Newton Fortuin's Open Salon Blog

Catholicism and The Economic Crisis

Fri, 1 Jun 2012 11:06:21 -0400

Religious Identity and Economic Behaviour

Given that all the countries with the exception of Greece now experiencing the worst effects of the four year economic recession are overwhelmingly Catholic (Portugal, Spain, Italy, France and Ireland), and that that there is a very insignificant difference between Greek Orthodoxy and Catholicism in many respects, it is reasonable to ask: if there is an underlying connection between these religious views and the existing economic status quo?

While it is a very difficult and contentious proposition to prove such a theological causal link, there however is enough documented evidence that it indeed could be a root cause. For instance Professor Susan Schneider from the University of Geneva and Jean-Louis Barsoux of INSEAD in France describes the Catholic worldview as follows.

In the Catholic Church, profit was sanctioned for the benefit of the community, not for individual enhancement. The role of the (social and clerical) hierarchy was to intervene on behalf of the people to ensure collective well-being (the masses), to mediate in upholding the word of God, and to negotiate redemption

They juxtapose this with the Protestant worldview.

For protestants, access to God was more direct (no intermediary was necessary). Work, rather than a necessary evil (as viewed in Catholicism), was considered to be the means to redemption. It was this work ethic… that promoted capitalism.

The following is important in order to appreciate why this may influence increased productivity in communities who adopted the ethic.

This Protestant work ethic is based on underlying assumptions regarding individual achievement, perceived control over the environment, an instrumental approach, and the belief of a just world (equity). The profile of the PWE believer then is of an independently minded, competitive, hard-working individual who is prepared to persevere at a task to achieve desirable ends.

To get a sense get a sense of the influence of the social hierarchy, the authors go on to say.

In France, making money has long been viewed with some suspicion. Status and prestige came from family lineage and relationships—better to be an endebted aristocrat (ancien pauvre) than nouveau riche. Your personal value is derived from what you are rather than what you do or earn (ascription versus achievement). [i]

The influential researcher in the field of cultural economics, Geert Hofstede, additionally found that the Protestant work ethic was considered to drive GNP in the countries where it prevailed. ^{^[ii]}

What is ironic is that as much as Catholicism emphasizes “profit was sanctioned for the benefit of the community, not for individual enhancement”, the outworking may in fact not be according to that ideal. In a 2010 social experiment titled Religious Identity and Economic Behavior by the National Bureau of Economic Development (NBED) in Massachusetts in the US, found that.

Protestantism increases contributions to public goods. Catholicism decreases contributions to public goods, decreases expectations of others’ contribution to public goods. [iii]

In other words the study suggests that those with Protestant views are more likely to contribute to society and the environment than Catholics. Catholics also have less of an expectation from others to be active in this sense.

While this finding cannot conclusively be considered outside the particular sample group, it nevertheless is in line with Schneider and Barsoux’s view.

[That in the in the Protestant Work Ethic] the doctrine of corporate social responsibility can in part be understood as the ongoing effort to reconcile making money for individual benefit and the common good.

An article by the International Business Center titled How do Hofstede's Dimensions correlate with the World's Religions?, further indicates that.

Predominantly [non-Catholic] Christian countries have a strong belief in individuality, with individual’s rights being paramount within the society. [iv]

Thus, notwithstanding the commonly held view that the Protestant work ethic fosters rugged individualism, actually focuses on and fosters human rights. It thus is noteworthy that some of the most egalitarian societies such as Denmark and the Scandinavian countries are overwhelmingly Protestant, all rank very high in individualism. They too are of the most productive. And linking it to the discussion in the Connection between Religiosity and Mental Health, these factors could also provide a reason for the relative increased mental health of liberal Protestants as well.

From the data, another interesting anomalous occurrence is that the perception of Power Distance is highest in former as well as current communist countries. This is against countries scoring high in individualism such as Scandinavian countries, Britain, New Zealand, Canada and Australia (the highest individualism index) having a very high egalitarian social ethos. It is that high individualism is associated with lower levels of nepotism and greater respect for political freedom and civil rights. ^{^[v]}

The abstract from an article titled The Role of Protestantism in Democratic Consolidation Among Transitional States is useful to consider in this regard.

Previous studies have examined the causal link between Protestantism and democratization, primarily in shaping a nation-state's cultural ethos and its tendency to affect the outcome of democratic politics. Historically, Protestantism has also been linked to generating a political culture that promotes individualism, tolerance, the pluralism of ideas, and civic associationalism. Recent empirical evidence also shows how Protestant countries are more likely to be democratic compared to largely Islamic and Catholic states. Drawing from established cultural theories, the author empirically tests the argument whether or not transitional states with larger Protestant populations are more likely to strengthen their democracies. Findings indicate that transitional states that have higher Protestant populations are more likely to have higher levels of voice and accountability, political stability, citizenship empowerment, and civil society pluralism. The author contends that transitional states with higher Protestant populations are more likely to consolidate their democracies.^{^[vi]}

Thus contrary to what one may expect, communism appears to foster a sense of social inequality which is in complete contrast to its ideal. What has evolved is that Protestantism in Europe, Canada and Australia has become largely secularized. This, however, is contrasted with the United States which is one of the most unequal societies in the world. The distinct difference being that in these societies there is a high level of trust in government and a strong willingness by the wealthy to pay very high levels of tax. This being the very opposite in the United States.

Clearly, therefore, there is a distinct difference in the social psychology of the US that has taken it on a different path. This is because their Protestantism is indeed significantly different from the more liberal practice in Europe, Australia, and Canada. In large part it is represented by the Bible Belt variety, Prosperity Theology and Evangelical. European Protestantism being more in-line with mainline American Protestantism which stresses social justice and personal salvation as its primary tenets.

Other views such Jehovah’s Witness, Scientology, New Ageism, Seventh Day Adventists, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints have become part of the American religious fabric. Many Christian views developed in reaction to the increasing Liberalization of Protestantism in the 19^th century, while New Age views have emerged in the mid-20^th century largely in reaction to increasing secularization in the West.

Though unlike nations outside the United States, instead of societal liberalization and secularization, other Christian views have become increasingly dominant, and oftentimes militant. The religious smorgasbord has also led to the proliferation of cults, while many are merely money making or political scheme headed by some or other charismatic charlatan or fanatic in the name of a professed religion or political cause. For this reason this proliferation has become a largely politically and socially destabilizing factor in the US.

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Hofstede refers to the issue of social hierarchy as Power Distance indicating the extent to which a society accepts unequal authority. It also is an indirect indicator of the level of paternalism in a respective society.

The former Yugoslavia, Russia, France and Poland indicating high levels in Europe(that is considering the 53 countries on the list)—these being either Orthodox or Catholic nations. Austria on the other end is an overwhelmingly Catholic country displaying the lowest PDI. This is followed by Israel, while Arab countries in general having very high rankings. Countries with of the highest levels of PDI, Guatemala, Venezuela, Panama, the Philippines, and Mexico are indeed predominantly Catholic. This, however, is contrasted with Costa Rica which has one of the lowest PDI’s.

What is interesting in the case of Austria and Costa Rica is their particular historical context and very low levels of strict religious adherence. In the case of Austria there are very few practicing members with a particular history where Austria was primarily Protestant before the Habsburg Empire. Costa Rica on the other hand had historically always been more secular than its neighbours.

Although in Europe Catholic nations on average have a much higher Power Distance Index than Protestant nations, Orthodox nations by far have the highest levels.

What is revealing, is that Belgium share strong cultural dimensions with Spain than The Netherlands with whom it has strong historical relations with, indicates that religion strongly influences the cultural orientation of a nation.

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The IBC article summarizes the influences of various worldviews on cultural dimensions as follows: Atheist-=Power Distance, Hindu=Power Distance; Muslim=Power Distance; Buddhist=Uncertainty Avoidance; Catholic=Uncertainty Avoidance; Jewish=Uncertainty Avoidance; Non-Catholic Christian=Individualism.

Uncertainty Avoidance and Faith

Another interesting finding from the NBED study is that Catholicism also decreases risk aversion. This however completely contradicts Hofstede’s global study.

He refers to the avoidance of risk as Uncertainty Avoidance. Cultures high in Uncertainty Avoidance are risk averse, minimizing their exposure to risk through mechanisms such as laws, religion or customs. As Hofstede points out, cultures with high Uncertainty Avoidance have the attitude that “There can only be one Truth and we have it”. This attitude being the very antithesis of one required for critical thinking.

What is apparent is that Uncertainty Avoidance seems to be overwhelmingly religiously influenced.

Of the 53 countries studied globally, Greece has the highest Uncertainty Avoidance followed by Portugal. Other European countries in the top ten in order of ranking are Belgium, the former Yugoslavia, Spain and France. Notably these are overwhelmingly either Catholic or Orthodox nations. With the exception of one, Japan, the remaining countries in the top 15—Guatemala, Peru, Uruguay, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Panama and Costa Rica—are all Catholic. No Protestant country is in the top thirty (the date I referenced did not include any nations of the former Soviet Union). ^{^[vii]}

Muslim countries also have a reasonably lower level of Uncertainty Avoidance than Catholic nations, though considerably higher than Protestant nations. This being in line with the Muslim view on faith encapsulated by the Arab saying.

Pray to Allah, but tie your camel anyway.

It indicating that, notwithstanding the all-important role prayer plays in Muslim practice, that a premium is placed on personal responsibility and action.

What cannot be argued away is that a distinct link is evident by the incidence of Catholic and Orthodox countries in the highest end of the scale—93%. In other words, based on the practical unfolding, Catholics should in truth be the most risk averse demographic on the planet.

How does one reconcile this paradox as Uncertainty Avoidance is ordinarily synonymous with risk averseness?

Firstly, the extent of the debt accumulated by the countries at the center of the European Crisis, by implication, certainly does indicate a low aversion to risk. So this in itself backs up the NBER contention despite Hofstede’s findings of Uncertainty Avoidance on the ground. And thus if the common thread is a religious one, the propensity for risk must have some religious origin. My view is that it likely emanates from the general Christian view of faith encapsulated in the verse in below.

Faith is the confident assurance that something we want is going to happen. It is the certainty that what we hope for is waiting for us, even though we cannot see it up ahead. [Hebrews 11 verse 1]

As discussed in A Question of Faith, in this view faith and hope stands on their own, no personal intervention is required. If you have such a worldview, you do not need anything more than deep unquestioning faith and a longing hope to achieve your wants and desires.

This is contrasted to the Hindu view which views faith as follows.

Everyone has a particular type of faith, regardless of what he is. But his faith is considered good, passionate, or ignorant, according to the nature he has acquired… Faith originally comes out of the mode of goodness. One’s faith may be in a demigod, or in some created God or some mental concoction. One’s strong faith is supposed to be productive of works of material goodness… We find different types of faith in this world, and there are different types of religions due to different types of faith. The real principle of religious faith is situated in the mode of pure goodness, but because the heart is tainted we find different types of religious principles. [Bhagavad-Gita as it is, Chapter 17, verse 3]

This pragmatic and less esoteric view of faith perhaps also indicates why India has a relatively low Uncertainty Avoidance index. What is important to reflect on is that “one’s strong faith is supposed to be productive of works of material goodness”. From this one can infer that faith is connected to our respective acts of goodness, and certaintly not in a esoteric force or mental creation who are to orchastrate positive circumstances in our lives. In the verse, the influence of illusion on one’s faith is considered synonomous with darkness. Thus that faith derived from illusion is considered as a signficant contaminent on faith that is “productive of material goodness”.

To make sense of how a nation’s perspective on faith can influence its social and economic behavior, one should look at Uncertainty Avoidance from another perspective. It is that another way to view a low level of risk avoidance or risk averseness, is that it is reflective of having abundant unconditional faith. This being in line with the previous Christian view. This is because having such unconditional faith is associated with a ubiquitous belief that a future outcome somehow is esoterically assured. And in the case of the religious, it is accomplished by some or other esoteric as opposed to practical means.

Thus it may well be that the decreased risk aversion observed by the NBED group may only be psychological. To put it another way, one’s risk averseness may not necessarily be reflective of objective circumstances, but rather a factor of religiously instilled hope as discussed in The Pathology of Hope.

However, in the actual confronting of uncertainty there may indeed be a reluctance to act on the part of a person having such a strong faith. Particularly if the action required is contrary to one’s strong religiously inspired hopes for a brighter ideal. This is because in their worldview there is no such thing as uncertainty to begin with as everything is in God’s control. But what is more, that man has relatively little power to intervene in the divine scheme. Thus that the enduring belief in the desired outcome and actions that would appease or entice the esoteric power, is more likely to ensure the desired ideal, than any proactive human intervention is likely to do.

It is important to bear in mind that this is not a mutually exclusive proposition. For instance Ireland—the only noticeable outlier—is a Catholic country with reasonably low Uncertainty Avoidance. To appreciate this distinction one must yet again look at the particular historical context of Irish Catholicism which had largely been influenced by Irish Protestantism. For this reason all their cultural dimensions are closely related to the UK as a whole.

Italy too has a somewhat lower Uncertainty Avoidance ranking than the average Catholic nation albeit significantly more than others. One must be cognizant thought that it is not a linear proposition as too low a Power Distance index can be socially detrimental as well. Incidentally Jamaica, a country with a great many socio-economic problems, is the 2^nd lowest Uncertainty Avoidance nation. However, Singapore, one of the worlds most advanced and socially advanced nations, is the lowest.

In the context of this discussion, what Uncertainty Avoidance is indicative of is a developed (not innate) incapacity by individuals or a nation to decisively deal with situations of distress and uncertainty. For instance in the case of the economic crisis a country such as Ireland is more likely to swallow the bitter medicine of austerity and reform in order to transform for the better or to deal with impending distress. On the other hand a country with very high Uncertainty Avoidance is likely to oust the person or party attempting to do so as Greece had done.

The latest example being an Irish referendum endorsing the European Union Fiscal Pact, in other words the Irish people voting in favor of continued austerity. Again, this juxtaposing the Greek election where the electorate voted in a party without a single member ever being in government. This at such a crucial juncture where the consequence in all likelihood would be that they had chosen to exacerbate their considerable troubles even further.

What it therefore suggests is that countries with a high level of Uncertainty Avoidance also appear to have a low tolerance for collective social pain, and that this intolerance appears to be a factor of the peculiar brand of religion practiced in the respective society.

Because views such as The Secret does not have the same social and moral philosophical foundation Catholicism and Orthodoxy have, it cannot in any way be compared to them. However, with regards to the issue of unconditional faith and the esoteric manifestation of the object of our faith, there clearly is a significant convergence.

In other words, when faced with uncertainty, those with such views may feel it sufficient merely to pray to God or to evoke the powers of “The Universe”, than to act in a practical and concerted manner. That is, in circumstances of crisis or uncertainty, those in very high uncertainty avoiding countries are more likely to have a subliminal and ubiquitous belief that God or some or other esoteric force will come to save the day. And that it is this unconscious belief system—the hope that a miracle of some sorts will somehow come to one’s rescue—that results in social paralysis during such times.

Consequently one can translate Uncertainty Avoidance quite literally to imply a diminished capacity to take responsibility when circumstances or prospects are indeterminate. Thus that Uncertainty Avoidance may very well be an indicator of a person’s or a nation’s propensity for delusion and denial when confronted with a difficult and prolonged challenge.

If anything, this reinforces the initial assertion that religious belief may well be at the heart of the current intractable economic crisis.

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The only other nation in the top ten for high Uncertainty Avoidance is Japan—incidentally the most indebted nation ahead of Greece. This incidentally is a factor attributed for their great success up to now, specifically the Japanese propensity for hard work, but has become problematic as it is also an indicator of their ability to adapt. Japan’s index of 92 (7^th on the scale) is contrasted with that of Italy (75), Germany (65), South Africa (49), the United States (46), India (40), Great Britain (35), China (30), Denmark (23) and Singapore (8, the lowest index). As indicated before, the highest is Greece at 112.

While Japan, an incredibly stoic nation, cannot in any way be viewed as a nation that cannot tolerate pain, what is apparent is that they do appear to have propensity for bungling crises.

The particular cases in point firstly is the manner with which they dealt with the Fukushima crisis, where there was a continued failure to act decisively which exacerbated the extent of the eventual outfall of the disaster.

Another is the failure to address the fallout of the Japanese Economic Crisis in the 90’s. This is coupled with the perpetual political morass they appear to have remained in since the crisis ensued. Japan has had 7 prime ministers in 7 years, none of them lasting long enough to make a meaningful difference.

The other is the number of high profile corporate crises’ over the past two years. The main ones being the Toyota safety crisis, the Olympus accounting fraud crisis and the difficulty Sony has had in adapting to the changing technology landscape.

The International Business Center article referred to before points to a very high correlation in Uncertainty Avoidance dimensions between the Shinto and Buddhist views practiced in Japan, and Catholicism. With regard to Buddhism and Shintoism it found that: “Due to the close approximation of Buddhist and Shinto societies, these have been combined for this study. These countries have the closest correlation with Hofstede’s Uncertainty Avoidance Index (UAI), which is the same with Catholic countries. In the countries that have over 50% of their populations practicing the Catholic religion we found the primary correlating Dimension to be Uncertainty Avoidance (UAI). There were only two countries out of twenty-three that did diverge from this correlation, Ireland and the Philippines”.

The Primacy of Work

Bringing this back to the greater discussion of the impact of views such as The Secret, it is important to go back to A Question of Faith. It is that, philosophically, the nature of faith encompasses the fundamental difference between South European (not necessarily North European) and South East Asian (South China, Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan) philosophies. In South Europe one’s sense of good fortune is largely linked to some extraneous or esoteric entity (be it the state, the church, God, family wealth, personal connectedness, social or religious lineage), while in these countries it is primarily connected to the willingness to work.

For instance in the book Outliers: The Story of Success, Malcolm Gladwell argues that the mathematical ability of South East Asians are largely a fact of persistence and hard work, and not at all as a consequence of superior intelligence compared to other nationalities. It is also interesting that in the Far East, the divide is the opposite to that in the West. That is, in the East, warmer southern territories have a stronger work ethic than the North. This largely dispelling the idea that climate may largely be responsible for the respective attitudes in Europe.

He suggests that the associated work ethic is encapsulated by the following Chinese saying.

No one who can rise before dawn three hundred and sixty days a year fails to make their family rich.

Thus one’s perceived worth is directly related to thrift and how hard one is prepared to work, and not necessarily the outcome of the work. This concurs with the Indian/Hindu worldview as well.

You have a right to work, but not to the results thereof. Never consider yourself to be the cause of the results of your activities, and never be attached to not doing your duty. [Bhagavad-Gita, Chapter 2, verse 47]

The Protestant Work Ethic (primarily North Western European countries) similarly is “based on the necessity for hard work as a component of a person’s calling and worldly success” and is regarded as “a visible sign or result (not a cause) of personal salvation”.

It therefore may also give an indication of the relative economic success of these nations. The phenomenal growth of the United States over the past century is also attributable to this, albeit that the central premise of the ethic may well be in decline in modern times. This is evidenced by an increasing emphasis on reward which is synonymous with greed. One reason for this is the increasing influence of views espoused by The Secret and in particular the increasing prominence of Prosperity Theology teaching that “financial blessings is the will of God for Christians”. The doctrine teaches that “faith, positive speech, and donations to Christian ministries will always increase one’s material wealth”. Interestingly, these views are also associated with the more extreme right-wing fringes of the Republican Party.

What is apparent from the above is that The Secret’s gospel is fundamentally no different from that of Prosperity Theology, be it that there is “the Universe” at the center of the former, and God in the latter. Because of the emphasis on the reward and a shift from the implied holiness of the work itself, it must be a consequence that the proliferation and popularization of these views must be responsible for escalating levels of greed, particularly in the United States where these views have emanated. That is regardless of the overall belief orientation of the individual, but that it appears that these views are usurping the Protestant work ethic, which had largely been responsible for their social and economic success.

What is important to take cognizance of is that all prosperity orientated theologies fosters short-term thinking in that the goal of any endeavor inevitably is for the final reward. In other words, money becomes the overwhelming end.

For instance, Germany and the US, the epicenters of the 1929 Depression, had tended towards more prosperity orientated theological views at the turn of the century—New Ageism in the US, and Romantic Idealism in Germany. As suggested in Crashing Hopes: The Great depression, it was the Psychology of Consumption with its unquestioning faith in prosperity that exacerbated the crisis in the 1920’s. Again, the essential problem with this orientation is that it fosters short-term thinking, and that the primary purpose of labor, therefore, becomes its outcome.

Existential views on the other hand, such as the Protestant work ethic, fosters finding meaning through work, though in finding meaning in one’s existential struggles in general (refer to Christian Existentialism). Thus it is not necessarily about the salary you bring home at the end of the month. The irony now is that countries where the Protestant work ethic had been the driving force are in fact working fewer hours than others where it had not been a driving influence.

An interesting fact, however, is that the majority grouping in many of the societies indicate no allegiance to any belief orientation, and that the majority of Germans and Swiss are Catholic. It thus is apparent that, while the work ethic of these communities had been influenced by the Protestant work ethic, it had developed to become the national character of the respective country.

The Cardinal Truth

Unlike the Protestant view that seeks salvation through one’s virtuous, whether it be work or right action, the principal Catholic tenet is that salvation is secured through prayer and faith alone in Jesus Christ.

Nevertheless seeking meaning through one’s endeavors is also a principal requirement of Catholic faith and is encapsulated by the four Cardinal virtues of prudence, justice, restraint or temperance, and courage or fortitude. These were first penned by the Greek philosophers, Aristotle and Plato. From a religious point of view, however, these virtues had not been given as much “spiritual” significance as the Protestants had done in encapsulating their work ethic.

Specifically, Catholicism indicates that the Theological virtues of faith, hope, and love or charity, are paramount, and that these cannot be attained by practicing the cardinal virtues alone. That is, it does not assert the relationship between one’s virtuous actions and the potential of receiving heavenly redemption, and therefore, elevating such a requirement to being an all-important spiritual pursuit.

What this emphasis therefore asserts is that love in particular, exists in a vacuum, and that it does not need our directed action. In other words, it is not considered an act of will in which we extend ourselves to another, and that the action in itself is the sincerest expression of that love, and that love not be relegated to just a mere emotion or feeling.

Because of the implicit emphasis Protestantism places on the cardinal virtues, it can generally be equated to Confucianism where similar values have become secularized into South East Asian culture.

Confucius five virtues for a healthy, harmonious life are:

Ren – the virtue of benevolence, charity, and humanity;

Yi – of honesty and uprightness which can be broken down into:-

Zhong – doing one's best, conscientiousness, loyalty; and

Shù – reciprocity, altruism, consideration for others, and Confucius’ early version of the Golden Rule, “what you don't want yourself, don't do to others";

Zhi – knowledge;

Xin – the virtue of faithfulness and integrity; and

Li – correct behavior, or propriety, good manners, politeness, ceremony, worship.

The Catholic Church’s emphasis on the theological virtues on the other hand equates it more closely to Buddhism. This, therefore, could also explain the similarities in Uncertainty Avoidance between Catholic and Buddhist nations.

It is because the Church and the Temple had been declared the holders of these “holy” virtues, and by virtue of the power bestowed on the respective institutions, they become the “devine” domain of the principles of these respective faiths to bestow on the faithful flock. For this reason faith, hope, and love are held virtual captive by institutions who advocate that access to God (or good fortune in the case of Japanese Buddhism) can only be gained through it.

The de facto de-emphasis of the cardinal virtues is also crucial in the development of the mindset of the worshiper as the religious tend to respond collectively based on religious decree by their respective anointed leaders. This is particularly the case with Catholics who afford their clerical elders—the Pope in particular—with far greater reverence than Protestants do to theirs. Thus, while the cardinal virtues are deemed of relatively high social importance but not necessarily worthy of heavenly redemption, that is in the mind of the Catholic adherent, it would nevertheless not be regarded as being of any great significance at all in the greater heavenly scheme of things.

However, while the relationship on the virtues of work is implicit in the Catholic tradition, it had received a significant boost from Pope John Paul II. This is encapsulated in a paper by George E. Garvey of the Columbus School of Law titled Work as Key to the Social Question.

Catholic teaching has always placed great emphasis on the value of work and of workers. Particularly since Pope John Paul II published Laborem Exercens, the philosophical and theological foundation for work’s exalted position in Catholic thought is quite clear. Work is the way that humans' participate in the Divine task of creation and contribute to the common good. In doing so, the worker enhances his dignity, he becomes more fully human. Work, then, is both a right and a duty. [viii]

This emphasis on the spiritual importance of work is a controversial view as many Catholics indeed equate it to the Protestant work ethic which is mistakenly touted as being primarily responsible for the rotten underbelly of capitalism, greed. The conventional Catholic view described by Schneider and Barsoux could also explain the tendency by Latin American countries towards Communism.^{^[ix]} And perhaps the pronouncements by Pope John Paul could give some insight into the phenomenal economic rise in recent years by Latin American countries and Poland (the pope's homeland). ^{^[x]}

Regardless of whether this may or may not have influenced Brazil’s (in particular) or Poland’s success, or regardless of whether one’s orientation is socialism or capitalism, what is important here in the context of this discussion is the concerted attempt at elevating the role of work by a principal of the Catholic Church. This is opposed to the more traditionally espoused view that unconditional faith be regarded as the preferred means to attain earthly and heavenly outcomes for both the individuals and society as a whole.

How we view reality, ultimately, affects our perception of our respective power to affect the ever-changing ebb-and-flow of the events of our lives. This perception then also affects our respective psychological makeup as well. And crucial in the development to this understanding, is how we view the nature of God. To help one resolve this predicament, consider the following by the last of the Five Good Roman Emperors, Marcus Aurelius.

Live a good life. If there are gods and they are just, then they will not care how devout you have been, but will welcome you based on the virtues you have lived by. If there are gods, but unjust, then you should not want to worship them. If there are no gods, then you will be gone, but will have lived a noble life that will live on in the memories of your loved ones.

The Virtues of Markus Aurelius being:

1. Auctoritas - "Spiritual Authority" - The sense of one's social standing, built up through experience, Pietas, and Industria.

2. Comitas - "Humour" - Ease of manner, courtesy, openness, and friendliness.

3. Clementia - "Mercy" - Mildness and gentleness.

4. Dignitas - "Dignity" - A sense of self-worth, personal pride.

5. Firmitas - "Tenacity" - Strength of mind, the ability to stick to one's purpose.

6. Frugalitas - "Frugalness" - Economy and simplicity of style, without being miserly.

7. Gravitas - "Gravity" - A sense of the importance of the matter at hand, responsibility and earnestness.

8. Honestas - "Respectability" - The image that one presents as a respectable member of society.

9. Humanitas - "Humanity" - Refinement, civilization, learning, and being cultured.

10. Industria - "Industriousness" - Hard work.

11. Pietas - "Dutifulness" - More than religious piety; a respect for the natural order socially, politically, and religiously. Includes the ideas of patriotism and devotion to others.

12. Prudentia - "Prudence" - Foresight, wisdom, and personal discretion.

13. Salubritas - "Wholesomeness" - Health and cleanliness.

14. Severitas - "Sternness" - Gravity, self-control.

15. Veritas - "Truthfulness" - Honesty in dealing with others.

When looking at it from a twenty-first century perspective, it is ironic how the Germanic nations—Aurelius’ great foe at the time, and who eventually plunged Europe into the Dark Ages—had become the inheritors of these ancient Roman ethics of greatness. But moreover, that the Roman worldview had for all-intents-and-purposes been reduced to a dependence on faith, hope, and love as their primary foundation for individual and societal success. None of these having even been viewed as being of any great significance, and indeed independent virtues, by Aurelius.

But beyond clearing the all-important philosophical conundrum about the nature and role of God in your own mind, or getting into a debate about which virtues are more important, what is imperative is to realize the following. It is that the Cardinal and Theological virtues should not be viewed as a mutually exclusive proposition.

Perhaps they are of equal importance?

To understand how one’s emphasis plays out socially it must be appreciated that in Greece—as in Catholic nations—there would be a greater premium placed on the Theological Virtues. As such a wealthy oil magnate would perceive his riches as being a direct reward from God. Consequently such an individual would not be particularly compelled to pay his taxes or contribute to social causes as one's opulence then is perceived as one's heavenly due. ^{^[xi]}

In the final analysis, what other purpose would one’s faith and hope serve than to create an unconscious expectation that God would somehow create good fortune in our lives? And if it appears that one is particularly blessed, particularly if one has acquired significant financial means, that it had been as a consequence of one’s supposed virtuous conduct, and that one’s good fortune had been divinely bestowed? Isn’t it simply that hope is a desire for a future outcome, and faith (at least in the Christian tradition,) that this outcome somehow is a fait accompli if one leaves it in the hands of God?

On the other hand if one places a high value on prudence, justice, temperance, and fortitude, one’s attitude would be that “I and those that contributed to my success am responsible”. One one’s sense of codependence also then would have a greater compunction to reasonably contribute to the society which had contributed to that success.

What is paramount for successful living is that the cardinal virtues tend to have a greater impact on social and economic accomplishment. It may well be that the overemphasis on this aspect in secular Western societies may bring, or indeed had brought, their own set of problems as is particularly evident with the increasing levels of greed in corporate America in particular. What, however, is clear to me is that one cannot build anything of great significance if it does not have a solid foundation of concerted disciplined endeavor.

And certainly as much as it may be the foundation of any successful society, that the degree of prudence, justice, temperance and courage with which it engages its affairs are greatly demonstrable of the faith, hope, and love it holds in its heart.

Forging a New Future

While the NBED findings and Hofstede cultural dimensions strongly suggests potential religious influences on economic and social behavior, and indeed can allude to the underlying causes of the European economic crisis, one nevertheless cannot make any definitive conclusions. Nevertheless the distinct correlation between high Uncertainty Avoidance and nations such as Greece, Portugal and Spain’s continuing to struggle with a perpetual economic crisis, cannot be ignored.

What is important here is not that Protestantism is better than Catholicism or otherwise. For instance I’m vehemently opposed to rigidly applied puritan Calvinism as I had personally experienced in Apartheid South Africa.

Rather, what must be emphasized is the connection between work and meaning which is apparent in the Protestant work ethic, and how this appear to have aided nations with this view. What is important, therefore, is that the ethic evolve beyond its religious prescriptiveness. In other words, that it be secularized as indeed is the case in societies where it originally emanated. What is also important to consider is that, even in secular states that previously were dominated by Catholicism, vestiges of the religious mindset had become largely entrenched. For instance Power Distance and Uncertainty Avoidance in Belgium and France still remain strong. It therefore is indicative of how the basic tenets of any society’s belief have a consequence on their effectiveness, but moreover, on their respective mentalities as well.

By now you must be thinking that I’m advocating a very a harsh stoic philosophy. What should however be appreciated is that a positive work ethic should not necessarily be about hard work or the amount of time one dedicates to doing one’s chores. Rather, it should be about one’s attitude towards work and the ability to make sacrifices towards long-term goals. And indeed, that one’s future becomes less demanding on our time and energy.

Again, what it comes down to is discipline. Specifically, it has to do with the meaning derived from one’s chosen vocation. For instance one may spend many hours at work to accrue a wage and thus that the motivation is to provide a mere means to survive. In this case one’s motivation would be rather basic on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. This certainly appearing to be the case in Greece with the statistics indicate the great many hours the average Greek work. In an OECD report Greece is only surpassed by Korea on the most hours worked per year.

This though is in line with the profile of nations with high levels of Uncertainty Avoidance. According to Hofstede a peculiar feature is that nations with high ratings have an inner need to be busy and have a greater propensity for hard work. This being one strategy they employ to avoid uncertainty. The other being a strong reliance on religious and state institutions.

On the other hand if the quality of the outcome of one’s labor is the prerogative, efficiency in the case of Germany, one may indeed spend less time on the actual labor, but more an aspect that would ensure its optimal conclusion. Again, to juxtapose Greece, the average German works considerably fewer hours per week, but are significantly more productive.

Considering Maslow’s Hierarchy, when one finds one’s work meaningful, the level of motivation is akin to the highest level of the human experience, that of self-actualization. Work itself then becomes the end of this actualization, not the vehicle to derive at a destination. As Pope John Paul indicated.

Work is the way that humans' participate in the Divine task of creation and contribute to the common good. In doing so, the worker enhances his dignity, he becomes more fully human.

Thus, depending on one’s attitude towards what one does for a living, one can have a sense of fulfillment regardless of whether one is responsible for sweeping the streets or whether one is responsible for sending a rocket into outer space. What gets us there is deriving a sense of meaning in our chosen vocation.

Given the dramatic changing economic landscape and the phenomenal rise of Eastern nations, it is imperative that the West come to terms with the not so obvious underlying cause of their ongoing debilitating crisis. And again, as much as it appears to be economic, it well may be about essential belief, and specifically about the primacy of work in the mind of a great many Europeans. One can almost conclude—at least based on this analysis—that the European economic crisis may be more one of faith than economics per se. The alternative to dealing with its underlying cause being a resignation that many European economies is just not vital enough to be competitive on the new global economic stage. And that ultimately, as a collective, Europe will also struggle to maintain its current global prominence.

I know the claim that there may a link between religion and the economic crisis would be a contentious one, and particularly the emphasis on Catholicism and Orthodoxy. As an agnostic I don’t have a vested interest in promoting the one view over the other, however, I merely am reporting on the data I’ve gathered.

It simply is that one cannot deny the relationship between the global incidence of high Uncertainty Avoidance and Power Distance in predominantly Orthodox and Catholic countries. It certainly also is glaring that countries with very high political instability and/or intolerance in Europe are Orthodox nations. What is apparent that all major Orthodox countries—Russia, Ukraine, Greece, Belarus, Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia, and previously Georgia—are characterized by very high levels of political intolerance and/or instability.

One observation is that the majority of these Orthodox nations are Slavic, but that non-Orthodox Slavic nations (Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic, Croatia, Slovenia, Slovakia) are significantly more democratic. It therefore suggestive that the level of intolerance and political instability may strongly be influenced by the Orthodox religious worldview.

Like Orthodox nations, Islamic nations are also characterized by very high Power Distance and even more political intolerance.

It is also peculiar that outlier Catholic nations with low Power Distance such as Costa Rica and Austria, had been significantly more secular than other staunchly Catholic nations. While one can argue that Austria simply is showing cultural dimensions of its Germanic ethnicity, the same cannot be said for Costa Rica. It being the true outlier in having the second lowest Power Distance Index in the world.

Costa Rica being the one incidence strongly indicating that a differing religious perspective can make all the difference to a country’s economic, social and political outlook. Why this is remarkable is that Latin American countries have historically had of the highest average Power Distance Index’s in the world, but moreover, that Catholic institutions are all-pervasive throughout the region---that is both socially and politically. Costa Rica’s significant deviation from the norm by virtue of its secularism is what is the true revelation, and indeed, the true hope for a better less mentally and psychologically restrictive future.

While it is important to understand the cause within one’s own society, it is as important to understand the root impetus behind the rise of these Eastern nations, and therefore, to understand what their social motivators are. Specifically Hofstede indicates that the growth of the “South Eastern Tigers” can be ascribed to Confucian Dynamism which includes values of persistence, thrift, well-defined social roles, and a long-term, future orientation (refer to Cultural Dimensions of China). ^{^[xii]}

These then inform their peculiar notion of faith as well. Amongst successful East Asian nations it is that faith is intrinsically linked to that view that one’s dedicated action and concerted endeavor informs success, and that the quality of one’s attempt or action is what one must have faith in, not the outcome is guaranteed. What is required is not to throw the baby out with the bath water as many Eastern values are incongruent with the West. Rather, what is required is a critical assessment of what works, and what doesn’t. And in particular, to become aware of limited belief systems, and limited ways of thinking.

From a Western perspective what is apparent is that the nature of their faith may in fact be at the heart of the problem among a great many nations. This is as evidenced in Western nations with very high Uncertainty Avoidance, and that there may be too high a reliance on esoteric powers to do their bidding. To overcome this, these nations are obliged to come to terms with and to resolve their orientation towards work. In other words their work ethic must become the all-important focus for their future economic competitiveness and survival. This comes down to reevaluating what is truly the most virtuous virtue that will ensure their social survival in our complex and competitive times times.

And as mentioned previously, it is not about how hard or how much we work, but our motivation behind why we do what we do.

This is because the nations of the East clearly have an even stronger, well-constructed, a-religious and socially internalized one. This is evidenced by an even stronger resolve to make long-term sacrifices to achieve social and economic goals than any Western nation had previously done—China being the particular case in point.

Given the prognosis, the fate of the entire Western world is dependent on a changed orientation towards what motivates them. What must be guarded against, therefore, is that prayer and faith become a mere passive pursuit. Thus to have the deluded conviction that no action is required as our wants and desires are fully taken care of by God or some otherworldly force. One’s faith then becomes nothing more than an infantile expectation that some or other obscure power is to deliver your ends for you, and that wishful thinking is the only determinant of the “assured” outcome of your fancy.

In the final analysis what it comes down to is having a profound sense of knowing what calls one to action.

In other words, our underlying philosophical view about the importance of work influences the subliminal reasons behind our motivation to do so.

But moreover, the theological primacy of work can be directly equated to non-religious notions of existential suffering, and therefore, one’s willingness to sacrifice to achieve a higher end.

It is an acceptance that we do have the power to affect our world for the betterment of ourselves and those around us.

It is in having the faith that, even though we often cannot see or experience the end, and indeed never may, that in our mere attempt to make a difference, we already are changing our world for the better.

That is regardless of what may actually result, and that this attempt is the holiest thing we can ever achieve.

It is a profound sense of knowing that: our ability to answer the call to action, is the reward, and not necessarily the reward itself.

Extract from the epilogue of

Scourge: The Demise of Critical Thinking in the Age of “The Secret”

[i] Managing Across Cultures, Schneider & Barsoux, Prentice-Hall, 2003

[ii] Culture and Organisation: Software of the Mind, Geert Hofstede, McGraw-Hill, 1991.

[iii] Religious Identity and Economic Behavior, Benjamin Choi & Fisher, NBER, 2010.

[iv] How do Hofstede's Dimensions correlate with the World's Religions?, Stephen J. Tailor, International Business Center

[v] Cultural dimensions and social behavior correlates: Individualism-Collectivism and Power Distance, Nekane Basabe & María Ros, Presses Universities de Grenoble, 2005.

[vi] The Role of Protestantism in Democratic Consolidation Among Transitional States, Rollin F. Tusalem, Sage Publications, 2009.

[vii] Culture and Organisation: Software of the Mind, Geert Hofstede, McGraw-Hill, 1991.

[viii] Work as Key to the Social Question, George E. Garvey, Vatican City, 2002.

[ix] The Catholic View of Economics, F. R. Hoare, Catholic Apologetics.

[x] Latin Europe Lumbers, Latin America Lunges: What are the cultural roots for the difference?, Dean Foster, The Culture Prophecy.

[xi] Insecurity Touches the Tycoons of Greece, Landon Thomas Jr. and Eleni Varvitsioti, The New York Times, 2012.

[xii] The Confucius Cnnection: From cultural Roots to Economic Growth, Geert Hofstede, Organizational Dynamics, 1988.

Nazi America - The Rise of the Koch Brothers

Sat, 31 Mar 2012 13:03:03 -0400

For more on religious indoctrination go to

Scourge: The Demise of Critical Thinking in the Age of “The Secret”

The Godless Atheist

Mon, 19 Mar 2012 03:03:50 -0400

The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt. — [Bertrand Russell]

As an agnostic I certainly don’t have a problem with anyone choosing to be an atheist. It however has been my experience that many of the atheists I interact with oftentimes tend to be more dogmatic and intolerant than religious conservatives. My casual observation suggests that they definitely are more so than the average religious person. And oftentimes it is not only the religious that has to bear the brunt of their ire, even agnostics are labeled as wimps for being too soft on “the enemy”, the religious that is, and often are referred to as fence sitters when it comes to the general issue of belief. The following utterance by political satirist Stephen Colbert conveying the general sentiment: Isn’t an agnostic just an atheist without balls?

I know I’m generalizing but that is my personal observation based on my own experience. But let me relate an incident that highlights the typical mentality. The resulting consternation upon which this example is based was triggered by the following innocent email.

Good morning everyone. It seems that Monwabisi’s condition has worsened and he is in hospital again. His girlfriend relayed that he is at the Vincent Pallotti Hospital in the Poplar ward. He is said to be extremely ill. Guys, please keep him in your prayers and thoughts.

As innocent as this email was, all hell broke loose after the sender apologized for sending it to the wrong mailing list. She meant to send it to her department only, but chose a group email that sent it to all the staff at the university. The apology followed five minutes later, but soon afterwards emails flooded my inbox requesting to be removed from the her list. It became so bad that the secretary of the chancellor had to ask the operations manager to train staff on the “Reply to Sender” function (which is the default function on the GroupWise mail-server) and they used the “Reply to All” (incidentally not the default option which had to be deliberately selected).

The result was that hundreds of were forwarded in this way. By the third day the emails were still streaming in, upon which someone responded with the following.

To ALL those who don’t want to be part of this mail:

This was a simple mail, requesting prayers for one of our sick colleagues. What is so difficult praying for someone, why does that bother you so much?

If you can’t pray for him, just delete the mails that come to your mailbox and stop filling other people’s mailbox by requesting to be taken out of the mailing list. Tomorrow may be your turn to need prayers. How will you all feel being in Monwabisi’s shoes? The Bible instructs us to pray for the sick and to LOVE our neighbors as ourselves.

So, where did Ashley go wrong by asking us to pray for one of us that are battling with ill health?

The more people that pray for him the better.

Yet, this did not end the chain mailing, bearing in mind that these mails were also being sent to Monwabisi mailbox as well. This is when I thought I’d have my say and changed the email header to “Is this an Institution of Higher Learning?” and responded to the previous email, even though the author clearly had strong religious sentiments.

I agree fully with your email, and I hope the other 2000 or so people who cluttered the email system by purposefully selecting the “Reply to all” (as they had to as I purposefully did in this case), actually got your message.

I thought this is a university of higher learning? And that there may be half a chance of finding civilized intelligent compassionate people working here. I know there are, but this clearly had been an exhibition to the contrary.

I will keep Monwabisi in my thoughts.

I then received a mail with the header: Thank you for rebuking us, we really deserve it. Also sent to all, but then the emails stopped with the exception of the following.

Sorry, you might but I don’t deserve any rebuke!

Let me explain why..... I never ‘replied to all’, neither did I ask to be removed from the list. I am sorry to hear of a sick colleague, even if I don’t personally know him. But actually it is not about that, it is about boundaries. It is very inappropriate to send out an email asking the entire staff of a University to pray for someone. This is not what work place emails are for. If that was the norm where would it end?

We all know people who are in need of support. Can you imagine if everyone suddenly implored us, via internal mail, to call on devine intervention on behalf of someone else? We’d be flooded by thousands of letters on a daily basis. Use the social networks to do that sort of thin. (By the way they are far more effective).

It is equally inappropriate to send out a manipulative and sickly rebuke reminding us of some biblical injunction or telling us we might be ill tomorrow! It’s preposterous! I’m not a child that I need to be chastised. “This was a simple mail, requesting prayers for one of our sick colleagues. What is so difficult praying for someone, why does that bother you people so much?” Do you get how patronizing that is?

On top of that, in the correspondence comes an innuendo that I am neither civilized intelligent or caring! What do you know of me or anyone else on this campus? What is it about people like yourselves that believe it is alright and fitting to adopt a high moral stance because people didn’t respond in a way you thought appropriate...

To which I responded.

Let me not draw this out into a lengthy debate, someone made a simple mistake by choosing the incorrect group address (and invaded your personal boundary), and apologized very shortly afterwards. But moreover, with a very simple request, and all hell broke loose. I would not have known you were supportive of that stance, but now I do. By the way, I’m agnostic, but I respect others efforts to elicit concern for those in need, and why not do it by mail. I receive hundreds of spam daily, so what if a legitimate call for concern for someone in need slips in once in a while. If it offends you so much, delete it, unless it gives you some perverse gratification to air your objection to the world…

While I cannot say for sure whether this person is an atheist as I had never met him, he does exhibit the typical cynical demeanor in his tone. As far as those who sent the emails, I cannot say either, but more than likely are must be both religious and non-religious individuals who participated. This however is more reflective of the mob mentality referred to in this work, for, once the first email was sent, it appears as if others also wanted to be part of that dissent, and thus to show all that they also had something to say, no matter how ridiculous. Indeed I would’ve called the section Narcissism in Action because of the total disregard for Monwabisi and his circumstance; that the responders were more concerned that their boundaries were invaded.

Either way, whether he was atheist or not, this certainly is reflective of the growing narcissistic, uncaring mentality of our time. And just to remind you, this incident did not happen in urban US, but had taken place in Cape Town, a city on the southernmost tip of Africa.

Extract from

Scourge: The Demise of Critical Thinking in the Age of “The Secret”

Connection Between Religiosity and Dementia

Sun, 22 Jan 2012 05:01:28 -0500

Recent studies are suggesting that a fundamentalist mindset may put individuals at greater risk of developing dementia in later life.

Note that within the context of the discussion religiosity has nothing to do with whether one believes in a god or not. Instead it is connected to the extent to which one advocates or strongly adheres to a particular devotional code. Thus the definition of fundamentalist includes rigid non-belief as well. To support this view consider the following extract from The Crowd: A Study of The Poplar Mind written in 1896 by Gustav le Bon.

A person is not religious solely when he worships a divinity, but when he puts all the resources of his mind, the complete submission of his will, and the whole-souled ardor of fanaticism at the service of a cause or an individual who becomes the goal and guide of his thoughts and actions…

It is thus a very useless commonplace to assert that a religion is necessary for the masses, because all political, divine, and social creeds only take root among them on the condition of always assuming the religious shape—a shape which obviates the danger of discussion. Were it possible to induce the masses to adopt atheism, this belief would exhibit all the intolerant ardor of a religious sentiment, and in its exterior forms would soon become a cult.

In my own daily interactions with those around me I casually observed that a number of strongly religious acquaintances appear to exhibit greater levels of mental degeneration than others who are not as overtly religious. On the other hand some dyed-in-the-wool atheists I have associated with are of the most grumpy cynical narrow-minded people I know (also refer to The Godless Atheist).

Juxtaposed to these seemingly opposing groups, however, I observed a 76 year old family member who has one of the most cogent social and mental dispositions of anyone I know. What I particularly noted about her is that she never spoke about religion or addressed any topic in religious terms. This notwithstanding that she had an apparent strong private religious faith which one could tell by her regular church attendance and activities within her greater religious community. She was also completely open to other religions and would not hesitate to attend a service in another religious denomination or faith if invited or had an opportunity to do so. This is as opposed to the extremely religious Christian grouping who, without fail, are condemning of other views, even other Christian denominations.

These apparent contrasting states of mental health motivated me to investigate a possible link between religiosity and dementia and found the following study. Titled Religious Education and Midlife Observance are associated with Dementia three decades later in Israeli Men, it was a joint collaboration between three esteemed institutions including the Department of Psychology at the Mount Sinai Medical School in New York. It observed 1,690 middle-aged and elderly patients. The sample was from 2,604 survivors of 10,059 participants in a Ischemic Heart Disease study, and it determined that 18.9% had developed dementia. Based on a religious self-definition and practice, the prevalence rates amongst those considered most religious were three times greater than the least religious group (9.7%, 17.7%, 14.1% and 28.8% from least to most religious).[1]

What the data suggests is that the least religious had a very low incidence while the most had a particularly high incidence. Compared to all the other categories it had roughly twice the incidence of their average. Thus based on this one study one can simplistically infer that one has a very high probability of becoming demented if one is also very religious. On the other hand, those who tend not to be religious have a significantly lower incidence. This low-religious group could include atheists, agnostics, as well as those with some or other concept of God but do not attend a worship group.

However an anomaly was evident when looking at the type of education the patients received: that is whether they received exclusively religious, mixed or secular education. The data here indicated that those who attended exclusively religious education were about 2.3 times more at risk than those who had a mixed education, while it was only 1.8 times greater for those who received a secular education. Interestingly, the secular group fared somewhat worse than the mixed group.

On further research I found another study at the Duke Medical Centre investigating brain differences based on faith funded by the National Institutes of Health and the Templeton Foundation. The study asked 268 people aged between 58 to 84 about their religious group, spiritual practices and life-changing religious experiences. Protestants who did not identify themselves as born-again were found to have less atrophy in the hippocampus region (the part of the brain involved in memory forming, organizing and storing) than did born-again Protestants, Catholics or those with no religious affiliation. Participants who said they had undergone a religious experience were also found to have more atrophy than those who did not. [2]

Again, there may be many reasons for the above results, but it is generally in line with the findings of the Israeli study, particularly with regards to the extremely religious. This is particular because mainline American Protestants are generally considered far more moderate than Catholics and born-again groups. The born-again groups being associated with the so-called Bible Belt and socially conservative Evangelical Protestantism.

However what must be considered when looking at the Israeli context are that those considered low in the religiosity rank would likely be secular Jews (also referred to as Jewish Atheists). Unlike atheist in Western Europe and the United States, Jewish atheist still consider themselves Jewish and therefore observe many of the religious traditions, though not to the extent the more orthodox Jews do. Thus, unlike their western counterparts, there most likely would be some religious aspect, but notably, without the associated dogma.

The anomaly between the Israeli and American results, therefore, may well be as a consequence of the type of atheism practiced in the respective communities. Thus the level of fundamentalism or rigidity of observance of a particular view is the likely determining factor for the degree of mental degeneration found. One can therefore reasonably assume that the non-believers in the United States had similar results to more rigid religious groups primarily because non-belief is more fundamentalist or intolerant there than that observed in Israel. Another inference one can make is that non-belief per se is not responsible for mental degradation, but rather the specific attitude towards belief which may be the causal factor.

What is particularly interesting about the American study is that it is widely assumed that the non-religious—and atheists in particular—are generally more intelligent than those who may be religious. At least this is the assumption of many non-believers. Part of the argument for this is that this is evident in them having made the decision to be non-religious to begin with. This is because the perception is that non-believers are generally more intellectual, and that they become non-believers for intellectual reasons. It is also argued that intelligent people tend to do the associated discourse towards atheism primarily because they are cognitively more capable to do so—i.e. in questioning long-standing beliefs and assumptions. [3],[4]

However, the greater atrophy observed in this supposedly more “intellectually competent” group than moderate Protestants may potentially be because mainstream Protestants could well be more open to conflicting or psychologically paradoxical perspectives, particularly the paradoxes around our creation. For this reason they may not overtly engage conditional thinking—in other words, having hardwired patterns of thinking—as fundamentalists (that is both religious and scientific fundamentalists), tend to do. The problem with many such “intelligent” individuals, are that they often are so intelligent that they are able to devise arguments that convinces themselves of their rightness. Then there is the more murky issue of intelligence versus wisdom where ones level of wisdom would not necessarily be reflected on one’s IQ score.

Another reason that more moderately religious may experience less brain degeneration is that there may be some psychological comfort in having the view to begin with. This comfort derived from the notion of faith has the effect of lowering levels of stress and other associated conditions. This is contrasted with fundamentalists of all ilk who are more inclined to higher levels of obsession and/or delusion.

A study at the Faculty of Psychology at the University of Desarrollo into medical literature between 1990 and 2010 does indicate a general link between religion/spirituality and mental health. The study found that close to 75% of the studies reviewed indicate that those who have some or other religious faith exhibited improved mental health. Specifically they indicated definite improvements in levels of suicide, depression and substance abuse. And in line with the previous studies, some evidence in a lower incidence of dementia. [5]

Note though, if the previous findings were true—i.e. that strongly religious individuals were more prone to mental degeneration—then the strongly religious sample would somewhat neutralize the overall results or there may be contradicting results depending on which community was studied making any definitive conclusion impossible. For instance in the North-Western United States there may be a lower incidence amongst believers than in the Bible Belt region making the results based on pure religiosity inconclusive.

Again, there is yet to be more studies that need to be done for the respective findings to be deemed conclusive, though a pathological trend appears to be evident. It being that higher levels of fundamentalism (or dogmatism) may have some impact on increased mental degeneration in later life.

The irony with a superficial look at the Duke Medical Centre Study is that I too would fall under the non-religious grouping and would therefore have a greater risk of developing diminished brain capacity. It however is my hope that, because I don’t discount the possibility of a “Creator”, and that I think I’m open minded to most perspectives, and do not outrightly condemn them as hocus pocus since I always attempt to keep an open mind, that I may offset my predisposition to have my mental faculties greatly diminished in old age. This is as the Israeli study potentially shows: that the general demeanor of Secular Jews towards religion (specifically Judaism) may in fact be cognitively beneficial.

Perhaps the cure, then, is simply how we orientate ourselves psychologically to the greater mystery of life, and in so doing, to be reasonably assured that one will live a long and mentally healthy life.[6]

Extract from the epilogue of

Scourge: The Demise of Critical Thinking in the Age of “The Secret”

[1] Religious Education and Midlife Observance are associated with Dementia three decades later in Israeli Men, Pubmed, 2008.

[2] Study finds brain differences based on faith, USAToday, 2011.

[3] Atheists are more intelligent than religious people, The Free Thinker, 2008.

[4] Liberals and Atheists Smarter? Intelligent People Have Values Novel in Human Evolutionary History, Science Daily, 2010.

[5] Religion and/or Spirituality, University of Desarrollo, 2010.

[6] There are many factors that should be considered which could affect any definitive conclusions. For instance in the Israeli study it may well be that the particular orthodox community may have a greater genetic propensity for dementia considering that Orthodox Jews are a very closed grouping. Other considerations are that the exclusively religious grouping therefore would be a highly homogeneous group that more than likely would remain orthodox in later years.

On the other hand many who attend a moderately religious school may also come from a secular home, though this statistic probably would skew towards the moderately religious. Similarly secular schools would perhaps have a significant number of moderately religious individuals. Furthermore it is probable that a shift in religious attitude in later years is also far more likely in both these groups.

For this reason the sample along the moderately religious and secular groupings may in fact be more diverse if there indeed is a definite link between moderate religiosity and lower levels of dementia as the statistic based on the type of schooling received suggests.

Did Brandon Bays have Cancer?

Fri, 4 Nov 2011 05:11:54 -0400

AND HOW MAY THIS BE LINKED TO STEVE JOBS DEATH?

I had no intention of researching Brandon Bays on what on initial deliberation did seem dramatically spurious claims—that she cured terminal cancer by positive thinking and a vegan diet. That is until I noticed that the search words “Brandon Bays Satanist” had been used to access my manuscript – Scourge: The Demise of Critical Thinking in the age of “The Secret” – that only had a very fleeting reference to her. My initial thought was that someone had a serious religious gripe against this woman. However at more or less the same time my wife Fiona had been diagnosed with colon cancer (a familial disease in her case), and had to have an emergency colostomy (the complete removal of the colon).

On this news a family member started spewing (at least that is how it felt) how Brandon Bays miraculously cured her cancer through positive thought and that Fiona can do the same. I found this highly offensive as I was certain, given the prognosis, that nothing else but aggressive medical action was going to save Fiona’s life, albeit that a positive attitude would surely help the process. I then decided to do more research on Bays. And based on which I decided either one of the following three scenarios could be the reality regarding her assertions.

Firstly, that Bays did cure herself of cancer as she claims. However it is apparent that no medical doctor or medical institution had indicated that she indeed had cancer of any type although she did refer to this in her book. For verification of such an audacious claim and the medical implications it could have it would be reasonable to expect Bays to indeed provide such definitive evidence. Though, since medical records are private, it cannot be proved to the contrary by an outside investigator either. On the other hand the very absence of such clear and easily obtainable proof which would readily put aside very serious question marks about the claim, in itself should cast significant doubt on the truthfulness of her claims. The evidence provided suggest that a naturopath of some sort was the supposed medical person who made the diagnosis. No offense to naturopaths intended as I think they can be of great benefit in preventative health in particular and as a complimentary regimen in recover, but that the qualified person to make such a definitive assertion should be a relevant medical specialist. That is someone who is a trained pathologist who actually examines the affected tissues, not someone who merely looks into one’s eyes or makes some or other superficial diagnosis. Notwithstanding the veracity of the claim, assuming that she had a miraculous recovery, this should not mean that hers now become an accepted protocol for curing all disease. Thus that all disease somehow is a consequence of embedded “cellular memories” which now has to be remedied by some or other “spiritual correction”—in Bays case, the process of Journeying.

The second is that Bays had some other condition which was misdiagnosed by the alternative therapists she had sought. In that case the tumour in all likelihood would have been imminently curable. The following response on a Skeptical Community blog discussing this matter is useful to consider in this regard.

“I imagine you'd have a problem investigating this case, given that private medical records are involved. Access to such records might be extremely difficult if not impossible.

We do know that women can be susceptible to a transfer of genetic material, which can enter certain cells in a woman's body, causing abdominal swelling, development of a rather large sac of fluid, plus growth of the genetically combined tissue within that sac. We do know that good nutrition is routinely recommended by doctors who deal with such cases. We also know that the typical duration of these conditions is approximately nine months. The course of the condition is so typical that predictions can be made to the day of its normal termination. However, surgery is often required to relieve the condition and to remove the growth as well as the accumulated fluid.”

In addition, many of these cases terminate spontaneously prior to the usual normal nine-month termination point, for a variety of factors. It is possible that in the Brandon Bays case, poor nutrition and overdoses of minerals caused a weakened condition that led to early termination, although if the "tumor" was indeed "basketball sized", that termination would have been quite dramatic. Some herbal remedies are contraindicated for women in the condition described earlier; if the woman's diet has been explained in detail, maybe one or more of such herbs was included in her diet.

If the description of symptoms of the tumor match those of the condition described here, it could cast suspicion on the diagnosis of "tumor", which is not sufficiently descriptive to identify precisely what was growing in the woman's body.

The third is that Bays is an outright fraud, and thus that she had maliciously set out to fabricate medical claims for financial gain. If indeed so the problem is that it is as clear a medical fraud as Bays did not fabricate her credentials claiming that she was a medical doctor or some or other medical expert. She also had not provided a physical substance which could be examined that she claimed as being the potential cure. In her case it merely is the claim that she had cured cancer by her own means. Importantly, suggesting that any doubt or thoughts that diverted the full belief in the process would negate its efficacy. On all accounts a very difficult prospect to prosecute in the conventional way, and it certainly appears that legislation as it currently stands is ill-prepared to do so unless there is a direct death as was the case with James Arthur Ray.

From my limited investigation I cannot definitively conclude any of the three, but that either two or three is the likely answer—that is given the absence of Bays medical records. And even if she indeed had cancer, it is not helpful — and it is indeed very dangerous — to infer that all cancers can now be cured this supposed full-proof protocol. The problem here is directly linked to that discussed in The Pathology of Hope, and that such fabrications and equivocation of facts do well up a sense of hopefulness that the any disease can be cured. Moreover, without the negative side-effects of what an actual cure may acquire—and as in Fiona’s case, the rather unpleasant prospect of having to live without a very important organ. The reality is that it indeed is depressing. As iterated many times in the book, being depressed when confronted by a bleak or undesirable future reality is not being negative. In fact it is the very opposite as the one’s depression signals a willingness to accept the negative prospect and thus to make the required adjustment. Notwithstanding this, not letting the depressing reality get the better of one and therefore to drown in depression is the far greater challenge, and indeed, the true challenge which will increase one’s odds of survival.

It is important to understand that it is not ignorant or unintelligent individuals who fall for this type of contrived suggestion. For instance Apple Founder and late CEO Steve Jobs delayed his cancer treatment for nine months to seek alternative therapies, including spiritual therapy. Alarmingly what is evident from media articles is that his rare imminently pancreatic cancer had been detected at a very curable stage, but in his delay to undergo aggressive treatment had progressed to a form which significantly minimized his odds for survival. John Travolta’s son Jett too may well have died as a consequence of his belief in Scientology, and that he therefore did not explore the full range of medical help which may have been at his disposal. A colleague in my faculty – an eminent professor – had made a similar decision and also subsequently succumbed to cancer because of it.

Why Jobs circumstances is critical to consider in the context of this book is that he more than the vast majority were best equipped to take advantage of such “cures”. That is particularly as far as financial means is concerned, but moreover, that he is a particularly positive “can do” individual. But instead his hesitation to deal directly with the reality of his disease, had allowed it to progress from imminently curable to terminal in that nine month period. By this I do not want to be critical of Jobs and his decision, one that his biographer indicated he came to regret, but that I merely am doing it to put forward the lesson. It is that even he – one of the most rational inspirational minds in the world – may have become vulnerable to the likes of Bays “spiritual” innuendo.

I am also not disputing that “miracle remission” of disease does from time-to-time occur. The reality, however, is that they are exceedingly rare, and that the few are normally quickly and dramatically brought to our collective attention. Furthermore, at least when one considers the religious definition of miracles – the receiving God’s grace – that to wait in expectation of a miracle more than likely is the surest way not to have it occur. What however is apparent is that most miracles come about in very ordinary ways, such as detecting the disease early, or finding a particularly good medical doctor who is very versed with the associated pathology.

What seems to be common with these “ordinary miracles” is that they appear to be serendipitous. Serendipity being defined as “the gift of finding valuable or agreeable things not sought for”. “Things not sought for” appearing to be at the heart of the definition. Though, because they were not sought for to begin with, these extraordinary “coincidences” more-often-than-not are not noticed.

This serendipity conundrum, then, is the real dilemma that those enamored by likes of Byrne and Bays ultimately are faced with. And its eventual conclusion may very well be deadly.

Extract from the epilogue of

Scourge: The Demise of Critical Thinking in the Age of “The Secret”