Completely OT - Religion and Corruption
[I went to have a brief look at that thread and saw this from 2009]
Transparency International has just released its corruption ranking of the countries around the world (see transparency.org ). An interesting observation is that there is a very high correlation between how conservative and religious a country is and how corrupt it is. The correlation seems to hold across cultural and developmental boundaries. So for example, the most liberal and secular Western countries (Denmark, Sweden, and Switzerland) rank well ahead of the most religious Western countries (Italy, USA, and Greece). Italy in fact, being somewhat as Christian as Saudi Arabia is Muslim shares the same corruption index as Saudi. Likewise, the most liberal mid-eastern countries (Qatar and UAE) rank less corrupt than the most religious countries of the Middle East (Israel, Saudi Arabia, and Iran). Looking at Asia, Singapore and Hong Kong rank well ahead of Buddhist Thailand. The most Catholic country in Africa, Rwanda, is far more corrupt than Botswana or Namibia.
I have often pondered why it seems that religiousness and corruption so often go hand in hand. I suppose part of it can be attributed to group-think that organized religion forces upon people. But I think a bigger chunk of it has to do with the combination these two facts: religion and “values” provide the perfect cover for the scoundrels and conmen who’d otherwise would have a hard time looking respectable. At the same time, conservatives, and especially religious conservatives, are far more willing relinquish their free will and independent thought at the altar a greater being or the greater good than liberal, making them the preferred victims of the conmen and scoundrels.
Somewhat ironic that religion seems to have the exact opposite effect of what it intends to foster. |
