by Nomad



Rich People, Poor People, and Religion A recent study in the recent study in the Social Science Quarterly reaches some interesting and unexpected conclusions about the relationship between income inequality and the rise of religion.

Economic Inequality, Relative Power, and Religiosity analyzed countries around the world the levels of income equality and the level of religiosity over a two-decade span. Their conclusions are worth a closer look. The authors of the article analyzed countries around the world the levels of income equality and the level of religiosity over a two-decade span. Their conclusions are worth a closer look.





Let's start by defining the terms. What exactly is religiosity anyway? The sociological term "religiosity" can be considered the overall religiousness of a given culture or nation or group. In other words, the degree in which religion affects our day-to-day life.





In the study, there were twelve benchmarks, from the percentage of people who felt that religion played an important factor in their lives to a percentage of people who took time to pray, those that believed in Hell and sin and the number of people that believed in a Divine power. This evidence was matched with the levels of income inequality in the same countries.





Some of the findings in the study were less than surprising. For example, the authors found that Muslim countries were considerably more religious than other religious societies, and Catholic and Orthodox societies were more religious than Protestant ones. The lowest religiosity was found among Communist or formerly Communist countries.

Nothing shocking there.





The Surprising Thing Other things they found confirmed what many of us tend to believe anyway. The study determined, for instance, that there is a very strong relationship between how economically developed a country is and its religiosity: less developed countries are significantly more religious.





“economic inequality is estimated to powerfully increase religiosity."

But get this, that effect is not restricted only to the less well-off. The increase was found regardless of income. But they also found something else. After reviewing the numbers, the authors concluded thatBut get this, that effect is not restrictedto the less well-off. The increase was found regardless of income.

In other words, in economically skewed societies, both the rich and the poor are more religious. In fact, they found that, for nearly all of the measures of religiosity, when societies are more unequal, the richer people become more religious than the poorer people.

That flies in the face of what we think we know. The poor turn to religion, conventional wisdom tells us, because when faced with the intractable, long-standing inequality, turning to a higher power is just a search for reassurance and comfort.





H. Richard Niebuhr pointed out that the poor lack the economic and political power and turn to religion for solace. Niebuhr called it "churches of the disinherited. " The less privileged, so the theory goes, needed religion the most to compensate for their lack of social and personal success. Karl Marx famously said: Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, just as it is the spirit of a spiritless situation. If poverty made life unbearable, then religion promised a reward in the afterlife. If social mobility was impossible in this life, then the poor could, at least, look forward to a happier kingdom in heaven where equality was based on the goodness of the soul, rather than the weight of the gold in the purse or pocket. This theory of why the poor should turn to religion social scientists call "the deprivation theory."





Rich Folk Need Religion Too That theory, however, doesn't explain why the rich folk should become even more religious than the poor. The authors hypothesized that as societies become more economically unequal, richer people become more religious so they can disseminate religion to the needy. Those sneaks! That idea is called the That theory, however, doesn't explain why thefolk should become even more religious than the poor. The authors hypothesized that as societies become more economically unequal, richer people become more religious so they can disseminate religion to the needy. Those sneaks! That idea is called the “relative power theory.”

As the authors note:

. . . many wealthy individuals, rather than simply allowing redistribution to be decided through the democratic process as such median-voter models assume, respond to higher levels of inequality by adopting religious beliefs and spreading them among their poorer fellow citizens. Religion then works to discourage interest in mere material well-being in favor of eternal spiritual rewards, preserving the privileges of the rich and allowing unequal conditions to continue.

The authors came to the conclusion that both the deprivation and relative power theories seemed to work in tandem.

In economically unequal societies, rich people promulgate religion to keep their own place in the hierarchy, and, rather than fighting for more equality, poor people accept religion as an easy form of solace.

The next question the authors attempted to answer of a chicken or egg type. Does income inequality create greater religiosity or does religiosity create greater inequality? After studying religiosity in the US from the mid-1950s to the present, the analysts found a distinct pattern.

When inequality increased in one time period it was followed by a corresponding increase in religiosity. So once the inequality was feature of a society, the levels of religious fervor soared. And the people at the top of the pyramid were the ones who sang loudest in the church choir.

In short,

Unequal incomes lead to societies becoming more religious.

And the opposite is also true, the study found. Increasing the average economic well-being of people makes them less religious. So first comes the inequality and then comes the spread of religiosity.





This brings us to another question that the study compels us to ask. Do we have any real evidence that the people have benefited from the inequality between rich and poor actually propagate religion amongst the poor?





In the US, what we have seen is Far Right religion providing a justification for hoarding of wealth to the cost of the society as a whole.



