Is Religion an Excuse for Laziness?

Religious group think can undermine personal responsibility for the future

Historians associate the Protestant reformation with the rise of capitalism. Protestants found a new sense of responsibility for their own salvation.
They worked harder for material success as well (1). Members of earlier, less individualistic, religions did not work as hard. Was their religion an excuse for laziness?
The Protestant work ethic reflected uncertainty about how they would fare in the afterlife. Accumulating wealth was interpreted as evidence that they enjoyed the favor of Divine Providence. Yet, wealth alone did not guarantee salvation in the hereafter so early protestants also resorted to prayer. If they were justified by materialistic success, they also had to be sanctified by religious practices.
Many early protestants were business men and were literate so as to read, and interpret, the Bible for themselves. Yet, there is a lot of skepticism amongst economists as to whether the Protestant Reformation spurred the Industrial Revolution in England. To begin with, it happened over two centuries before industrialization. As economist Gregory Clark (1) writes, “Protestantism may explain rising levels of literacy in northern Europe after 1500. But why after more than a thousand years of entrenched Catholic dogma was an obscure German preacher able to effect such a profound change in the way ordinary people conceived religious belief?” Clark's answer is that new ideologies may be a result of economic transformation rather than the cause.
Emotional Coping Versus Practical Problem-Solving
In my book, Why Atheism will Replace Religion (link is external) (2) I make a detailed case that religion functions primarily as emotion emotion-focused coping. Rather than solving practical problems, or preventing disasters, it helps people to bear the emotional toll of distressing events such as natural disasters, or the unexpected death of a family member, or friend. In developed countries, life is more secure and improved technology and medicine, combined with better government, mean that life is less likely to be snatched away whether by natural disasters, disease epidemics, or random violence.
This difference is illustrated by the devastating effects of an earthquake on a poor country, such as Haiti, compared to one of similar magnitude striking a wealthier place, such as California. Haiti suffers huge mortality but California does not. One key difference is that there are no earthquake-proof buildings in Port-au-Prince whereas new construction in California is designed to minimize earthquake damage and loss of life.
The prospect of a severe earthquake is much more unnerving in Haiti than it is in California. Without earthquake-proof homes, all that Haitians can do is pray – which they do in overwhelming numbers. This highlights a key difference between the mindset of practical people who strive to make their lives better and religious people who rely upon Divine Providence to protect them and fall back on religious rituals to soothe their pain during a traumatic event. Early Protestants had a foot in either camp but were motivated to accumulate wealth and solve problems in practical ways.
Preparing for the Future
There is no question that people are most religious in the poorest countries of the world (2). Such places have reduced life expectancy and discount the future, which is another way of saying that they live in the present with minimal concern for what the future will bring (1).
This mindset favors spending on immediate needs rather than investing in projects whose payoff is delayed into the future, such as saving to buy a home, or investing in an education.
Many religions reject materialistic goals as empty and seek true happiness through spiritual means.
A lack of concern for money makes for impulsive spending decisions. The view that property is not of any true value can also favor a lackadaisical attitude to care and maintenance of assets such as homes and cars.
Sloth may be one of the seven deadly sins of Catholic tradition but it is encouraged by most religious worldviews. This conclusion is supported by evidence of low worker productivity in deeply religious countries that also happen to be poor (1). As countries develop, people work harder and produce more in addition to becoming less religious.
Sources
1 Clark, G. (2007). A farewell to alms: A brief economic history of the world. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
2 Barber, N. (2012). Why atheism will replace religion: The triumph of earthly pleasures over pie in the sky. E-book, http://www.amazon.com/Atheism-Will-Replace-Religion-ebook/dp/B00886ZSJ6/