POVERTY: Faith and poverty in the world

2010, September 8
Using data from a recent Gallup report showing a correlation between wealth and faith, Charles M. Blow reports in graphic form. Each sphere, sized by population, represents a country. Spheres are colored by dominant religion in that country.
The United States is an outlier among the relatively richer countries. While the United States is the richest country by GDP per capita, 67% of Americans say that religion is important in their daily lives. Compare that to France, Britain, and Japan who report 30% or less.
On the flip side of that, it looks like there's a cluster of countries with both low GDP and low religiosity, such as Vietnam and Russia.
Many scientists believe "religion plays a more functional role in the world's poorest countries, helping many residents cope with a daily struggle to provide for themselves and their families."
Does this suggest that outliers might use other ways to cope with struggle?
http://flowingdata.com/2010/09/08/faith-and-poverty-in-the-world/

POVERTY: More Poverty = More Religion

By Barry Ritholtz
September 9, 2010
Religion has a surprisingly high correlation with poverty, according to a Gallup survey conducted in more than 100 countries. The more poverty a nation has, the higher the “religiosity” in that nation. In general, richer countries are less religious than poorer ones.
The biggest exception? The United States, which has the highest religiosity relative to its wealth on the planet.
http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2010/09/religions-correlation-with-poverty/