How Religions Compete for Money, Power, and People

How Religions Compete for Money, Power, and People

Ask a question and participate in future episodes of the show.

Religion in the twenty-first century is alive and well across the world, despite its apparent decline in North America and parts of Europe. Vigorous competition between and within religious movements has led to their accumulating great power and wealth. Religions in many traditions have honed their competitive strategies over thousands of years. Today, they are big business; like businesses, they must recruit, raise funds, disburse budgets, manage facilities, organize transportation, motivate employees, and get their message out.

Economist Paul Seabright argues that religious movements are a special kind of business: they are platforms, bringing together communities of members who seek many different things from one another—spiritual fulfilment, friendship and marriage networks, even business opportunities. Their function as platforms is what has allowed religions to consolidate and wield power, which can be used for good and for harm.

Paul Seabright is a Professor of Economics in the Industrial Economics Institute and Toulouse School of Economics at the University of Toulouse, France. His new book is The Divine Economy: How Religions Compete for Wealth, Power, and People.

Det här avsnittet är hämtat från ett öppet RSS-flöde och publiceras inte av Podme. Det kan innehålla reklam.

Avsnitt(630)

America at 250: What Did the Founders Get Right?

America at 250: What Did the Founders Get Right?

Michael Shermer makes the case that the U.S. Founding Fathers were not only steeped in Enlightenment values on which the Declaration of Independence was based, but they were also scientists searching ...

6 Juli 17min

When History Goes on Trial: Demjanjuk, Eichmann, and Justice After Atrocity

When History Goes on Trial: Demjanjuk, Eichmann, and Justice After Atrocity

John Demjanjuk lived for decades as a retired autoworker in suburban Cleveland. Then investigators accused him of being "Ivan the Terrible," one of the most notorious guards at Treblinka. What followe...

27 Juni 1h 32min

Why I Joined the Government UAP Science Advisory Council

Why I Joined the Government UAP Science Advisory Council

Michael Shermer has been appointed to the newly formed UAP Science Advisory Council, formed at the request of the White House and in coordination with the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), ...

23 Juni 29min

Massimo Pigliucci on Doubt, Moral Courage, and Living Without Illusions

Massimo Pigliucci on Doubt, Moral Courage, and Living Without Illusions

What does it mean to live well when certainty is unavailable? Michael Shermer speaks with Massimo Pigliucci about moral character, ancient philosophy, and the difficult art of making decisions without...

20 Juni 1h 33min

Cathy Young: Why Free Societies Need Free Speech

Cathy Young: Why Free Societies Need Free Speech

Cathy Young returns to the show for a wide-ranging conversation about free speech, institutional trust, and the strange incentives shaping public debate today. What happens when universities, media ou...

16 Juni 1h 30min

The Zodiac Killer Wasn't Real

The Zodiac Killer Wasn't Real

The Zodiac Killer has been treated for decades as America's ultimate unsolved true crime mystery: one mysterious killer, taunting letters, cryptic ciphers, a strange costume, and a trail of victims ac...

13 Juni 1h 39min

How Algorithms Use Your Data to Control You

How Algorithms Use Your Data to Control You

Michael Shermer speaks with Oxford philosopher Carissa Véliz about the long human desire to know the future—from ancient oracles and astrology to AI, surveillance capitalism, predictive policing, and ...

9 Juni 1h 34min

Batya Ungar-Sargon: Why the Left Sees Jews Differently Now

Batya Ungar-Sargon: Why the Left Sees Jews Differently Now

Batya Ungar-Sargon joins Michael Shermer for a wide-ranging conversation about the historical relationship between Jews and the American left, and why that relationship has become increasingly straine...

6 Juni 54min

Populärt inom Vetenskap

p3-dystopia
dumma-manniskor
allt-du-velat-veta
rss-ufobortom-rimligt-tvivel
medicinvetarna
det-morka-psyket
bildningspodden
svd-nyhetsartiklar
rss-broccolipodden-en-podcast-som-inte-handlar-om-broccoli
rss-vetenskapsradion-2
barnpsykologerna
rss-spraket
sexet
rss-lara-fran-larda-en-fackbok-och-en-forfattare
paranormalt-med-caroline-giertz
dumforklarat
rss-arkeologi-historia-podden-som-graver-i-vart-kulturlandskap
ufo-sverige
rss-personlighetspodden
kapitalet-en-podd-om-ekonomi