A Communist Manifesto on the Protestant Ethic

[georginasand]

"Just in terms of allocation of time resources, religion is not very efficient. There's a lot more I could be doing on a Sunday morning." ~Bill Gates

It's amazing how, in strange small ways, the world just seems to make sense. I think things like these are the last thread letting me believe in an ordered universe.

In Intro to Sociology we were discussing Max Weber and his work on religion and economics. The short story is that he studied five major religions and discover that only one could have given rise to the efficient bureaucratic capitalism we know today. He published his results under the title "The Protestant Ethic," you can imagine what the result was. But if you think about it, Protestantism is the most efficient way to get to heaven. No confession, no mitvot, no "Patience, my blue friend." Who knew that, among other things, the Grace of Gd, was so efficient.

Note (for people who don't know me in real life, because "woah, there are people I don't know reading my journal!!!"): This is by no means an endorsement of Protestantism, or a degradation of any other religion, including the force. My personal theology looks a bit like what Jesus, George Fox, Peter Abelard, and Hillel in a smoothie maker might look like, so I'll poke fun at anybody, because I'm probably poking at myself.

I remain,
Georgie

Comments

[georginasand]

Oh, yeah, it has definitely changed since he wrote. That's what I fine hilarious (and super interesting) about these sociology guys: They write grand theories of social interactions, but really can't anticipate how much things change in the future.

[jadey]

I love sociological theory, I really do, but I stand by a statement I made during *my* Intro Soc class: too much cheese, not enough cracker. ^__^

Okay, except maybe for Dubois. That guy was from the future.

[georginasand]

Though some of them, especially the grand theorists, may be crackers.

And I agree, except Dubois, he was pretty snazzy.