Start Date
4-29-2014 9:00 AM
End Date
4-29-2014 10:15 AM
Disciplines
European History | History of Religion
Subjects
Germany (East) -- Church history -- 20th century, Germany (East) -- Religion, Communism -- Germany (East) -- Influence on religious belief, Germany (East) -- Economic policy, Atheism -- Germany (East) -- History
Abstract
With a population of 52.1% presently identifying as atheists, East Germany ranks as the most atheistic region of the world. This anomaly can be explained through the economic lenses of supply-side theory and demand-side theory when analyzing the changes instated by the Communist Party during the life of the German Democratic Republic, from 1945 to 1989. Through a process of secularization and religious oppression, the Communist Party lessened the supply of religious goods in East Germany. On the other hand, it also minimized religious demand by providing secular alternatives to traditional religious practices, and institutionalizing anti-religious sentiment. These actions combined have caused the number of citizens subscribing to religious institutions to decrease steadily over the past century.
Rights
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Persistent Identifier
http://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/11203
Included in
The Most Godless Region of the World: Atheism in East Germany
With a population of 52.1% presently identifying as atheists, East Germany ranks as the most atheistic region of the world. This anomaly can be explained through the economic lenses of supply-side theory and demand-side theory when analyzing the changes instated by the Communist Party during the life of the German Democratic Republic, from 1945 to 1989. Through a process of secularization and religious oppression, the Communist Party lessened the supply of religious goods in East Germany. On the other hand, it also minimized religious demand by providing secular alternatives to traditional religious practices, and institutionalizing anti-religious sentiment. These actions combined have caused the number of citizens subscribing to religious institutions to decrease steadily over the past century.
Notes
With a population of 52.1% presently identifying as atheists, East Germany ranks as the most atheistic region of the world. This anomaly can be explained through the economic lenses of supply-side theory and demand-side theory when analyzing the changes instated by the Communist Party during the life of the German Democratic Republic, from 1945 to 1989. Through a process of secularization and religious oppression, the Communist Party lessened the supply of religious goods in East Germany. On the other hand, it also minimized religious demand by providing secular alternatives to traditional religious practices, and institutionalizing anti-religious sentiment. These actions combined have caused the number of citizens subscribing to religious institutions to decrease steadily over the past century.