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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsOrganized religion in U.S. worth more than Google, Apple and Amazon combined
Fascinating. Even as the faith-based crowd gradually shrinks, and even though many churches have paid out big bucks in lawsuits to sexually assaulted parishioners, religion is still worth a shit ton of money:
Religion in the United States is worth $1.2tn a year, making it equivalent to the 15th largest national economy in the world, according to a study.
The faith economy has a higher value than the combined revenues of the top 10 technology companies in the US, including Apple, Amazon and Google, says the analysis from Georgetown University in Washington DC.
Co-author Brian Grim said it was a conservative estimate. More than 344,000 congregations across the US collectively employ hundreds of thousands of staff and buy billions of dollars worth of goods and services.
More than 150 million Americans, almost half the population, are members of faith congregations, according to the report. Although numbers are declining, the sums spent by religious organisations on social programmes have tripled in the past 15 years, to $9bn.
The faith economy has a higher value than the combined revenues of the top 10 technology companies in the US, including Apple, Amazon and Google, says the analysis from Georgetown University in Washington DC.
Co-author Brian Grim said it was a conservative estimate. More than 344,000 congregations across the US collectively employ hundreds of thousands of staff and buy billions of dollars worth of goods and services.
More than 150 million Americans, almost half the population, are members of faith congregations, according to the report. Although numbers are declining, the sums spent by religious organisations on social programmes have tripled in the past 15 years, to $9bn.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/sep/15/us-religion-worth-1-trillion-study-economy-apple-google
Hallelujah! $$$$$
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Organized religion in U.S. worth more than Google, Apple and Amazon combined (Original Post)
True Dough
Sep 2016
OP
deathrind
(1,786 posts)1. All the more...
Reason to tax them.
Skittles
(153,298 posts)2. grifting pays big
Warren DeMontague
(80,708 posts)3. yeah
but the software is way more outdated and obsolete
xfundy
(5,105 posts)4. I alway said
that if I had no conscience I'd get into that industry in a heartbeat. No easier way to get rich.
TexasMommaWithAHat
(3,212 posts)5. "Worth" is relative and the comparison is stupid.
Try selling a small congregation of 500 people that spends every penny it takes in and has a mortgage on the church building. There's no "worth."
And, yeah, that's the majority of churches in the U.S.