Eric Fish: encouraging public religion discourages national progress

Recently the Chinese government has taken some strong steps aiding specific religions, such as funding the construction of local churches, including a 5,000-seat Christian mega church in Nanjing.

A spokesman said the government hopes that under the new policies "religions can enjoy better development."

In my opinion the government is going too far and making a grave mistake.

Of course, making life easier for believers would be a great step forward, but at the same time, actively encouraging the development of religion is detrimental to the scientific and social development of a country.

One of China's great political advantages has been that it has a very secular population. This has allowed China to progress quickly in many key areas where other more religious countries are floundering.

Many countries are governed by or at least lean toward one religion and subsequently those beliefs are brought into nearly every debate on legislation concerning morality. Pointless debates that distract from important ones are also frequent.

Last month, for example, some US congressmen were desperately trying to save an energy bill that could have had an enormous positive impact on the environment. During this time there was a fierce debate across the country, but unfortunately, the debate wasn't over energy.

The debate was whether a Muslim community center should be built near "Ground Zero" of the September 11 attacks in New York City.

A petty religious issue eclipsed the ultimate death of the energy bill which could prove to be one of the great blunders in recent human history.

In 2001, President George W. Bush, a devout evangelical Christian, placed a ban on federal funding for stem cell research due to a dubious evangelist view that using embryos, which would otherwise be wasted, equates to murder.

The same story of religious influence in government policy has unfolded on issues like teaching evolution, gay rights, and even slavery.

This is all from a country whose government is officially secular and theoretically free from the influence of religion.

Issues like the repressive laws against women in countries ruled by Sharia law hardly need mentioning.

Nor do catastrophic religious campaigns like the Crusades and the Inquisition, which set scientific progress back centuries.

When a high enough percentage of a population shares a single religion, their beliefs will inevitably trickle up into policy no matter how secular the government claims to be.

But the detrimental role of religion to society doesn't stop at official policy.

Numerous studies, including a 2006 Pitzer College comparative analysis of nations, have shown a very strong correlation between high levels of religious belief and low levels of societal health. This includes things like higher teen pregnancy rates, higher STD infection rates, lower education levels, and less gender equality.

Look at the other end of the spectrum and some of the world's most progressive and developed nations like Sweden, Norway, and Denmark are among the least religious.

The Chinese government should allow people to worship as they choose, but at the same time, if scientific, social, and economic development is their goal, they should refrain from promoting religion and hastening China's already rapid religious growth.

However, those who are religious but also value scientific and social progress should cherish a government that doesn't try to stimulate any religion, whether it's the religion they follow or an opposing one.

This way, policy and social norms can be based on the realities and practical needs of the present rather than subjective texts of the past.

The author is a Master's candidate in Global Business Journalism at Tsinghua University. ericfish85@gmail.com