Effect of Church Attendance & Religious Beliefs on Economic Growth

This post will be investigating if there are any potential effects of Church attendance and religious beliefs on Economic Growth.  In order to accurately determine this, the direction of causation from religiosity to economic performance was isolated using instrumental variables suggested by their (The National Bureau of Economic Research) analysis of systems, in which Church attendance and religious beliefs were the dependant variables. (Barro & McCleary, 2014)

By conducting research on the basis of this method, The National Bureau of Economic Research has discovered that “Economic growth or Economic Development responds positively to the extent of religious beliefs, notably those in hell and heaven.” (Barro & McCleary, 2014) On the contrary, “Economic growth responds negatively to Church attendance.” (Barro & McCleary, 2014)

Basically, the first correlation demonstrates that Religious Beliefs begin to increase after economic developments (negative impacts), and the same result/correlation was found with age & life expectancy.  (Barro & McCleary, 2014)

While the second correlation just shows that the more people attend Church, the more it negatively impacts Economic growth because the religious sector uses up resources, which create an Economic Opportunity Cost.  This same correlation was seen in urbanization of rural locations (as attendance and overall religious faith/beliefs decline)  (Barro & McCleary, 2014)

Therefore, this research clearly demonstrates that there is a direct and strong correlation between religious beliefs and Economic Growth/Economic Development.  People engage in religious beliefs/activities for different reasons, but when it comes to a life changing experience, people tend to cling to religion so that they can have a sense of stability or peace of mind (as God is looking over them). 

Take a look at this PDF or click here (and click on the PDF icon); it will provide a more in-depth analysis of it the data correlation presented in this post. (Barro & McCleary, 2014)

Does this data make sense to you? Do you truly agree that Church Attendance & Religious Beliefs affect Economic Growth of a country or of the world? What are your thoughts? Explain your point of view and provide corresponding evidence to your claims (as done in the PDF file).