Nxt2Hvn Posted July 29, 2004 #1 Share Posted July 29, 2004 Fear of hell makes us richer, Fed says Researchers say, all else being equal, belief in eternal damnation reduces corruption, strengthens the rules of law and raises per capita income. By Alister Bull, Reuters Economists searching for reasons why some nations are richer than others have found that those with a wide belief in hell are less corrupt and more prosperous, according to a report by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Researchers at the regional Federal Reserve bank acknowledged the importance of productivity and investment in the economic process but looked at some recent unconventional efforts to explain differences in national prosperity. The St Louis Fed drew on work by outside economists who studied 35 countries, including the United States, European nations, Japan, India and Turkey and found that religion shed some useful light. "In countries where large percentages of the population believe in hell, there seems to be less corruption and a higher standard of living,'' the St. Louis Fed said in its July quarterly review. For instance, 71% of the U.S. population believe in hell and the country boasts the world's highest per capita income, according to the 2003 United Nations Human Development Report and 1990-1993 World Values Survey. Ireland, not far behind the United States in terms of income, likewise has a healthy fear of a nether world, with 53% of the population acknowledging hell's existence. Full Story Link/Hell/Richer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talon Posted July 29, 2004 #2 Share Posted July 29, 2004 Of course, cause a countries resources and industrial output have nothing to do with it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spidermonkey Posted July 29, 2004 #3 Share Posted July 29, 2004 Wow you really can "prove" anything with statistics. You can NEVER say for example that fear of hell MAKES a country richer. You can say there is a "relationship" between the two numbers. There are just too many other reasons in a case like this which makes the statistics too general. Why don't they test crime and belief in hell numbers, surely the results would vary especially in the US. These statistics also assume christianity and the christian hell. I'll have you believe that the US and Japan are prosperous for many reasons, none of which are influenced by religion. There are just so many things wrong with this study it's astounding! Yikes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cos_mic_kid Posted July 31, 2004 #4 Share Posted July 31, 2004 Its guilt that makes you think you are worthy of heaven or hell as the church dictates what you do - this is changing as the church is in rapid decline. It seems to me that heaven and hell are just states of mind - re-examine the sayings of Jesus from a neutral perspective. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cobalt Demon Posted July 31, 2004 #5 Share Posted July 31, 2004 Another lame attempt of christian trying to plague the world with their belif... Any of those who wanna to whine about my comment go ahead and I DONT care waht anyone say! I know I will go to hell and thank you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BurnSide Posted July 31, 2004 #6 Share Posted July 31, 2004 ^ this guy rules. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kobrakai Posted August 1, 2004 #7 Share Posted August 1, 2004 Personally I think Heaven and Hell is a complete load of rubbish. I think it's a contrivancy, which has been derived to make people behave themselves or else they'll go and "be punished and damned for all eternity". Well...Satan. Since no-one is immortal, damnation can't go on forever, and so that proves (in my mind anyway) that someone, somewhere is fibbing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkAnubis Posted August 2, 2004 #8 Share Posted August 2, 2004 the people that conducted that must have been really bored....honestly...that's just silly...and what i wanna know is how do they know how many people believe in hell? I don't recall being asked...how can they get those opinions? But anyway...in the event there is a hell, i surely don't know, y should we fear it? How would we know what it is like? do people visit there? is there some vacation guide i can look at? "welcome to the wonderful world of hell, where eternal torment awaits you for the low low price of $99.99!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beowulf Posted August 3, 2004 #9 Share Posted August 3, 2004 The only one that get richer over the fear of Hell is the Churchs....Everyone else that fears Hell loses money to the fatcat preachers and their hordes of hanger-ons, that's for sure! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MichaelS Posted August 3, 2004 #10 Share Posted August 3, 2004 Fear of Hell has certainly made certain unprincipled Televangelists wealthy, and it sure didn't hurt the Roman Catholic churches coffers during the Inquisition when it could seize an accused lands and assets before torturing them into confessing... thus automatically transferring their land, etc to the church. One reason why I don't subscribe to organized religion Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Great Big Sea Posted August 4, 2004 #11 Share Posted August 4, 2004 What waste of money for that stupid report! Who cares really, I mean I know I'm not going to hell- of course I don't believe in it. Those Feds could use that money for something more important. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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