Catholics better Christians?

[Tenofovir]

Catholics are more likely to support government intervention in the economy than Protestants and also have a stronger preference for sharing wealth equally, a European Central Bank study said.

The research paper also said Max Weber’s theories about the Protestant work ethic were supported by the results of the study and that they apply more widely than thought, including in the choice of political institutions and in explaining income inequality.

“We do find Protestant municipalities to exhibit clearly higher income inequality,” the study by Christoph Batzen and Frank Betz said.

“Relative to Roman Catholicism, Reformed Protestantism has curbed preferences for redistribution and for government intervention in the economy,” it said, and added the impact of religion on income was not as significant

More at link.

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[Not_Sure_1]

Remember if the secular government likes us, that is a bad thing.

 

[Tenofovir]

Remember if the secular government likes us, that is a bad thing.

It’s a study. The “Catholics better Christians” thing is a journalist’s take. Secular governments have liked the Catholic Church for thousands of years and it wasn’t a bad thing then, in fact many European countries have a state religion and it’s RC.

 

[RobbyS]

Remember if the secular government likes us, that is a bad thing.

Well, it is a bad thing if the State uses the Church for its own purposes and not a shared purpose.The Church is fine so long as it is the partner of the State, but not when it becomes its slave. When the state tells Catholic nurses to kill babies, then the Church ought to know that the partnership is at an end.

 

[OriginalJS]

I find state religions repulsive, no matter who has the upper hand. The result is always that some people get discriminated against.

 

[Tenofovir]

I find state religions repulsive, no matter who has the upper hand. The result is always that some people get discriminated against.

You can have a state religion and not have any discrimination against others, at least not significant discrimination. State religion makes sense when the population is pretty homogenous and most people are of one religion/denomination. A state should after all support or at least acknowledge the faith (and culture) of its people. Note that a state religion does not mean you’re running a theocracy nor should you discriminate against other faiths. You can have a state religion (Roman Catholicism) and practice religious tolerance (give shelter and equal rights to Jews and Huguenots).

The argument you made can also be made against official languages or nationality.

 

[Swiss_Guy]

I find state religions repulsive, no matter who has the upper hand. The result is always that some people get discriminated against.

Not necessarily. The difference is one religion (e.g Catholicism) gets more benefits from the government, while other religions get none. Other religions can still get the rights they deserve, but they just won’t be favored (as in tax exemption or whatever, etc.). So if that means discriminated against, so be it. It would be better than separation where everyone gets discriminated against. It’s kind of like socialism and capitalism: Socialism makes everyone equally poor, capitalism makes people unequally poor and rich.

 

[timotheos]

Catholics are ***more likely to support government intervention ***in the economy than Protestants and also have a stronger preference for sharing wealth equally, a European Central Bank study said.

This is not an endorsement of which I would be proud. In fact, it would support the idea that those Europeans identifying themselves as “Catholic” are a sorry lot, with little to distinguish them from far left secularists. Such is the state of the Church in Europe.

 

[Swiss_Guy]

This is not an endorsement of which I would be proud. In fact, it would support the idea that those Europeans identifying themselves as “Catholic” are a sorry lot, with little to distinguish them from far left secularists. Such is the state of the Church in Europe.

Depends on how you interpret it. More intervention as in more regulation would be a good thing with uncontrolled capitalism hurting many who are poor. More who want to share wealth equally could mean that they want a preferential option for the poor.

 

[Tenofovir]

This is not an endorsement of which I would be proud. In fact, it would support the idea that those Europeans identifying themselves as “Catholic” are a sorry lot, with little to distinguish them from far left secularists. Such is the state of the Church in Europe.

So belief and trust in God is “little”? I think we need to prioritise some things here.