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Religion tends to reduce economic activity and to distribute funds away from productive activity. Extremes of this can be found in ancient Egypt, when the priesthood at times controlled more than half of agricultural assets, but also in medieval Europe when the monasteries had great landholdings. The construction and maintenance of magnificent temples and churches comes at the expense of the living standards of the lower classes who are taxed or pay tithes, as well as providing labour. Maintenance of a substantial priesthood is a further drain on the economy.

On the one hand, most religions seek to alleviate the misery of the very poor. On the other hand, religions are almost invariably aligned with the wealthy ruling classes, and are instrumental in maintaining inequality of wealth and opportunity.

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9y ago

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