The Economics of Religion is Helping Witchcraft


One economic aspect of Christianity has worked against it since its early years. That is the church building and paid clergy. Normally, most of the building is used a very few hours a week and a preacher can work only a few hours a week. A large amount of collection plate money goes into a bottomless financial pit. 

Religions that give people whatever they need but don't require either a building or a paid preacher will always have a competitive advantage. A competitive product at a lower cost will outsell others.

All the major religions of the world try to beat back the lower cost competition by claiming to be monopolies. They preach, "Only our religion is the true one. Only our god(s) is the real one." To be successful, any monopoly needs to have natural or manmade "barriers to entry." Sometimes a monopoly owns the only place something is mined. Diamonds are sort of like that. Other times the public passes laws creating monopolies such as your electric company. Religion needs laws to maintain its monopoly status. The U.S. does not have laws strong enough to keep out non Christian religions. Cheaper ones are moving into the market.

A good example is witchcraft. While it has traditionally been a religion linked to the natural environment it is now offering business opportunities. The commercial branch is offering its product at a price Christianity cannot match. The link calls witchcraft a billion dollar industry. 

I picked an example at random. One can buy a "beginners" witchcraft alter kit for only $40. There are cheaper models. Some witch worshippers criticize paying for such kits because the items for an alter can be found in the woods for free. But who wants battle ticks when for $40 a Prime van will bring spiritual life to your door. 

No one keeps track, but by the number of these witchcraft alter kits for sale I'm guessing some millions are sold every year. This brings into question a claim made by Christians that their faith is doing ok because surveys tell over half the public claims to "pray." If a survey asks someone with a witchcraft alter kit, "Do you pray?", the answer would be yes.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Maybe the "Original Sin" Should be Reassigned

Image
We can all agree most Catholic priests are fine people and not guilty of sexual abuse. What Catholics must face, however, it that their church harbors executives who are dishonest . There is an incredible story about the Argentine Bishop Zanchetta. The Pope worked with him in Argentina and they are considered friends. Around 2015 Zanchetta sent nude pictures of himself and they began circulating world wide. He also was too friendly with young seminarians and some left because of him.  Three different officials say they made formal complaints to the Vatican about Zanchetta between 2015 and 2017. Yet, in 2018, the Vatican claimed it was unaware of any complaints about Zanchetta. This might be a good time to repeat the Catholic hierarchy claims to have the sole authority handed down from Jesus to what the faith stands for. It condemns as sinners those who practice birth control, have abortions and gay sexual relationships. Handing the hierarchy this responsibility would make som
Read more

The Religious Capitol Invaders May Yet Win

Image
So much about U.S. society and religion can be learned from the Civil War and what happened afterwards. After its defeat, the South started a myth about the unethical soldiers from the North. The South fought for principles of God and states rights. The North did not. It was the South, this propaganda told the country, that had the high moral ground.  The Capitol invaders, encouraged by Trump, swallowed the myth that Biden's election was stolen. Thus, they think they held and still hold the high moral ground. This was reinforced by the cross and prayers during the invasion. Even with Trump is gone, we will see political opportunists like Senators Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley stroking crowds and feeding the same lies as Trump. Like "the South will rise again" these gullible followers will talk of victory over the unclean. After the Civil War the South rallied around the phrase, Lost Cause. For decades, and maybe to this day, there are ceremonies remembering fallen martyrs, Re
Read more

Father Frank Pavone, the Ultimate Crook

Image
Recently, the Vatican defrocked Frank Pavone. His diehard fans are outraged. This is because he cleverly manipulated his fans and the press all the while living well from donations and, apparently, abusing some women. By making abortion the "sin" of the century, and himself the main opposition to this one sin, he himself could get away with any sin he pleased.  As the link points out, Pavone was the perfect priest for the Trump era. Trump is so self-important laws have no role in his life. He felt accountable to no one. Women were there to be had. Pavone and Trump are interchangeable.  Pavone was very successful raising money. In his mind, abortion was so important in Catholic beliefs and he was so important in anti-abortion the money he raised opposing it was his to do with what he liked. The Catholic Church, the brand name he used to raise this money, thought the money belonged to it. When he gave the Vatican the bird, it gave him walking papers. With polls showing the majo
Read more