Religious Freedom is as much a socio-economic issue as a legal-political one
Most people think of religious freedom as a legal-political issue, but it is equally a socio-economic issue. This discovery leg me to leave the Pew Research Center in early 2014 and started the Religious Freedom & Business Foundation.
In The Price of Freedom Denied, Roger Finke and I argue that religious freedom is essential for peaceful and prosperous societies. Contrary to the belief that restricting religion helps maintain social order, our research shows that denying religious freedom often leads to increased violence and instability.
Using data from nearly 200 countries and detailed case studies, we demonstrate that:
— Government and societal restrictions on religion are widespread and often lead to higher levels of violent persecution and religion-related conflict.
— Religious freedom fosters social harmony, democracy, and economic prosperity, while its absence correlates with repression and unrest.
— Societies benefit more from free religious competition than from state control or suppression of religious expression.
We conclude that the cost of denying religious freedom is too high, and any society aiming for peace and progress must actively protect and promote religious liberty.
For more details see my initial research and doctoral dissertation, publications in American Sociological Review with Roger Finke, and then Pew Research Center analysis (which I began in 2007).
Economic Contribution of Religion to Economies
Two studies on the contribution religion makes to economies of two countries with generally good levels of religious freedom (United States and Canada) give a framework for seeing how low government restrictions on religion and low social hostilities on religion create an environment where the contributions of religion to the economy are robust.
Specifically, the religiously free environment in the United States allows religion to contribute economically to American society in three general categories:
- — Congregations: $418 billion
- — Religious institutions: $303 billion
- — Business: $437 billion (faith-based, -related or -inspired)
Congregations: Each year congregations spend $84 billion on their operations ranging from paying hundreds of thousands of personnel, to paying for goods and service as diverse as flowers, sounds systems, maintenance, and utilities. Almost all being spent right in the local community. Schools attached to congregations employ 420,000 full time teachers and train 4.5 million students each year. By comparison this is the same number as the total population of Ireland or New Zealand.
Examples of Congregational Impact. Congregations are like magnets attracting economic activity ranging from weddings, as I’ve already mentioned and can give personal detail on, to lectures, congresses, and even tourism. For instance, 120,000 congregations report that people visit them to view their art and architecture. Finally, and most importantly, it’s what congregations do in their communities that makes the biggest socio-economic contribution. These programs impact individuals and families in a variety of important ways. Here are just a few examples:
— Congregations provide 130,000 alcohol recovery programs such as The Saddleback Church “Celebrate Recovery” program that has helped over 27,000 individuals over the past 25 years.
— Congregations provide 120,000 programs to help the unemployed. For example, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has employment service centers in each of their stakes across the country (and across the world), for that matter.
— Some of this work runs counter to stereotypes some may have about religious groups. For instance:
a) Nearly 26,000 congregations are engaged in some form of active ministry to help people living with HIV-AIDS. That makes one HIV-AIDS ministry for every 46 people who are HIV positive. Just this past weekend on 9/11, under the sponsorship of Walgreen’s and the “First Ladies” (pastors’ wives) of Chicago, nearly 50 Chicago churches hosted free screening for HIV and other diseases. —
b) In fact, the data show that congregations overwhelmingly include a society-building, outward community focus, with over 320,000 congregations helping to recruit volunteers for programs outside their walls, to non-religious groups, ranging from Big Brothers and Big Sisters to the United Way and the American Red Cross. For example, St. Benedict’s Prep readies 530 mostly poor, mostly minority boys for college and beyond. In an area where public schools are working hard just to keep young men from ending up in gangs, in jail or dead, St. Benedict’s sends 95% of its graduates to college, including a sizable number to Ivy League schools. And graduates, such as Uriel Burwell, return to make an impact. Upon graduating from Drew University, Uriel returned to his childhood neighborhood to build 50 new affordable houses, rehabilitate more than 30 homes and attracted more than $3 million funding to build additional affordable homes and apartments in the area.
Religious Institutions: If we extend our view beyond what happens at local congregations and schools, we can find tens of thousands of other religiously-affiliated charities, health care facilities, and institutions of higher learning also doing these sorts of good works every day. These add another $303 billion of socio-economic impact to the US economy each year. These include:
— Charities such as the Knights of Columbus whose 1.5 million members respond to disasters and other human needs
— Health care services such as provided by the Adventist Health Systems which employ 78,000 people in 46 hospitals
— Institutions of higher education such as Brandeis University which is one of thousands of religiously-based colleges throughout the country such as institutions as Islamic Relief USA, which responded to the water crisis in Flint, Michigan, by hiring 20 local staff and distributing 135,000 gallons of water during the height of the water crisis.
Businesses: Religion-related business add another $438 billion to the US economy each year. These include faith-based businesses, ranging from the Halal and Kosher food industries to religious media such as EWTN and the Christian Broadcast Network. The largest group within this sector are not religious companies, per se, but are faith-inspired or religion-friendly companies. Tyson’s Foods, for example, employs a large force of chaplains for their multi-religious workforce.
Across the country there are associations of CEOs who seek to put the moral and ethical teachings of their faith to practice in their business. One such association is C12 with over 2,500 members, some of whom have business worth billions of dollars.
Global Economic Impact of Religious Freedom
Freedom of belief is one of three factors significantly associated with global economic growth, according to a 2014 study I did with Greg Clark and Robert Snyder. The study looked at the GDP growth of 173 countries in 2011 and controlled for two-dozen different financial, social and regulatory influences.
While a study such as this does not prove that religious freedom causes economic growth, it does suggest the matter deserves more consideration.
Indeed, as the world navigates today’s turbulent economic environment, freedom of religion or belief may be an unrecognized asset. For instance, the same study finds a positive relationship between religious freedom and 10 of the 12 pillars of global competitiveness, as measured by the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Index.
Research indicates that when freedom of religion or belief is put to practice, it has the following effects:
— Reduced corruption: Research finds that laws and practices that exclude religion are related to higher levels of corruption. This is borne out by a simple comparison between the Pew Research Center’s 2012 Government Restrictions on Religion Index and the 2014 Corruption Perceptions Index. Nine of the 10 most corrupt countries have high or very high governmental restrictions on religious liberty. This includes North Korea, which Pew does not have enough data to rate but considers one of the most religiously restrictive countries. Religious freedom allows businesspeople to draw on spiritual values and moral teachings as they go about their work; it helps to inform business ethics.
— More peace: When religious freedoms are not respected, the result can be violence and conflict. Normal economic activities become vulnerable to disruption, with local and foreign investment driven away and sustainable development undermined. One need only look at Egypt, where religious regulations and hostilities have adversely affected the tourism industry. More generally, tolerance is a key ingredient in peace and stability, which is particularly important for business because, where stability exists, there is more opportunity to invest and conduct normal and predictable business operations, especially in new and emerging markets. This is the topic of the 2011 Cambridge University Press book The Price of Freedom Denied and a 2014 study by the Institute for Economics and Peace.
— Less harmful regulation: Some religious restrictions can directly affect economic activity, creating legal barriers for import and export industries, such as the halal food market. Proscriptive laws can also stoke region-wide religious hostilities, again disrupting markets. Examples range from discrimination against women in the workplace (over such things as headscarves) to the use of anti-blasphemy laws to attack business rivals, such as recently happened in the media industry.
— Reduced liabilities: Stocks of Abercrombie & Fitch dropped when news broke that the clothing retailer had allegedly refused to hire a Muslim woman wearing a headscarf, potentially a violation of American equal opportunity employment laws. By avoiding religious discrimination in the workplace, businesses can avoid such liabilities.