Poor Little Church...or: How i learned to stop enjoying the bus ride and start counting things

[nova_42]

I took an unusual bus rid the other day.

For reasons that aren't all that important to the context of this post, I had to go to a part of Columbus I don't often visit. Taking the bus from downtown, I noticed a rather large number of churches in the poorest neighborhoods. They seem even more common in the ghetto than liquor stores. So on the return

Comments

[rhonan]

There is a racial component too. You will usually find the highest concentration of churches and prayer rooms in areas with a large population of poor African-Americans.

[nova_42]

Very true, I was kind of debating whether or not to include race at all. I made a conscious effort not to include race because of the biological stand point that there is no "race", except homo Sapian

[greeneyedsadie]

Here in farm country California there are far more storefront Latino churches than black churches. Then again most of the black people in my town are connected to the AFB and are therefore not poor.

I have seen an anecdotal correlation between poverty and religion, but then you have the opposite, and you have the middle class white evangelicals.

Maybe there should be some study of intelligence and religiosity. I'd be interested to see the findings.

[nova_42]

Maybe there should be some study of intelligence and religiosity. I'd be interested to see the findings.

this would be my thoughts exactly.

[jdack]

Seems like the more desperate people are the more willingly they turn to faith.

Also, lack of education often leads to lack of financial success and it perpetuates an endless cycle of poverty, especially when no one helps them.

So maybe not so much intelligence as education and opportunities.

[nova_42]

think i would agree with you...I tend to blame religion for helping that cycle to continue, or at least failing to do anything that slows it down.