The Bible Ruins Everything

Victoria Jackson is making Republicans look ridiculous ... again and not just because of what she’s wearing. But what she is wearing is nonsensically wrong for a news show where you’re trying to be persuasive. It’s like she looked in her closet and thought, “Hmm, should I dress in business casual or frowsy clown college dropout?”

After telling us that Obama will punish her if she’s successful (Trust me, Victoria, if that were true, you’d still be perfectly safe), she informs us that the problem with America is that it doesn’t have enough Biblical influence. I find this to be particularly galling.  Even a casual look around will tell you that the Bible is not the answer to a country’s problems. America has the highest rate of church-going and the highest rate of murder of the industrialized nations. Countries with few Christians like Japan aren’t backward, crime-filled nations. And even rates of religion within the US don’t suggest that the Bible is the answer to problems.

I compared a Gallup poll on the importance of religion (here) with the rates of crime in the states (here) and found that in all areas of crime, the states were religion was more important had higher crime rates than the states where religion was less important. Comparing the top 10 most religious states with the bottom 10, I found that on average the states that were the most religious had rates of crime higher than those that were the least religious. In the most religious states:

Rape was 2.3% more frequent.

Robbery was 13.3% more frequent.

Violent crime was 16.0% more frequent.

Property crime was 22.8% more frequent.

Murder was a whopping 27.9% more frequent.

Crime may not be the problem that Victoria Jackson is concerned with. We have real economic problems too. But guess what? Not only doesn’t religion appear to turn people’s hearts toward moral action, it doesn’t seem to stop poverty. I compared the top and bottom 10 most religious states with their rank in poverty found on a nifty interactive map (here.) Note that 7 (70%) of the most religious states rank in the top 10 for poverty while none of the less religious are. The least religious boast 5 of the 10 states with the least poverty.

Most Religious

Mississippi                1^st

Alabama                    10^th

South Carolina          12^th

Tennessee                 11^th

Louisiana                   3^rd

Arkansas                    5^th

Georgia                      13^th

Oklahoma (tie)           7^th

Kentucky (tie)             7^th

Texas                          9^th

Least Religious

Vermont (tie)             41^st

New Hampshire        50^th

Maine                         24^th

Massachusetts          43^rd

Alaska                        39^th

Washington                32^nd

Oregon                       21^st

Rhode Island             35^th

Nevada (tie)               41^st

Connecticut                49^th

All right, but maybe Victoria Jackson wasn’t talking about worldly things. Maybe she’s referring to the blessings of the Holy Spirit, the comforting grace of God, and joy that only true salvation brings. Certainly, the most religious states are the happiest, right? Not so much. I compared the rankings of happiness from the poll that was conducted (here), and it turns out that on average the highly religious states rank about 17 places down from the least religious states in happiness. Below are their rakings. Note that not one of the religious states is even in the top 20 while 7 (70%) of the least religious are.

Most Religious

Mississippi                48^th

Alabama                    33^rd

South Carolina          26^th

Tennessee                 42^nd

Louisiana                   40^th

Arkansas                    46^th

Georgia                      23^rd

Oklahoma                  43^rd

Kentucky                    49^th

Texas                         21^st

Least Religious

Vermont                     14^th

New Hampshire        13^th

Maine                         29^th

Massachusetts          8^th 

Alaska                        20^th

Washington                7^th

Oregon                       18^th

Rhode Island              37^th

Nevada                       38^th

Connecticut                19^th

There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that many of the problems in the highly religious states can be explained by the geography and history of the South. Still, I don’t know that we can completely discount the role of religion in making the most religious states worse off than the least religious. The religious are more likely to marry and have children early, hindering them from getting higher education. They are more likely to get divorced, which creates those single parent homes they are so worried about. (Single parent homes have been strongly linked to higher rates of crime and poverty.) They are less likely to use birth control. They are more suspicious of education. They are more likely to believe they can pray their way to wealth, which might keep them from doing things that actually create wealth. They are more likely to be opposed to abortion. (Lowering the rate of abortion has been linked to an increase of poverty and crime.) They are more likely to limit their talent pools by excluding, overtly or covertly, lgbt people from their communities. In short, religion increases several of the behaviors that are likely to decrease wealth and increase crime.

So when Victoria Jackson and her ilk suggest that the Bible will help America, what the hell does she mean?