Abstract
In contemporary religious societies there is a minority of secular individuals who do not conform to religious traditions. These secular persons may have skills that are essential for economic development. After showing that it is in the interest of the religious majority to tolerate these individuals rather than persecute them, we argue that both religious and secular persons will be better off if metropolitan areas are divided into two cultural zones with secular activities allowed in one zone and forbidden in the other. Thus religious persons could prevent secular behavior in their own neighborhoods and at the same time benefit from economic development which partly depends on the skills of secular persons.