COMMENTARY: Survey Connects Increased Wealth to Decreased Faith

c. 2005 Religion News Service (UNDATED) An old maxim asserts there are only three topics in life truly worth discussing: sex, politics and religion. But there is a fourth one as well: class. The New York Times is currently running a series about class structure. The findings are based on a survey that focused on […]

c. 2005 Religion News Service

(UNDATED) An old maxim asserts there are only three topics in life truly worth discussing: sex, politics and religion. But there is a fourth one as well: class.

The New York Times is currently running a series about class structure. The findings are based on a survey that focused on the meaning of class in today’s America.


Historically, the United States is a nation that has deified membership in something called the “middle class.” The attraction of the middle class is so strong that it even has a beguiling name _ “The American Dream” _ and pity the inept political candidate who doesn’t offer voters the seductive promise of a “middle class tax cut.” I have heard extremely rich people mumble they are just part of the “upper middle class.”

Of course, the subject of class is as old as the Hebrew Bible. Leviticus 19:15 warns: “You shall not render an unfair decision: do not favor the poor or show deference to the rich: judge your kinspeople fairly.” Such a commandment would not have appeared in the Torah unless justice in ancient Israel was being unfairly dispensed as a result of wealth, profession, income and education _ the defining factors in determining class membership.

The Times survey offered readers an opportunity to discover a statistical answer to the question “Where Do You Fit In?” in the class structure. The survey rated specific professions, and I was both pleased and surprised that clergy were ranked well up on the occupation ladder. This high status is surprising for several reasons.

I assumed the recent sexual abuse scandals within the Roman Catholic priesthood would have tainted the public’s perception of the clergy profession. But my sense in talking to many Catholic colleagues and friends is that they still respect their own priest or bishop, and certainly the late John Paul II along with his successor, Benedict XVI. It’s “those other priests, not ours” who have fallen from public favor.

In addition to sexually abusive Catholic priests, there have been a number of high-profile Protestant televangelists who have publicly admitted to committing adultery and defrauding the trusting men and women who financially support electronic pastors.

Despite these well-publicized crimes and misdemeanors, three-quarters of the American population still consider the clergy a highly worthwhile “class” profession.

The New York Times survey also revealed what every rabbi, priest and minister has long known: Increased personal wealth and income diminish the importance of God for an individual. Seventy-nine percent of Americans earning less than $30,000 a year believe having faith in God is important in their lives. The percentage remains fairly constant until a person’s annual income goes above the fabled $100,000 barrier. Only 61 percent of $100,000 folks feel God is important to them, and for those earning more than $150,000 a year the figure drops to 54 percent.


It’s another old story. When a person has inadequate financial and material security, the rich promises of religion offer constant hope. With more money comes the belief that “I achieved and earned this myself.” There are many books written by religious leaders that theologically validate the wealthy in their belief they are “blessed” and “entitled” to monetary success.

These statistics present clergy with a perplexing situation. Despite their lower reliance on God in their lives, it is the wealthiest among us who join congregations in greater percentages than the less affluent. And because of their financial status, it is the wealthy who provide much of the funding for churches and synagogues.

In the musical “Fiddler on the Roof,” Tevyeh, the spiritually rich but financially poor dairyman, sings about wealthy people in his East European Jewish village who have acquired synagogue seats near the wall that is physically closer to Jerusalem, Judaism’s Holy City. Money and social class always buy religious and political status.

The New York Times survey indicates clergy should be devoting most of their time to people with lower incomes, but with higher reliance upon God. But that “ain’t the way it is.”

A rabbinic colleague offered me this advice in Kansas City, Mo., when I began work at a civilian congregation after serving as an Air Force chaplain. He said: “Jim, camp out on the doorsteps of the rich. Don’t worry about the rest of the people. If the upper crust likes you, the other synagogue members will be impressed. Class always wins.”

Maybe so, but one thing is clear: Class structure never goes away. Just ask the victims of Communism’s disastrous attempt to create a “classless society.”


MO/PH END RNS

(Rabbi Rudin, the American Jewish Committee’s Senior Interreligious Adviser, is Distinguished Visiting Professor at Saint Leo University.)

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