high standards of function. How this crosswalks to other parts of life, I cannot say.
I honestly blame Catholicism. Truly, truly, I believe that to be Southern Europe's downfall. Catholicism is a very socialist religion that puts great shame on working hard to improve your living standards. Everyone is supposed to live in happy poverty. Germanic Europe managed to get rid of Catholicism from their countries (with the exception of a few pockets in Netherlands and Germany) and look at how successful those countries are.
I don't have anything against Catholics. My biological father's family are all Catholic. But I am very glad that America still has the Protestant work ethic and not the Catholic work ethic.
You may be onto something here. There is definitely more emphasis on living a humble life while considering greed and ambition a sin.
I've always thought the reason had something to do with the harsher climate of the north creating the need for more hard work to build shelter, raise food crops, and just overall survival. People in milder climates never had to work as hard to survive.
I think it's mostly because of warmer weather. It makes people complacent and takes away people's incentive to plan for themselves.
Huh, I see others think the same as I do. The climate had to have an effect on culture, making people in Germany hard workers long before it turned protestant (or possibly even Christian for that matter). And it goes both ways - extreme heat or extreme cold. People in ancient Egypt had to work just as hard for shelter and food as Northern Europeans. The people in the tropical and semi-tropical climates could find food just about anywhere, and shelter was never as important to them.
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And I can only imagine the protestant areas are more boring because they are more work oriented and less party party.
and what it leads to.
