The religion business – Econlib

• This book is about how the world’s religions acquired this power, what they do with it, and how abuse of this power can be curtailed.

• —Paul Seabright, The Divine Economy: How Religions Compete for Wealth, Power, and Peoplep.6

Paul Seabrights The divine economy examines how religions gain followers and acquire wealth and power. He thinks it can be helpful to treat a religion like a business and look at it with the eyes of an economist. But his approach is broader than that and includes sociology, political theory and evolutionary psychology.

To understand the book, try to keep two views of religion in mind. The limited view is how Seabright defines religion. The broader view is what he calls the “platform perspective.”

As a definition, Seabright uses:

• …religion is the very large and diverse range of human activities that involve, directly or indirectly, interaction with invisible spirits that causally intervene in the world, and that can be influenced by calls from human subjects. P.36

By placing “invisible spirits” at the center of the definition, Seabright includes what we usually think of as religions. But he rules out describing something as a religion just because people care deeply about it. You can describe someone as “who worships the Almighty dollar,” “believes in climate change,” or “Woke,” but he or she does not treat the dollar, the climate, or systemic racism as spirits to whom prayers can be addressed and answered.

But there are people who follow a religion for whom the belief in invisible spirits may be unimportant, or even non-existent. Their behavior is best understood from the platform perspective.

• Religious movements are a special kind of business – that’s what they are platforms. Platforms are organizations that facilitate relationships that could not be established or function effectively without the platforms. P.15

Seabright argues that the platform perspective helps explain how religions appeal to people, how they influence behavior, and how religions compete with each other.

Humans are a social species and religions have evolved to meet our need to belong.

• The activities of religion have historically included everything from private prayer and meditation through collective spectacle to violent crusades and jihad. They have channeled such diverse emotions as awe, fear, devotion, anger, excitement and love. They meet the need for ritual and transcendence, the need for peace and striving to overcome a challenge, the need for personal and selfish fulfillment, and the need to be needed by others.

• … Religious platforms create communities that powerfully articulate that collective dimension of our lives. Some secular institutions can do that too – political parties, for example. But religious platforms have access to historical traditions, and stories from those traditions, that give them a powerful advantage. P. 331

Seabright argues that religions create special social bonds.

• They can credibly claim that their members are more trustworthy and, on average, more valuable friends and colleagues than random members of the population. P. 332

He should recognize that there are secular institutions that do this to some extent. If you can say you were in the Marines or went to Yale, people with a similar background will tend to trust you.

Seabright provides a comprehensive analysis of the topic of religious competition. He is writing,

• …anything that makes it easier for people to make clear comparisons between the benefits of membership in different movements will strengthen religious rivalry. P. 333

He offers many insights into the way religions evolve under the pressure of competition. Here they face challenges that are very similar to those that companies face.

Seabright believes the Internet will force further evolution. He thinks the Catholic Church will likely face another schism, similar to what occurred in the wake of the invention of the printing press. Of course we can hope that this will not be accompanied by so much violence.

Seabright also thinks tensions will arise over the relationship between religion and politics.

• Everything we have seen in this book about the platform model of religious movements suggests that religion cannot command legitimacy from most of the population if its leaders use that legitimacy to support political rulers, whether authoritarian or not. P. 339

To me, this comes back to the tension between the narrow definition of religion and Seabright’s broader platform perspective. If religion were just the belief in certain animal spirits, then at least in the United States we would be happy to rely on the First Amendment and a tolerant attitude toward “of course, whatever drives you.” But as platforms, religions influence the economy, politics and social relations in general. Friction seems inevitable, and it becomes unclear how best to apply the First Amendment.

Seabright is convinced that religion will not simply disappear. He concludes,

• …the religious movements…have for too long been regarded with a strange mixture of reverence by some and contempt by others. These private responses are not a way to think about religion in public life. Religious movements enjoy privileges and must recognize obligations. It is time to treat them more pragmatically and demandingly, not with deference but with respect. P. 341