An Inquiry on the Role of Religion in Wealth and Poverty

by Hooshmand Badee

Abstract: In theory, the spirit of all Faiths is upholding the well-being of all people, believers and non-believers, and therefore a coherence of material and spiritual development is prescribed in all Holy Scriptures. The presentation will identify possible areas where religion has contributed to the debate on wealth creation and poverty eradication. Finally, it will conclude that the effective partnership of the two disciplines of religion as a spiritual realm and economics as a social science, although different entities, fosters human well-being. Care must be taken that wealth creation and poverty eradication have many facets and cannot be dealt with solely from a religious perspective. Therefore, this presentation is not a purely theological exercise to judge the correctness or validity of any religious position, but rather a neutral study of social, cultural, economic, historical, and religious exploration.