If poverty prevails, so does religion. At least that’s the conventional wisdom. So, if that relationship holds, shouldn’t religion be a larger part of Mainers’ lives than it is?
According to polling by Gallup, Maine is the third least religious state in the union. Only Maine’s fellow northern New Englanders in Vermont and New Hampshire register less decisively in God’s camp. In Maine, just 25 percent of the population said religion is an important part of daily life. Compare that with 59 percent of Mississippi’s residents.
But Maine isn’t exactly a wealthy state, so what gives? According to biopsychologist Nigel Barber, Maine’s overall level of development (measures such as health, education and income that contribute to overall quality of life) places it about in the middle of pack in the U.S. Mississippi’s rank? 50.
In addition, “religion is weakened by having a small African American population, given that African Americans are more religious,” Barber writes in a piece for Huffington Post.
“Indeed, the proportion of African Americans is one of the strongest predictors of a state’s religiosity and it is no accident that Mississippi, the most religious state, also has the most African Americans. As to why African Americans are more religious, historians would point out that the church played a central part in the civic life of the community due to disenfranchisement but that argument is not so compelling today given the election of an African American president.
“In my paper, I show that the greater religiosity of states with a large proportion of African Americans is explainable in terms of stress (measured as high blood pressure) and racism (location in the South).
“Mississippi is a lot more religious than Maine because it has a lot more African Americans in the population (37 percent compared to 1 percent), as well as because it is poorer.”
Read the rest of Barber’s piece on Huffington Post.