Freeman
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- Sep 30, 2009
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Christianity and Poverty: correlation or causation?
The CIA Fact Book statistics on poverty in developing nations is indeed an interesting description. Sure enough, when we look at the numbers, we can clearly see a definite correlation between the spread of Christianity and rates of poverty in nations. An observed correlation, however, merely describes a population or event. Correlation alone does not prove a cause and effect relationship between two events or variables. The criteria of causation include three conditions, one of which is correlation. In other words, correlation only suggests a possibility of causation.
I think we can try and make this hypothesis more meaningful by considering one or two other events or variables. By no means am I claiming that they are, therefore, the causal factors associated with poverty on nations. If we add the dimensions of race and colonialism to this, we get a clearer perspective on the problem. When we examine the list of nations with high poverty rates that are predominantly Christian, we see that virtually all of them have a colonial past and are all non-White populations. The entire sub-Saharan Africa and South America were colonized by the Europeans. In fact, if we consider South American/Latin American and the Caribbean nations, we will see that the indigenous populations are disproportionately represented in the low-income category. While churches dot every nook and corner in the Caribbean islands, families and marriages have become more or less defunct, with nearly 80 to 90 per cent of children without ever acknowledging a father figure and an alarmingly high incidence of HIV. Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, South Africa are all strong supporting cases of this hypothesis. Not only do these nations consist of large indigenous populations, they also were colonized for long periods of time by Europeans.
In Asia, we see that Philippines (Spanish), Macao (Portuguese), and now Timor, are the only Christian societies in the entire continent. Macao is now part of mainland China. Contrary to the stock & barrel conversion claims by evangelical Protestants, South Korea still has a non-Christian majority. Indeed, these three regions show highest levels of economic strain and social break-down. One only has to walk the main streets of Hong Kong to understand the pathetic plight of Philippines, especially their women, who serve as maids in the rich homes of the host country. On Sundays, the ground level of HSBC Bank in Hong Kong seems like a perfect place for tens of thousands of maids to gather and socialize with their sisters after six days of hard and onerous labor. They even conduct street side beauty pageants! Macao earned fame for gambling and other enticing leisure. These are clear indications to any one that, for whatever reasons, the much extolled Christian morality and promise have not helped these populations progress in any direction. Meanwhile, the rest of Asia is making giant leaps. And the ones taking the lead Japan, China, and India are all conspicuously non-Christian!
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it's quite interesting to note that the spread of christianism in Asia was harmful more than beneficial.