The opposition between wealth and spirituality is well known and ancient. In a Christian context, you see it in such biblical remarks as "It is easier for a ca

The opposition between wealth and spirituality is well known and ancient. In a Christian context, you see it in such biblical remarks as "It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for the rich to enter the kingdom of God" (Mark 10:25) and "You cannot serve both God and money." (Matt. 6:24). Vows of poverty are widely practiced throughout Christendom, from the severe vows taken by monks to the more lax popular view that the heavy pursuit of wealth is sinful or at least misguided. I don't know how other religions view wealth, but I would be surprised if the opposition was uniquely Christian. The wealthy tend to reject religion. That's well-known among the religious. Why do the poor tend to embrace it? Well, I can give one answer. Apparently . . . it helps. http://papers.nber.org/papers/w13369 http://papers.nber.org/papers/w13369 This paper examines whether participation in religious or other social organizations can help offset the negative effects of growing up in a disadvantaged environment. . . . Overall, we find strong evidence that youth with religiously active parents are less affected later in life by childhood disadvantage than youth whose parents did not frequently attend religious services.