I'm not sure if misreading your post, or if perhaps you are confusing the precepts of the Catholic church with another denomination, such as Mormon or Southern Baptist? Catholic doctrine does not teach that use of alcohol or tobacco is a sin, nor is gambling. That being the case, I don't see how ownership of stock in those areas is somehow a statement that Catholics aren't consistent with their beliefs.

This doesnt surprise me much. I think most Americans dont really adhere to the values and morals adovocated by their faith, whether they are Protestant, Catholic, Greek Orthodox, or whatever it may be. The scandals in the Catholic church are a good case in point. I am always wary of heavily religious people because of this, it just goes to show that you never truly know someone...

It seems that people do not really care. If they faith in religion, which isn't prohibited, they will invest and make money from it. I understand why religion affects them. What I think is people should separate what they believe and what they do to live.

It seems that its not an issue to people. Religion is becoming routine and a once a week tradition. No suprise that churches, one of the biggest industries worldwide, are investing in big money makers that don't meet their moral values.

Most people don't think about their religious values when it comes to making there money. I wouldn't think of gambling or tabacco stocks would have much of an effect what religion one might follow. Especially in the United States, most people that invest in stocks just think about which ones will gain them the most money.

Hi Everyone,
Religious issues are very important things for some people to consider different business activities. Some religious investors consider different kinds of business invetments how far they can cause sin. For instance, the Catholic people wouldn't mind that much if they invest on alcoholic products. However, if I were a kind of religious investor, I would have let the customers decide whether a particular business causes sin or not.

Mormons would have been a better religion to look at I think. Those three categories are not sins in the Catholic church.

From my view point, these sin stocks aren't really sins, especially in the Catholic church. Even if they were, I don't see people not investing in them because of religion, as religion today is not as strong as it used to. It's more of a standing in society then it is practiced for belief.

I think those "sin" stock does not have any conflict with people who are catholic as long as those stocks are money making, anybody can invest in it.

As a catholic, i found this posting very interesting, however, not incredibly persuasive. The information presented did not give a decisive evaluation of Catholic investing tendencies.. perhaps an easier method of researching this subject could have just been a survey.

These statistics do not really surprise me. Honestly, there isn't much background information on the people they are surveying and such, but there could be some flaws. I am of the Lutheran faith, but I do not strongly follow all the beliefs. When asked what my religion is, I would say Lutheran, but that does not mean that I do not sin in these catergories. I think that people may claim a faith but do not necessarily abide by all the rules. It does not mean it is bad. We all sin. If people know what stocks do well, they are going to invest in those stocks. It seems simple. The world has made these catergories profitable. We seemed to be tempted by things we "aren't supposed to have." If that is what sells then of course people will invest in it.

That makes sense to me. Something this doesn’t address, however, is that some people might not know which stocks they own. If the have a broker manage their stocks, maybe they are only interested in the returns and not the content of the stocks they actually own.

It's not surprising. According to this poll conducted by ABC news, http://abcnews.go.com/sections/US/DailyNews/church_poll020301.html , only 38 percent of Catholics attend church on a weekly basis. I grew up in a Catholic household and many of my friends are Catholics as well but when I ask them if they enjoying going to church none of them say they do. I ask them why they continue to go to church and the number 1 reply is because their parents make them go, or they go to make their parents happy. Unless older generations do more to teach their offspring about the faith there isn't much hope.

I don't see why this is so weird. They're just investing in Liquid Christ, which they drink once a week.

I think the reason for Catholics having money in these stocks is, as you pointed out, because they do not see these things as particularly sinful. I mean, how could they think alcohol is sinful? Jesus turned water into wine!

I believe that religion and stocks should be kept separately if the individual plans on making money. You dont invest in a stock because it goes with your morals, you invest in a stock because you believe it will make you money. If they happen to go hand in hand then your in luck, but it shouldn't be a factor in the stocks you decide to invest in.

I would think that for Catholics alcohol, tobacco, and gambling are more societal sins rather than religious sins so it would make sense for the data to show that they do not shy away from investing in such.

From what I understand, being a Catholic means that you try to live your life free of sin, but that if you do sin, you are allowed to repent and be free of such sin. Drinking alcohol isn't necessarily a sin, but to do so in large quantities is. I think that if you look hard enough, you can find a correlation with anything, and that it may not be due to their faith that Catholics avoid stocks dealing with alcohol. It could be something as simple as those stocks might be a little more risky and not worth it as much to them to invest in that.

I don't think it's suprising that people invest even though their religous beliefs may not be compatible with their stock choices. It's not shocking that a religion that doesn't teach that tobacco, alcohol, or gambling are a sin that they would invest in stocks related to those products.

I think that anyone investing in the stock market is going to put their money where they are going to get the greatest expected return or where they believe is best for gaining money. Morals may be on the back of the persons mind when choosing a company to invest in, but they will ultimately choose a company for their own monetary purposes.

Like many of these posts this is not surprising to me. Since the church is not againts any of these sin stocks and preach moderation, why wouldn't they invest in something they enjoy.