Religion
In reply to the discussion: No Time For Crime: More Religious Communities Have Lower Rates Of Black, White and Latino Violence [View all]Act_of_Reparation
(9,116 posts)The United States is atypically religious compared to other nations of its class, and its violent crime rate is atypically high. I don't mean to represent this as a causal relationship; I think we can both agree it is not. However, given these numbers, the increased religiosity doesn't seem to do anything to deter violent crime, which is what the author of cited article proposes.
As to the religious identification of incarcerated criminals, that is a moot point. Even if self-identifying atheists/agnostics/unaffiliated believers were proportionately represented in America's prisons--which they are not--they would still comprise around 16% of the inmate population. Again, the overwhelming majority are religious.
The numbers are so stacked against him, I honestly have no idea how the author arrived at his conclusion. Louisiana, an overwhelmingly religious state--the state of state-sponsored vouchers to religious schools--has the highest violent crime rate in the country. Something is amiss here.