What Alabamians and Iranians Have in Common

I lived in Alabama for four years right after graduating from law school - in the Mobile area to be precise. While the state was certainly conservative back in that time era, based on the state's recent voting record and my experiences traversing the state after Hurricane Katrina to bring back evacuees the state seems to be lurching much farther to the lunatic far right fringe. A new Gallup study shows that the driving force for this phenomenon may likely be the strength of religious belief in Alabama as opposed to say Massachusetts. In fact, religious fervor in Alabama is roughly the same as that in Iran. Yes, I said Iran. Obviously, that is a frightening realization and perhaps also a reflection as to why Alabama ranks so low in terms of per capita income. In fact, the Gallup study revealed that with few exceptions, the least religious nations in the world were also the ones with the highest standards of living. The results also clearly show that the states that voted for McCain/Palin are the ones that are most religious and the ones with the lowest standards of living.
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One unanswered question is: does religious belief drive down a nation's standard of living or does a low standard of living encourage a high level of religiousity? Here are some highlights from the Gallup study:
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In 2006, 2007, and 2008, Gallup asked representative samples in 143 countries and territories whether religion was an important part of their daily lives. The accompanying map shows religiosity by country, ranging from the least religious to the most religious on a relative basis.
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[A] population's religiosity level is strongly related to its average standard of living. Gallup's World Poll, for example, indicates that 8 of the 11 countries in which almost all residents (at least 98%) say religion is important in their daily lives are poorer nations in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. On the opposite end of the spectrum, the 10 least religious countries studied include several with the world's highest living standards, including Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Hong Kong, and Japan.
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Lining up these percentages with those on our worldwide list allows us to match residents of the most religious states to the global populations with which they are similar in terms of religiosity. The results produce some interesting comparisons -- Alabamians, for example, are about as likely as Iranians to say religion is an important part or their lives.