<br><br><div><span class="gmail_quote">On 11/7/06, <b class="gmail_sendername">Doug Henwood</b> <<a href="mailto:dhenwood@panix.com">dhenwood@panix.com</a>> wrote:</span><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
<br>On Nov 7, 2006, at 11:07 AM, Yoshie Furuhashi wrote:<br><br>> Is it possible that religion is more popular in the most (e.g., the<br>> USA) and least capitalist (e.g., Afghanistan) areas than the areas<br>> that fall inbetween (
e.g., the EU, Japan, China, etc.)?<br><br>The U.S. is an outlier on this one, and it's unsound to base models<br>on outliers. You can call it the "most" capitalist country, but the<br>other "advanced" countries are pretty capitalist too, and they're
<br>very little like the U.S. god-wise. And the U.S. has religion-<br>besotted from the outset, when it was less capitalist than England.<br><br>Doug</blockquote><div><br></div></div>This is just a guess -- and an unoriginal guess at that -- but isn't it possible that the simple lack of other support institutions, secular outlets for solidarity and for solidaristic action, partially explains why the
U.S. is an "outlier"? <br><br>My thought is that solidarity and cooperation with others is a basic human need that cannot be completely fulfilled within the family, as currently structured. We need various kinds of support institutions, and it brings hope to believe that we can cooperate with others, and that we have "others" to turn to, others with whom we do not have to compete and who are not our "enemies".
<br><br>If we don't find this "solidarity" in a union or a Masonic lodge or a softball team, then we will fulfill our need for "solidarity" in some other place or organization. Further these institutions of solidarity have to help us to "explain" our world to ourselves and others or else they will not seem that "important." Churches and organized religions have always fulfilled this "positive" role, along with all of the negative roles they fulfill.
<br><br>But why the U.S. does not provide most of us with secular outlets for solidarity or solidaristic action is, I suppose, the bigger question. <br><br>Jerry <br>