Is religious belief hindering our economic success?

[cleanhippie]

You be the judge...



http://www.secularnewsdaily.com/2011/11/04/new-zealand-in-good-company-pity-about-the-usa/

[RKP5637]

1. It's what makes this country sooooooo backward! n/t

[Kurmudgeon]

24. Does atheistic intolerance breed constant attacks on people and things of faith?

I'd say so, cleanhippie.

[RKP5637]

25. Actually, probably no more than christian intolerance by those that are, or that of any

intolerant religion to me, when intolerance is involved by any. We see that across all walks of life anymore IMO. Not all atheists are intolerant and not all religious people are intolerant to me. ... but we sure see/hear a lot of it. Maybe it's just more in the open anymore?

[Ian David]

2. Perhaps, but correlation does not prove causality. n/t

[cleanhippie]

3. Of course not.

But there IS a connection.

[madrchsod]

4. no.....

[cleanhippie]

6. Oh, well that explains it.

That is a compelling argument you are making.

[Jim__]

5. You do see why the US was excluded from the fit, don't you?

Isn't that sufficient to answer your question?

[cleanhippie]

7. Excluded from the fit?

[Jim__]

8. Do you even read what you post? It's stated right on the graph that the US ...

... is excluded from the fit.

[cleanhippie]

9. I missed that.

What can I say?

[Stargleamer]

10. Well, yes, next to Norway . ..

The US has the highest GDP according to this graph. That's why I think you should have used a different x-axis, something like the Gini coefficient, or something more appropriate. Extreme concentrated wealth in this country affects such things.

[cbayer]

11. The data here does not support the hypothetical question in the subject line.

This graph shows the US to have the second highest GDPPC of any of the countries on the graph.

What it does show is that the US is out of step with the other countries in terms of belief in evolution NOT correlating with GDP.

It certainly does not show that belief in evolution is hindering economic success. If anything, it would support the argument that belief in evolution is NOT hindering economic success.

[cleanhippie]

12. You may be right.

[cbayer]

13. To me, the interesting question here is, why is the US such an outlier?

:shrug:

[Jim__]

15. Is it? Or is the data cherry picked? Where's China? Where's Russia?

They seem like fairly big economies to leave out of the analysis. My guess is that they would be outliers on the other side of the graph.

[bananas]

20. For high-tech post-industrial countries of Western Europe, Japan, and USA,

belief in evolution hinders purchasing power, according to that chart.

[Jim__]

22. That looks like a pretty good straight line fit. - n/t

[cbayer]

21. Good point. Also left out are middle eastern countries.

I suspect there really is no correlation between these two variables.

[Jim__]

23. I think you're right. - n/t

[Charlemagne]

32. Do muslims

believe in evolution? I have no idea.

[CarmanK]

14. That's how I read it. The surprise only 40% in US believe!

I think the question should have been clearer. Do you know about Darwin's theory of evolution and do you believe in it.

[bananas]

16. Why are they using the equation "y=a(1-b/x)" ? nt

[ensho]

17. religious belief hinders everything

nt

[bananas]

18. If you look just at Western Europe (the light blue dots), you see the opposite correlation

especially if you include Japan and USA.

Clearly, for the high-tech post-industrial countries of Western Europe, Japan, and USA,
belief in evolution is a hindrance to purchasing power.

[rug]

19. It's amusing to watch the fail develop.

[trotsky]

26. And now you know the joy we get from your threads! n/t

[rug]

27. That explains your joyless responses.

[Deep13]

28. Is our economic failure hindering secularization?

Correlation does not equal causation.

Still, the kinds of officials and policies religious people usually support leads to a lack of investment in education, scientific development or other policies that promote economic health.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

29. The cause and effect relationship is the reverse

Ireland was very, very Catholic until its economy started booming in the 1990s.

The same thing happened in Spain, very Catholic until its economy boomed. Italy was the same.

Scandinavian immigrants who came over in the 19th century tended to be religious in a Puritanical way. My paternal grandfather, born in the 1880s, bought a violin when he was in his teens, but his father burned it, because he said it was the devil's instrument, used for (gasp) dancing.

These immigrants came when the Scandinavian countries were very poor, with most of the population being hardscrabble peasants. When I was growing up, there was an old Swedish lady in our church. She said that when kids in rural Sweden in the early 20th century finished elementary school at about age 12 or 13, they were given a choice: find a job or emigrate to America. She herself had come to American alone at the age of 13 to join an aunt and uncle she had never met.

Scandinavia went secular AFTER it began to prosper, starting in the urban areas in the 1920s and 1930s.

[Charlemagne]

31. Excellent point

I have always heard that religion becomes more important when the economy worsens. If people are rich and doing well, then they dont really "need" the church. However when things get bad, the opposite happens.

Well done.

[Charlemagne]

30. I would be interested in

seeing the name chart but with wealth disparity. As most would agree, religion is often used by the elite to control the lower classes. So in a highly religious society you will have the party that is 'religious' and, at the same time, promotes the economic agenda of the elite.

I imagine that chart would reveal some stuff.