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.

So in this series you seem to have found the Catholics and Protestants do not necessarily avoid "sin" stocks. (As might be expected as their is not necessarily a strict dogmatic teaching away from these behaviors) Similarly in cases where there is a dogmatic teaching or significant cultural stigma associates with these "sins" (as is the case with Mormons and Evangelicals, respectively) you observe a decrease in investment. Looking further into the numbers you present the most significant relationship is within the Mormons...the only case where the "sins" are a central part of the dogma. It might be interesting to broaden the context of "sin" to a definition that touches on more of the common central themes of these religions...admittedly hard to come up with one... Or look at ownership % in a specific firm before and after a revelation of a personal moral lapse of leadership. Seems like these data would hold greater insight to the central question you have posed.

When I first started reading I thought there would be a noticeable difference. I think that the label Protestant is used to widely. We are often called a Christian nation. Read the Bible front to back then turn on the TV and tell me we're a Christian nation. I don't put much faith in these statistics simply because everyone's definition of a Protestant is different. Remember, actions speak louder than words.

Hi Everyone,
Religious principles have their own influencial factors for the development and spread of investment. The consideration of the customer's religous practice in an environment is very important before any kind of investment is going on.

After reading this blog I am semi confused at what certain religions consider sins? I was not aware that smoking was a sin so I was not surprised at the percentage of Evangelical and Protestants that have shares in tobacco stocks. However, I was surprised at how little each religion had invested in gaming and alcohol stocks. I would think that when it comes to investing that their beliefs would not play that large of a role in what they invest in as much as what would turn the most profit. This being said, I was surprised and pleased at the low percentages of what these people are investing in.

I think these are very interesting numbers. I'd like to see someone research this more. Perhaps rather than simply saying X-amount of a said religious group invest in these stocks, I'd be interested to see the religious groups broken down into smaller samples, such as the church leaders versus those who attend church regularly versus those who claim to follow the religion but only attend church on certain occasion (like Easter or Mothers Day), etc. Then, it would be interesting to see the comparision of people from these different samples to see who invests in these stocks.

I think when it comes down to it people are more likely to invest to make money than they are to display their morals.

I also agree with Kathy that it would be interesting to see the investment levels compared to how involved the person is with the church. I know that many people claim to be a part of a religion but may not go to church or be very devout at all.

Perhaps my ignorance is due to my green feet, but just how are broad investments of mutual funds measured? While I'll assume that all of these figures are accurate, I think that to measure investment decisions accurately, there has to be a more concrete definition of creed. In this case, it seems that the premise of the concepts of Protestant Christianity and alcohol, tobacco, and gaming are not completely exclusive or opposed to each other.

Although they might not believe or take part in some of these actions. we most remember that these are people too and they want to make money and be successful like everyone else so why would we blame them for investing in successful companies. Although i do they are investing in the opposite of what they stand for but that is their choice. I dont like microsoft i am more of an apple person. But you better bet if that stock starts to go up i will be right back owning shares of microsoft.

I'm not completely surprised by the findings of this study. Just because alcohol or tobacco may be viewed as a sin, most religious people keep there investments and money separate from their church. If they feel that investing in a certain company is going to help there money in the long run, they will take advantage of it. Although, I'm sure if they were to ever find out that company did some shady things, they'd probably feel guilty or a little sinful about it.

I do not believe the findings are all that surprising. Personal values people hold often vary from their views on public values. For example, I may not smoke because it is hazardous to my health, but I do not frown upon others for smoking. It is a personal choice and not all personal values align with universal values. So although people work for companies that create products they do not use for moral reasons, they still acknowledge that others use them and it is others' choice to use them.

Most religious people are just full of s***. They don't do half of the stuff that they preach. Except maybe Mormons, but they're no fun.

It just shows that when it comes to making money people can ignore there beliefs as long as the returns are good enough

This is all news to me,and makes me kind of think twice about some churches. I also am no looking into my Catholic church to see where they have fallen into this category.

While I can appreciate the statistical differences between Protestants and Evangelicals, I can't help but notice that the percentages of both are still low. Sin stocks don't seem to be very popular with either group. Perhaps a look into this as opposed to group versus group would be warranted?

Sure money/greed is the root of all evil, but hey the more we have the easier we can get by. Just another example of the hypocrisy that surrounds religion.

I think these religous investors have their money in the right spot. This once again proves my point that money is the true religion of the world. Everyone wants it, needs it, worships it, so next time you look at the faces printed on money you should pray to them or ask yourself why you worship it so much.

I would suggest that a good number of Christians hold a "holier than thou" mindset for themselves and by investing in "sin stocks", they are investing in the "moral decay" of society. Which I guess is a pretty safe bet in the rationale of many Christians.

Not so surprising. Most churches would like to expand or atleast develop into something larger, so it seams. Safer investments with good return obviously is a good way to do so.

John, I actually found this blog very interesting and revealing. I did not know, nor even imagine, that mainline Protestants invested in "sin products". I know you posted this weeks ago, but I'm curious as to what this statistics look like for Evangelical Protestants...

I think it is interesting to link a persons investment habits with their religious beliefs. There are many different levels of religion and I am sure that there are some people that keep their religious life and business practices completly seperate. Not saying that either way is right or wrong.