Are Catholics Ne’er-do-wells?
Then I grew up and saw more of the world.
On my first trip to Holland I met people who looked me right in the eye and told me that it is well known that Catholics have lower IQs. This was supposed to be due to sending our most able men into the celibate priesthood. I have never heard anyone claim that Buddhists are less intelligent due to their similar practice. As I got to know more about my own country, I realized that authors such as Dave Hunt did not become wealthy by selling one anti-Catholic individual three million books, but by selling three million anti-Catholics one book apiece. Despite the very positive atmosphere of religious tolerance that most Americans enjoy, there is still work to be done by all.
One commonly-heard anti-Catholic idea that has achieved an air of respectability is Max Weber's claim that Catholicism leads to diminished economic success when compared to Protestantism. The exact quote is:
A glance at the occupational statistics of any country of mixed religious composition brings to light… the fact that business leaders and owners of capital, as well as the higher grades of skilled labor, and even more the higher technically and commercially trained personnel of modern enterprises, are overwhelmingly Protestant.
Talk About Your Limited Sample!
Weber made this claim in 1905, and his only proof was the 1895 tax returns from the small German state of Baden. That is not enough to convince me and it should not be enough to convince you.
According to the research of Ohio State University professor Lisa Keister, the average net worth of Catholic Americans is 21% higher than that of Protestant Americans. According to the General Social Survey produced by the National Opinion Research Center, the average Catholic American has a yearly income that is 3% higher than that of the average Protestant American.
What is certainly true about Weber's claim is that the Protestant countries of Western Europe are on average wealthier than the Catholic countries of Europe, but I think this needs a closer look. First of all, the richest country in Europe is Catholic Luxembourg, and according to a European Union study, five of the eight wealthiest regions in the EU are Catholic. If you compare ethnically similar European countries you will get the same results as in America, namely that denominational differences are not very important to economic success.
“Excuse Me Sir, but You Are Mistaken”
One example of ethnically similar countries which differ denominationally is Belgium and Holland. Protestant Holland has a per capita income 4% higher than Catholic Belgium. Another example would be Germany and Austria. The Catholic Austrians have a per capita income 7% higher than mostly Protestant Germany. It is true that Germany suffers from having absorbed once-communist East Germany, but these two countries had equivalent per capita incomes before World War II as well. My last example will be to compare Ireland and Scotland. The latter was settled by Celtic tribes from Ireland and the two peoples are similar apart from religion. The Catholic Irish have a per capita income 18% higher than the Calvinist Scots. If you look closely, you can see that ethnically similar European countries have similar incomes despite denominational differences.
I wholeheartedly agree with Max Weber and others that according to the 1895 tax returns for the German state of Baden Catholics are less successful than Protestants. However, if you look at a wider range of information you will see that these sorts of claims are misleading.
The last thing Catholics should ever do is advocate that anyone should choose a religion based on money, but that doesn't mean that when we hear misleading claims about Catholic success we should not quietly and politely point out that we are doing very well, thank you. We are doing so well in fact, that we can even afford to lend others money to build churches, should they need it.
© Copyright 2004 Catholic Exchange
Brian Thomas is freelance writer living in Los Angeles.
