# “Faith” Apparently Contributes $1.2Trillion to the US Economy Annually? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 17, 2025, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faith-apparently-contributes-1-2trillion-to-the-us-economy-annually/1024055 "2025-10-17T17:39:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2025, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faith-apparently-contributes-1-2trillion-to-the-us-economy-annually/1024055/21 "2025-10-18T02:04:53Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > Religious based schools employ almost half a million full-time teachers, not to mention other staff. So there’s that. But they pay them less than the public schools, so thus reducing the economic GDP. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2025, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faith-apparently-contributes-1-2trillion-to-the-us-economy-annually/1024055/22 "2025-10-18T02:31:02Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > Assuming 150M “religious people” in the US, which is about half the population, that means an average annual expenditure on their religion of about $6,666 dollars. Even if we double the number of religious people, that’s still over $3,000 per person, per year. I mean, that’s not completely outrageous, but it does seem kind of high. That would be only $60 a person a week, which would not be all that much even ignoring the money spent on schools etc. The average preacher would get fired if they couldn’t suck that much out of the pockets of the faithful. > [@DaveUnknown](#): > > I’ll add I read the claim in the IPO filing for “Gloo Holdings” which is some sort of “faith” based tech company, backed by a firm called “Thrivent Financial for Lutherans.” My daughter worked for them one summer, and had to pretend to be a Lutheran to do it. Thrivent is pretty big. > [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](#): > > But they pay them less than the public schools, so thus reducing the economic GDP. Yeah. Just after we got married, and when my wife moved to Louisiana, she looked at teaching at one of these schools. The pay was so low as to be ridiculous. She became a night clerk at a motel which paid much better before getting a real job. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2025, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faith-apparently-contributes-1-2trillion-to-the-us-economy-annually/1024055/23 "2025-10-18T02:32:58Z")
Or caskets or urns made by Trappist monks? > **[Trappist Caskets - Trappist Caskets](https://trappistcaskets.com/)** > > The monks of New Melleray Abbey offer caskets and urns that are crafted in the rural quiet of the monastery, by hands accustomed to prayer. Allow our rich ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2025, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faith-apparently-contributes-1-2trillion-to-the-us-economy-annually/1024055/24 "2025-10-18T03:22:50Z")
Don’t overlook [Trappist beer](https://www.belgiumking.com/top-10-trappist-beers/), sausages and [jams and jellies](https://trappistpreserves.com/). ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2025, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faith-apparently-contributes-1-2trillion-to-the-us-economy-annually/1024055/25 "2025-10-18T03:41:46Z")
> [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](#): > > But they pay them less than the public schools, so thus reducing the economic GDP. And in many cases produce much worse educated students, also reducing GDP. The Catholic schools do a pretty good job I understand, but many of the Protestant schools are more about religious indoctrination and teaching how to proselytize effectively, with little or no interest in anything beyond that. It’s one reason you see so many believers using the same phrases and arguments in religious discussions; they’re parroting what they’ve been taught. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2025, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faith-apparently-contributes-1-2trillion-to-the-us-economy-annually/1024055/26 "2025-10-18T19:27:11Z")
In every city I’ve lived in that had a Catholic school (I briefly lived in one that didn’t), the elementary schools were decent, but the high schools had the biggest drug problems, because that’s where the money was. The town that didn’t was a small city in the Ozarks whose only parochial school was at a Baptist church, and had about 10 students in K through 5, with a single teacher and an aide. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faith-apparently-contributes-1-2trillion-to-the-us-economy-annually/1024055.md?page=1)