The Economics of Religion and Secularization
Rachel McCleary Thursday, 1 March 2007
From the Iglesia en Kristo in the Philippines to radical Muslim groups in the Middle East to Pentecostal and charismatic groups in Central America, religion is growing throughout the lesser-developed regions of the world. Many people do not find this kind of trend particularly surprising because religion is often popularly viewed as a response to poverty and lack of economic opportunity. That wealthy Western Europe is much more secular is therefore equally unsurprising to most observers, as the material conditions of prosperity seem to undermine the felt need for religious consolations.
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