Christianity and the rise of the West

In this remarkable essay, Robert Stark seeks to prove that Christianity in general and Protestant faith in particular is the reason for the rise of everything from Science and Capitalism in the western society.

While the other world religions emphasized mystery and intuition, Christianity alone embraced reason and logic as the primary guides to religious truth.

According to Stark, the reason why capitalism did not develop outside Europe was because:

Instead, leading religions outside the West called for asceticism and denounced profits, while wealth was exacted from peasants and merchants by rapacious elites dedicated to display and consumption.

It is remarkable how even a Professor at Baylor University can develop tunnel vision when talking about religion.

Consider the following:
Japan's Buddhist traditions, and Samurai rapciousnous did no prevent it from developing a successful capitalist economy.

"rapacious elites dedicated to display and consumption" is an apt term to describe the Feudal system in Europe. Europe was by no means immune to exploitative leadership.

There was a much more explicit religion sanction for wealth accumulation in other religions like Hinduism. The Author is stretching his credibility by trying to connect Christian sence of egalitarianism somehow with Capitalism. The Christian sense of egalitarianism would concievably have led just as easily to Socialism.

And finally, I am reminded of a remarkable observation by Al-biruni, who came with the first wave of Muslim invaders to India. He took his time to understand various India religious and scientific texts and was openly admiring of India's achievements in Mathematics and other sciences. He was no bigot, but he did have one critisism to make about Indians:

Hindus believe that there is no country but theirs, no nation like theirs, no kings like theirs, no religion like theirs, no science like theirs.

From that perfect belief of themselves, Indians slid into a 1000 years of decline, halted only partialy and temporarily by the glory of the Mughal Empire. Every civilization that thinks it has the answer eventually realizes otherwise. The west must continue to be open, learn and assimilate the best from the rest if it is to stay competitive.

Al-biruni has the relevant comment again

According to their belief, there is no other country on earth but theirs, no other race of man but theirs, and no created beings besides them have any knowledge of science whatsoever. ... If they traveled and mixed with other nations, they would soon change their mind, for their ancestors were not as narrow-minded as the present generation is.

What was true of India a 1000 years ago, is true of the West now.

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