jaime on October 26, 2007 at 7:00 PM

Thank you for mentioning Asia. It was noticably absent of mention in the graph there. It’s like only whites, blacks, and Middle-Eastern races exist there. WHO CARES about almost half the world’s population, am I right?

Also, my elephant repellent works, because I haven’t seen any elephants in my house after spraying it.

Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness! No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

- Matthew 6:19-33

The atheist can only see two options: Religiosity causes poverty or poverty causes religiosity. Consider that to a person of sincere faith, wealth or poverty is irrelevant, because this world is fleetingly temporary in the face of eternity. If blessed by God with resources, the more one’s ability to help others, but also the greater the temptations to pursue the appetites of the flesh, which neither serves nor pleases God.

Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.
Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you. But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now at the last your care of me hath flourished again; wherein ye were also careful, but ye lacked opportunity. Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

- Philippians 4:5-13

Paul makes it clear that whether rich or poor, if one’s aim is Godly service, it’s all good. The phrase “be careful for nothing” means to not worry, especially over things that are better left in God’s hands. If He can take care of the flowers of the field, He can take care of those who honor Him.

And when he was gone forth into the way, there came one running, and kneeled to him, and asked him, Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life? And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God. Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Defraud not, Honour thy father and mother. And he answered and said unto him, Master, all these have I observed from my youth. Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me. And he was sad at that saying, and went away grieved: for he had great possessions. And Jesus looked round about, and saith unto his disciples, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God! And the disciples were astonished at his words. But Jesus answereth again, and saith unto them, Children, how hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.

- Mark 10:17-25

If Jesus told a poor person to sell all they had in order to follow him, they could do it easily, because there is so little change affected in their lives. But someone who has become entangled by the things bought through their riches has a hard time letting go, even when they come seeking eternal life. Are money, and the things gotten with money, your servants and tools, or are you theirs?

Finally, the real pointlessness of the graph is the presumption that ALL religiosity is crafted the same way. The author purports to demonstrate a complex system as a simple parabolic curve, while ignoring the most significant variables involved. That is NOT valid science, and even so, like much other “science”, it discards the metaphysical.

It is very true that many people gain religion through severe negative events in their lives, whether poverty, or tragedy, or punishment. Everyone has heard stories of “jailhouse conversions”. But of course, God’s hand couldn’t have crafted those circumstances in order to bring that soul to Him, could He? When you begin a study by discarding possibilities that don’t suit your preconceptions, you cannot present an honest conclusion.

When Even if you’re poor rich, you can’t afford the truth Truth. It’d give you nothing to look forward to. It can not be bought at any price — since it is a free gift found in God’s abundant grace.

Allahpundit on October 26, 2007 at 2:58 PM

There. Fixed that for ya’. No need to thank me. Just bein’ neighborly.
My collie says:

Isn’t spurious correlation fun? Just look at that meaningless graph!

Rational Thought:
“Therefore, while we are a land of plenty, and should therefore be abandoning our religion (until we need it again), we have given it a new job: helping the less fortunate and spreading the word of God through charity.”

Welcome to the new job, same as the old job.

“When you’re poor, you can’t afford the truth. It’d give you nothing to look forward to.”

It’s entirely conceivable to me that the poor are nominally more religious, because the churches in both poor countries and poor areas of rich countries are often the only institutions whose benefits are available to the poor. In such circumstances they tend to play a central role in social, not just religious, interactions. Not only do churches sponsor a great many of non-worship related activities, they also provide the only facilities for a wide range of community actiivities, especially in rural areas. If you can’t read the yellow pages or fill out a job application (or figure out how & whom to vote for!), you ask someone at choir practice for help. Friday night potluck doubles as survival tool.

In some places, you would literally have nothing to look forward to without the Church. If you’ve got AIDS in Africa, believing in the local Nuns would just be simple common sense. In fact, I believe the Catholic Church currently cares for something like 25% of the entire AIDS population worldwide. That may not make a believer out of you, personally, but it ought to tell you something. Maybe when you’re poor and/or oppressed, the only thing left to believe in that won’t disappoint you, the only thing worth believing in, is the church, because when everybody else is gone, they’ll still be there. And I say that as someone whose scores an absolute 0 on Pew’s religiosity scale.

But I digress. Gotta love this line in the Survey PDF:

Oil-rich and predominantly Muslim Kuwait is another country with a much higher level of religiosity than its economic situation would predict.

Causation is such a b *tch, ain’t she? Up next, plotting atheism against the distribution of natural resources. If you’re troubled by folks doubting American “exceptionalism” though, there’s a real silver lining here. This chart is should make an excellent visual aid.

Run this statistic. The GDP per capita of non-oil producing Muslim nations compared to the rest of the world. Real data.

What religion it is makes the difference. False gods lead to bad economies.

“Therefore, while we are a land of plenty, and should therefore be abandoning our religion (until we need it again), we have given it a new job: helping the less fortunate and spreading the word of God through charity.”

Welcome to the new job, same as the old job.

“When you’re poor, you can’t afford the truth. It’d give you nothing to look forward to.”

It’s entirely conceivable to me that the poor are nominally more religious, because the churches in both poor countries and poor areas of rich countries are often the only institutions whose benefits are available to the poor. In such circumstances they tend to play a central role in social, not just religious, interactions. Not only do churches sponsor a great many of non-worship related activities, they also provide the only facilities for a wide range of community actiivities, especially in rural areas. If you can’t read the yellow pages or fill out a job application (or figure out how & whom to vote for!), you ask someone at choir practice for help. Friday night potluck doubles as survival tool.

In some places, you would literally have nothing to look forward to without the Church. If you’ve got aids in Africa, believing in the local Nuns would just be simple common sense. In fact, I believe the Catholic Church currently cares for something like 25% of the entire aids population worldwide. That may not make a believer out of you, personally, but it ought to tell you something. Maybe when you’re poor and/or oppressed, the only thing left to believe in that won’t disappoint you, the only thing worth believing in, is the church, because when everybody else is gone, they’ll still be there. And I say that as someone whose scores an absolute 0 on Pew’s religiosity scale.

But I digress. Gotta love this line in the Survey PDF:

Oil-rich and predominantly Muslim Kuwait is another country with a much higher level of religiosity than its economic situation would predict.

Causation is such a bitch, ain’t she? Up next, plotting atheism against the distribution of natural resources. If you’re troubled by folks doubting American “exceptionalism” though, there’s a real silver lining here. This chart is should make an excellent visual aid.

Unfortunately, that message is soon lost after affluence comes around.

And not to the left (leftist) god.

“This is the solemn pronouncement of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the originator of God’s creation: ‘I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either cold or hot!So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I am going to vomit you out of my mouth! Because you say, “I am rich and have acquired great wealth, and need nothing,” but do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked, take my advice and buy gold from me refined by fire so you can become rich! Buy from me white clothing so you can be clothed and your shameful nakedness will not be exposed, and buy eye salve to put on your eyes so you can see! All those I love, I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent!Listen! I am standing at the door and knocking! If anyone hears my voice and opens the door I will come into his home and share a meal with him, and he with me. I will grant the one who conquers permission to sit with me on my throne, just as I too conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne. The one who has an ear had better hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’”

I’m sure the question runs both ways. But I’d argue that religiosity is in fact driving poverty in an indirect sense.

Notice that civilizations marked by either Islam or Marxism have lower GDP than Western Europe or the US which have a Christian heritage.

I’d suggest what’s behind this chart has more to do with the view of capitalism. It’s difficult to have a thriving modern economy without entrepreneuship (which Marxism disallows) and/or money lending (which Islam disallows).

Christianity had a similar restriction early on but it was largely dropped during the renaissance when something like modern banking spread through Europe.

We’re outlying not despite our religiosity but at least partly because of it. As we become more atheist and socialist in our outlook, we’ll slide back toward the rest of Europe in GDP as well.

East Asia:
Shinto = wealthy
Buddhism = not so much

Europe:
Protestant = wealthy
Christian Orthodox = not so much

Southwest Asia:
Judaism = wealthy
Islam = not so much

Anyone want to convert to voo-doo?

The far right of the graph, where America is the ONLY data point, shows a continueing declining trend… when America, the only data point, should bend the line back up.

Obviously, we’re the only ones praying to the right God.

Savage on October 26, 2007 at 2:49 PM

They should plot religiosity and subsequent change in wealth rather than just wealth. When the US was laying the groundwork for its current wealth, it was much more religuous than now. These days the US is just trust babies making goofy websites: Facebook is is now valued the same as Ford. Most of the profits for the SP500 come from overseas.

Once they find a vaccine for malaria, Africa will take off because of its resources and the exposure its people have had to the effects of lack of a morality.