The importance of religion in the development of our

societies today and tomorrow

Rafael Palomino
Universidad Complutense (Madrid, Spain)

It is a privilege and an honor to be here with you today to try to give some
contributions to this discussion that deals about promoting humanity and
transforming the World from a Catholic profile. As it was announced, my talk
will be focused on the importance of religion in the development of our
societies.
Human beings live under a kind of illusion about time. I think that, along history,
mankind has constantly repeated the same sentence “we live in an
unprecedented historical moment”. But I wonder, if all times have been
unprecedented, does the Bible fail in Ecclesiastes, when it teaches us that there
is nothing new under the Sun?
The truth is that this time is our time, for better or for worse. No one from the
past or the future will live it for us. To live in the present time we need to
understand this question: How is our world when it comes to religion?
Let’s start with statistics. We all know that surveys are fallible and unreliable,
and this is especially true when the deal with religion, due mostly to conceptual
issues (what is religion?), to the kind of questions asked or to the population
target surveyed. Notwithstanding the foregoing, surveys offer some hints or
clues about religion in the world nowadays. According to a recent Gallup
International poll published in April 2017, 62% of people in the world define
themselves as religious, 74% of people globally believe we have a soul and 71%
believe in God; while 56% believe in heaven, 54% in life after death and 49% in
hell1.
Simultaneously, a report conducted by Pew Forum reveals that the new home
of Christianity is America and Africa, not the Middle East and Europe. Two
examples of this: Brazil has more than twice as many Catholics as Italy and
Nigeria now has more than twice as many Protestants (broadly defined to

1 Gallup International, Religion Prevails in the World, 2017, accessed 21 November 2017, in http://gallup-
international.bg/en/Publications/2017/373-Religion-prevails-in-the-world.

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include Anglicans and independent churches) as Germany, the birthplace of the
Protestant Reformation2.
It is a commonplace that Western civilization in general and Europe in particular
are experiencing a process of secularization. Secularization is a complex
phenomenon in which many constituents meet, like institutional affiliation to
churches, worship attendance, beliefs, cultural belonging, moral behavior,
institutional dimension, etc. In recent times, sociologists have distinguished
different groups related to their religious beliefs:
- those who belong to churches or religious groups;
- those who declare themselves spiritual, but do not belong to churches
or religious groups;
- those who believe in religion, but do not attend religious worship
regularly (believing without belonging)3;
- those who do not believe in religion but stem in high value the cultural ,
moral and social role of religion (belonging without believing) 4;
- and those indifferent or hostile to religion or spirituality.
These different groups may interact in different ways. Spiritual and religious
may coincide in the same people5. And non-believers may feel the social or
institutional role of the Church more intensely than many religious people. In
several cases, these groups are not watertight compartments and they show
the complexity of measuring the significance of secularization.
In any respect, the figures contradict the plain conclusion of Europe as a
secularized continent: in a 2015 survey, the Eurobarometer concludes that the
percentage of Christians in the EU countries is currently 72% (45% Catholic,
11% Protestant, 10% Orthodox, 6% others), and the percentage of those with
no religion is 24% (10% atheist, 14% agnostic). The percentage of Muslims is
stated as 1.8%, Jews 0.3%, Buddhists 0.4% and Hindus 0.3%. Thirteen of the 28
EU Member States can be classified as predominantly Catholic (with a
proportion of over 60%), three as predominantly Orthodox and two as
2 Pew Research Center, “The Size and Distribution of the World’s Christian Population”, accessed 21 November 2017, in
http://www.pewforum.org/2011/12/19/global-christianity-exec/.

3 G. Davie, Religion in Britain since 1945: Believing without Belonging, 1st. ed., Blackwell, Oxford ; Cambridge, Mass, 1994;
“El “tercer círculo” de los creyentes no practicantes”, Aceprensa, 31/12/2009, accessed 27 November 2017, in
http://62.22.50.72/articles/el-tercer-circulo-de-los-creyentes-no-practicantes/.

4 B. Mountford, Christian Atheist: Belonging Without Believing, O Books, 2011.

5 A. Raney; D. Cox; R. P. Jones, “Searching for Spirituality in the U.S.: A New Look at the Spiritual but Not Religious”, Public
Religion Research Institute, 2017, accessed 21 November 2017, en https://www.prri.org/research/religiosity-and-
spirituality-in-america/.

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predominantly Protestant6. In some intellectual circles, the intuitive idea that
religious population will increase in the future because religious people have
higher fertility rates has gained strength7. Perhaps this argument can be valid at
a micro scale, if we take as reference for instance the Haredi population in
Israel8. Maybe it can not be extrapolated to the whole World.
In this landscape, there are three actors who may influence the presence and
importance of religion: Governments, Markets and Mass Media. These three
actors have a common feature: they are what some philosophers call
“technostructures”9, impersonal corporate entities which include technicians
and skilled professionals. Governments, Markets and Mass Media are part of the
sign of the times. They mean both a threat and an opportunity for religions.
Let’s start with some ideas about Governments. Since the beginning of
Modernity, Governments have gained the monopoly of force (Hobbes), in
exchange of a promise of preserving social peace and guaranteeing human
rights. And all this is quite important, indeed. More recently, the Welfare State
has amplified enormously its influence in areas like health, the care of the
elders, the immigrants or the orphans, the education of disfavored groups, etc.
These areas were, and are, an important dimension of the mission of religiously
inspired organizations who nowadays face a twofold challenge: Complying with
the legal conditions that governments require to develop charitable activities
and complying with the requirements to obtain public funds. And as you well
know complying with this might be quite difficult, if not impossible, when those
conditions are at odds with the organizational religious ethos. At times, States
appear before the citizens as distant structures, lacking soul and credibility,
afflicted with the evil of political corruption. And this is one of the reasons why
religions continue to play a fundamental role in the area of charity, they instill
confidence10.
Markets have become global. Markets command the world today. Markets are
so powerful and dominant, that they impose their rules on other sectors of
society. Religion is not immune to the influence of those rules. Under a market

6 Y. El-Menouar, “The religious landscape in Europe”, Europeinfos. Christian Perspctives on the EU, 209, 2017, accessed 21
November 2017, in http://www.europe-infos.eu/the-religious-landscape-in-europe.

7 E. P. Kaufmann, Shall the religious inherit the earth?: demography and politics in the twenty-first century , Profile, London,
2010.

8 Y. Elizur; L. Malkin, The War Within: Israel’s Ultra-Orthodox Threat to Democracy and the Nation, 1 edition, The Overlook
Press, New York; London, 2013.

9 A. Llano; R. Spaemann, Europa: ¿Comunidad de valores u ordenamiento jurídico? El carácter relacional de los valores cívicos,
Fundación Iberdrola, Madrid, 2004, pp. 31-32.

10 L. R. Iannaccone; E. Berman, “Religious Extremism: The Good, the Bad, and the Deadly”, Public Choice, vol. 128, 1-2, 2006.

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scheme, religion is conceived as a commodity in the big marketplace of ideas
and beliefs11. Religion has become something that consumers can pick and
choose, mixing different beliefs according to personal preferences, a cafereria-
style religion as it is called. Cafeteria-style religion may imply accommodation,
softening requirements, dogmas, ethos, etc., loosing or changing its identity to
gain followers in a very competitive market. Is it advisable to do that? Moreover,
in the long run do strong religions (as they are labeled by secularist sectors)
gain anything in this trade-off?
Marketed society has accelerated globalization. Besides, global markets (among
other constituents) have provoked what Rabbi Jonathan Sacks has labeled “a
cultural climate change”12. The conditions under which religion may flourish in
this cultural climate change are new. In addition, these conditions affects not
only religion, but the whole human ecology Pope John Paul II and Pope Francis
have written about13. In this vein, the task of the Church is reduced more and
more to preserve what is human14.
There are several opinions about Mass media and religion. Globalization
changes the perception of the information that has been received, so that very
distant news seems to be nearest than problems of relatives or neighbors. Mass
media has altered partially our way of perceiving, processing and understanding
the World. Quite often, reality dwells not around us, but only inside our
smartphone or laptop screen, it is disembodied: “in vitro veritas” 15. We see
images, not persons; perhaps we see problems, conflicts, but circumscribed to a
screen. Mass media centers our attention in what is “newsworthy”, which means
violence, unusual situations, strange behavior… The media may be more
inclined to teach the "evil" of religions rather than their goodness, which is not
newsworthy. How can religions show their real face before the World?
In sum, Governments, Markets and Media may lessen or may amplify the
visibility or the importance of religion in our societies. However, religion is
important in itself, notwithstanding the influence of Governments, Markets or
Mass media. Let me show you some proof of this.

11 Abrams v. United States, 250 U.S. 616 (1919), Dissenting opinion Oliver Wendell Holmes. The marketplace of ideas
metaphor born in the philosophy of John Milton and John Stuart Mill.

12 J. Sacks, “Cultural climate change and the future of religion”, MercatorNet, 2017, accessed 22 November 2017, in
https://www.mercatornet.com/mobile/view/cultural-climate-change-and-the-future-of-religion.

13 John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Centessimus Annus, May 1st 1991, n. 39; Francis, Encyclical Letter Lodato Si’, May 24th 2015.

14 F. Hadjadj, La suerte de haber nacido en nuestro tiempo, Rialp, Madrid, 2016, p. 34.

15 Ibid., p. 56.

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In their social experiment, Richard Sosis and Bradley Ruffle pointed out that
collective rituals have an important impact on cooperative decisions, so that a
comparative study between two kibuzzim ―one of religious believers, another
of secular― yields more solidarity results in favor of the religious one 16. Harvard
University Professor Dominique Johnson, also argues that transcendent
compensation seems to improve human cooperation17. Another empirical
research of Harvard Business School shows that people are more conducive to
generosity with their goods precisely the days of worship, what it has called the
"Sunday effect"18. John Atran, anthropologist at the National Center for
Scientific Research in France, and Jeremy Ginges, associate professor of
psychology, demonstrated that only a small part of the wars of which we have
current and historical record of are caused by religious reasons 19. Another
recent comparative sociological study shows that public support for democracy
is more intense in the educated classes of both Catholic and Muslim countries;
contrary to conventional belief, which assumes that the most fervent believers
are less receptive to democracy. It turns out that religious practice has a
positive impact on the desire for democracy in both types of societies 20. In
general, religion can be a positive element to achieve democratic regimes in
authoritarian countries, if religions have some detachment from political
power21. A work published in 2007, showed actions of pacification carried out
by people of different religions22. Many faith-based organizations work
specifically for the promotion of peace and the resolution of conflicts: among
them the Catholic Relief Services or the Community of Sant'Egidio. A recent
study focused on Europe shows a positive correlation between religiosity and
happiness23. Another one centered in the United States concludes that there is

16 B. Ruffle; R. Sosis, “Does it Pay to Pray? Evaluating the Economic Return to Religious Ritual”, Harvard NOM Working
Papers, Working Paper No. 03-50, 2003, accessed 23 November 2017, in https://papers.ssrn.com/abstract=441285.

17 D. Johnson; J. Bering, “Hand of God, Mind of Man: Punishment and Cognition in the Evolution of Cooperation”,
Evolutionary Psychology, vol. 4, 1, 2006, accessed 23 November 2017, in https://doi.org/10.1177/147470490600400119.

18 D. K. Malhotra, “(When) are Religious People Nicer? Religious Salience and the «Sunday Effect» on Pro-Social Behavior”,
Social Science Research Network, Rochester, NY, 2008, accessed 26 March 2014, in
http://papers.ssrn.com/abstract=1297275.

19 S. Atran; J. Ginges, “Religious and Sacred Imperatives in Human Conflict”, Science, vol. 336, 6083, 2012, accessed 26
March 2014, in http://www.sciencemag.org/content/336/6083/855.

20 E. J. Bomhoff; M. Gu, “Religion and Support for Democracy: A Comparative Study for Catholic and Muslim Countries”,
SSRN eLibrary, 2011, accessed 10 July 2013, in http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1740133#.

21 M. Künkler; J. Leininger, “The multi-faceted role of religious actors in democratization processes: empirical evidence
from five young democracies”, Democratization, vol. 16, 6, 2009.

22 D. Little, Peacemakers in action: profiles of religion in conflict resolution, Cambridge University Press, 2007.

23 J. Cuñado; J. G. Sison; R. Calderón, “How does religious belief and practice affect happiness? A European perspective”,
The Association of Religion Data Archives, accessed 25 November 2017, in
http://www.thearda.com/asrec/archive/papers/Sison_Religious_Belief.pdf

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a correlation between income improvement and institutional religious
belonging, more stable than in secular groups adherence24.
In conclusion, religion is important and relevant, from different points of view:
demography, community ties, peacebuilding, spreading happiness... At the
same time, the“cultural climate change” (in which Governments, Markets and
Media have a huge influence) sets new environmental conditions for religion to
flourish. How can religion tackle these new conditions? Following the previously
mentioned Jonathan Sacks, we can say that there are three possible options for
religion nowadays:
- The first is to retire to closed communities, which is partly the proposal of the
so called Benedict Option25, especially in vogue today, and that is discussed and
contested by many.
- The second could be to conquer society by force, the proposal of
fundamentalism. This is an option which contradicts the Christian message. As
Pope John Paul II wrote, “the Church addresses people with full respect for
their freedom. Her mission does not restrict freedom but rather promotes it.
The Church proposes; she imposes nothing”26.
- The third is to re-inspire or regenerate society, giving people a new form of
hope, proposing religion in the public square. And what does religion mean in
the public square? Quoting Jonathan Sacks: religion means “a consecration of
the bonds that connect us, religion as the redemption of our solitude, religion
as loyalty and love, religion as altruism and compassion, religion as covenant
and commitment, religion that consecrates marriage, that sustains community
and helps reweave the torn fabric of society. (…) religion can be a minority, but
it can be a huge influence.”27
True: religion can prosper in this new scenario. And I think that you can play a
big role in all this.
Thank you.

24 J. J. Park, “Religion and Income Inequality: The Paradox of the South”, Huffington Post, 07/29/2013, accessed 27
November 2017, in https://www.huffingtonpost.com/julie-j-park/religion-and-income-inequ_b_3659949.html.

25 R. Dreher, The Benedict Option: A Strategy for Christians in a Post-Christian Nation, Sentinel, New York, New York, 2017.

26 John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Redemptoris Missio, December 7th 1990, n. 39.

27 J. Sacks, “Cultural climate change and the future of religion”, cit.