Graphics: Correlation of Poverty to Religiosity in Regions of the US and the World

[BurtWorm]

Graphics and analysis from the Gallup organization:

http://www.gallup.com/poll/114211/Alabamians-Iranians-Common.aspx









Obviously, these data only compare the importance of religion in people's lives -- they say nothing about what being highly religious means in different parts of the world and among different faiths. Nonetheless, it's fascinating to note that in terms of religiosity, Americans span a range that invites comparisons to some predominantly Muslim countries in the Middle East and tribal societies in Southern Africa, as well as to some relatively secular nations in Europe and developed East Asia. Examining regional variations within many other large countries would almost certainly uncover similar diversity.

Recognition of that fact should give Americans pause when we're tempted to apply blanket generalizations to other cultures; for example, to say residents in those nations are less devout or more prone to zealotry than people in America. It should also help those outside the United States avoid applying such oversimplified judgments to Americans.

<BurtWorm here: but it also makes it more difficult to resist applying oversimplified judgments about certain regions of America.>

[Lerkfish]

1. meh! correlation of data is not casuality

[BurtWorm]

2. Maybe heat or high humidity is a better explanation?

[wuvuj]

6. Whew!

It's not the heat...it's the humidity.

[Chulanowa]

3. Agreed

The major cause of poverty in most of those regions is corporate exploitation - whether by Wal-Mart in the US, or by Montsanto and other similar transnationals in India, or wherever. Find an agrarian-based society, fuck it until it stops moving, and move on to the next one.

[BurtWorm]

4. Religion probably doesn't cause poverty. That's not what these data suggest, anyway.

But there certainly seems to be a relationship between the poverty of a region and the tendency of its people to be religious. It might be more accurate to say poverty causes religiosity--or that it makes a fertile ground for it.

[ProfessorGAC]

5. Could Be Chicken Or Egg.

Which may be what you were saying, too. Maybe the religiosity FOLLOWS the deprivation to provide some source of hope.
GAC

[BurtWorm]

7. That is what I was trying to say,

Religion can provide hope where it's desperately needed. If you think it would take a miracle to save you from the daily grind of poverty, you are probably primed to believe in miracles--or to want or think you need to believe in them.

[ProfessorGAC]

Same Page (eom)

,

[izquierdista]

10. Hope is easy to provide

If you promise it to people after they die. It's the ultimate bait and switch.

[ipfilter]

9. I would love to see a study showing the economic impact

of tithing.

[ProfessorGAC]

11. Interesting Idea

Hey, is your old screenname based upon the year the Broad/Tele was released with no model name?
GAC

[ipfilter]

12. yup. Most of the guitar names are taken on forums.

[ProfessorGAC]

13. I Don't See You in The Musicians' Group

Did i miss you or do you not go there? Maybe i just forgot.
GAC

[ipfilter]

14. I don't play anymore.

Arthritis in my fingers took the fun right out of it.

[wuvuj]

8. Also a correlation...

...with literacy rates?