How much is the Jesus industry worth to this country?

[rurallib]

As Easter approaches and I can't seem to avoid Christianity anywhere, I just got to thinking - how much does Christianity rake in and expend each year? If the US economy is @$13Trillion, then what portion is Xtianity of that?
Building churches, satellite TV, radio publishing etc, etc. I got think that JC pumps a lot of cold cash into the system.
I shall sign off for a while and be back later.

[kimmylavin]

1. WWJB?

What Would Jesus Buy? :)

[KG]

3. WWJS?

What Would Jesus Sell?

[kimmylavin]

6. Well...

Its actually pretty amazing how much Jesus WOULD buy and sell, if you believe Christian radio.

My in-laws, who I dearly love, and who by most standards are rational, intelligent people, listen to Christian radio all day long. Whenever I'm over at the house, I'm amazed by how many products people have managed to "Christian-ize". "Buy Real Estate with Jesus' Help!"

As for Easter, this holiday has about as much to do with Jesus anymore as Christmas does...

[Jonathan50]

8. Easter is a pagan rite of spring...

Which was coopted by the Christians..

[Dr.Phool]

2. Better question.

How much tax is this industry avoiding through this non-profit loop-hole?

[Connie_Corleone]

4. It's more of an Easter Bunny celebration than Jesus.

I almost forgot about Easter.

[Roland99]

5. Welll, about $150 million of it is tied up in Six Flags Over Jesus here in town

Otherwise known as Southeast Christian Church (which sponsored a gay-bashing event a while back, about the time as the "Justice Sunday" fiasco, which was also based right here in Louisville at another mega-church not far away from this one).

[papau]

7. How large is the Atheist book market? All important questions no doubt. Does the fact that

Christian book writers got no reviews by major media reflect the atheism and anti-religious bias of both our media, and our "intellectuals" with power over the world of books.

Do atheists have too much power in the media - do they abuse that power?

Will Christian book writers ever get New York Times book reviews like Dawson, or even the 50 no names reviewed over the years?

All important questions no doubt.

Indeed important enough to be put in a political sites General Discussion section rather than the Atheist section of the religious section - after all we are talking about society, store sales, TV ads as on KO, and indeed US commerce and all that stuff.

[TechBear_Seattle]

9. Define "Jesus industry"

Do you mean businesses which service Christians by printing and selling Bibles, prayer cards, rosaries, framed pictures, books, etc? Do you mean churches and the money they raise through donations? Both?

Until you define what you are looking for, you won't get a meaningful answer. :hi:

[rurallib]

10. In my mind, anything that is bought or sold for "religious" purposes

That would include music, buildings, church donations, books, movies, websites, advisors, clerics, etc. I would even include those businesses that use Jesus to promote their real estate sales or construction company or window washing businesses like we have here.
What I am curious about is how much financial clout these folk have on our economy.
And as one poster noted how much tax is avoided.

[hfojvt]

11. Some statistics

In 2000 there was 815 billion in new construction. 8 billion of that was for religious buildings. Employment in 'membership organizations' which seems to be where churches would fit, is about 3 million in a labor force of 134 million, about 2 percent. Other than employment, most of their budget is not productive - they spend money on utilities as consumers, but most of their budget goes to payroll for pastors, secretaries, janitors, organists, etc.

The impact is not that large as it may seem. If you look at a person making $50,000 a year. If he/she tithes that is $5,000, but the same person or family probably spends more on their cars.

[Initech]

12. Religion has to be big business in this country.

Especially when you factor in things like religious marketing, huge stadium events (like here in Orange County, we have an annual event called the "Harvest Festival"), televangelism, religious bookstores, megachurches, I bet the Jesus industry in America rakes in billions.