Economics of religion
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Introduction
Much like the way businesses (firms) compete for consumers in a commercial economy, different religious organizations (firms) compete for consumers or followers in a religious economy. In a religious economy, each firm attempts to attract followers and keep them. Each firm does its best to achieve a monopoly, which is difficult without government enforcement. However, a true religious economy is the result of religious pluralism, giving the population a wider variety of choices in religion. The more religions there are, the more likely the population is to be religious.
Monopoly
The ideal way for a religious firm to truly ensure a monopoly is if the government supports it and enforces practicing it as the law. The government may also try to punish those who do not comply. This was the ideology behind the Spanish Inquisition and the reason the English colonies were settled, these being just two of the consequences for impressing one’s beliefs upon others[1]. (Stark, 395) (Finke, Stark 42-45)
Different Types of Firms
Church
A church is a religious body which stresses intellectualism and discourages emotion in religion or prayer. Churches are relatively large and spread out, typically existing in cosmopolitan networks. When the values of the church are identical (or similar, at the very least) to those of society around them, there is said to be little tension. (Churches are usually low-tension religious bodies). (Finke, Stark 43-44)
Sect
While churches are generally low-tension organizations, sects are often in a high state of tension with their surroundings. This is due to the fact that sects deviate noticeably from the churches from which they break away. Sects embrace personal, emotional experiences in their services and advocate fundamentalism as opposed to the intellectualism of churches.
(Finke, Stark 43-44)
Cult
Cults are new or different religious bodies, many of them relatively unheard of, while churches and sects possess and practice more prevalent and valued traditions. Tension between cults and the surrounding environment are much higher than that of the church, or even sects. The word “cult” is widely considered to be pejorative in America, even though all religions must begin as cults.[2]. (Stark, 399).
Common Characteristics of These "Firms"
1. Beliefs sold as goods to consumers:
Much like how a grocery store sells food, religious firms attempt to sell beliefs and ideas to the many customers of the world. They attempt to prove that the person should buy their good because it is the best.
2. Faith
Faith can refer to a religion, or to belief in one or more deities. It has two general implications which can be implied either exclusively or mutually.
3. Ethics
These firms teach their own version of what is right and what is wrong. Each firm has a different set of ethical rules, part of their "goods".
4. Golden Rule
Many religions teach the Golden Rule. It, in simplistic terms, means "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." A set of ethical and moral views that imply that you should do good in order to have others do good to and for you.
5. Life after Death or Afterlife
The afterlife, or life after death, are generic terms referring to survivalism, a "continuation" of existence, typically spiritual, experiential, or ghost-like, beyond this world (eg. planes of existence), or after physical death (eg. near-death experience, reincarnation).
6. One or many all-knowing beings
Many firms "sell" the idea that there is one(monotheism) or many(polytheism) all knowing beings that watch over all people. This can be found in almost any religion and dates back to Ancient Greece. A few examples are: Ancient Greeks(Zeus, Aphrodite), Christianity(God), Islam(Allah).
References
- ^ Finke and Stark, Rodney and Roger (2005). The Churching of America,1776-2005:Winners and Losers in Our Religious Economy. Rutgers University Press. ISBN 0-813-53553-0.
- ^ Stark, Rodney (2007). Sociology (10th Edition ed.). Thomson Wadsworth. ISBN 0-495-09344-0.
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- Stark, Rodney (2007). Sociology (10th Edition ed.). Thomson Wadsworth. ISBN 0-495-09344-0.
{{cite book}}:|edition=has extra text (help) - Finke and Stark, Rodney and Roger (2005). The Churching of America,1776-2005:Winners and Losers in Our Religious Economy. Rutgers University Press. ISBN 0-813-53553-0.
- Bankston, Carl III L. Rationality, Choice and the Religious Economy: The Problem of Belief. 2002. 27 Sep. 2007.<http://www.jstor.org/view/0034673x/ap060155/06a00040/0Economy>.
- Gill, Anthony. Religion and Comparative Politics. June 2001. 27 Sep. 2007 <http://arjournals.annualreviews.org/doi/full/10.1146/annurev.polisci.4.1.117?cookieSet=>.
- Ruf, Henry L. World Religions in a Postmodern Age. St. Paul, Minnesota: Paragon House, 2007.
- Wortham, Robert A. Religious Choices and Preferences: North Carolina's Baskin Robbins Effect? 2004. 27 Sep. 2007 <http://www.ncsociology.org/sociationtoday/v21/religion.htm>.