Blog Post #5

Cesar Ruiz

Religious Study 1

Religious Affiliation and Social Stratification

The first thing Weber writes about in chapter one, is about is his observation of religion he makes both empirical and theoretical claims. He points out that according to what people have as their occupation it can determine their religious standing. Initially, I thought this was really interesting because it more so seemed like was sectioning and stereotyping people based off very little information he knew about them. He then goes on to write about his observation, he stated that people such as high skilled labor workers and even business leader more typically Protestant and those who do not fall under these categories are more likely going to be Catholic. He does not really give an explanation as to why this may be the case, but the only evidence he has, is the fact that it may be due to historical evidence and any conversion that may have happened along the way. It is of significance because of the time people decided to convert. During the Protestant Reformation is when areas were most financially stable. The conversion of lots from one religion to the other was not necessarily caused entirely by the Reform, it was more so cause by the fact that one religion had more on an influence than the other, and this is what stuck with people the most and that is ultimately was ended up causing the switch.

            Another thing Weber mentions is how their children’s education changed as well as their religious up bring. Due to the fact that Protestants were more affluent, Protestant children inherited lots of money and allowed for more access and opportunity. This allowed for children of these Protestant families to go into the industry while Catholic children stayed in handicrafts. Weber writes, that this type of “access” then went on to influence what occupation the child would chose. He refers to Catholics as “otherworldly” and this is his explanation for why Catholics tend to do what they choose to do- they are indifferent to the material gain.