Monday, May 26, 2008

Shopping vs. Church -- Shopping Wins

Maybe it's not liberalization of mainline religion. That's the excuse often used by conservative Christians to explain the decline in membership among major denominations.

The real culprit may simply be shopping.

A report from MIT economists reveals that as states did away with their "blue laws" that prohibited shopping and other economic activities on Sundays, church attendance in those states declined proportionately. Also, drug and alcohol use increased, especially in people who stopped attending church.

Since a number of studies, including a recent Harris survey show that religious people are happier than non-religious people, and other studies show that buying things does not make you happy, maybe we should all just get out of the stores and go back to church ...

Of course, I'm biased. What do you think?

+Kit

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