Many comments are more indicative of the responders' beliefs and what they think the article says, than what it says. The statistics cited do not establish causal links; either that religiosity leads to economic inequality or is caused by it are possible interpretations. There is no reference to this article being connected to Sojourners. Those who give blanket condemnation to government programs, ignore the many that have been helped by them. In the early Christian community (Acts 4: 34), members sold their goods and gave the money to the apostles (the established authority or 'government') who distributed it according to need.

Why are you showing us Sojourners research again, which has questions skewed by Jim Wallis (Obama's new religious geru) to produce support for socialism? This could be considered a rhetorical question, but it's a serious one. I've been collecting similar research for years, and never seen a negative spin like this.

Interesting information. As the Spotlight quotes Froese on political rehortic, is it the same person who also said, "perspective is everything"? Somewhat like watching a baseball game: we all know where the strike zone is , try and find 3 umps who will call balls and strikes the same. Let's keep our eyes on the Lord and His vision for us, and not waste time on "interesting" stats/charts. Unless of course it is serving our God.

Religion and inequality go hand in hand we are told. The more religious the poorer the person, country etc. So what may we conclude from this illustrious piece of research?That the poor should give up on religion? That the religious are lazy loafers? That believers eschew education and are less ambitious? That the faithful look forward to heaven so much that they miss out on all that earth has to offer? Or maybe that the irreligious can lie, cheat, etc. because they neither believe or care about any god? That the wealthy should promote religion because keeping people poor is in their best interest? That maintaining a pool of outcasts and untouchables create a cheap source of labour which is neccesary for a society? Therefore religion is absolutely necessary since without it the poor would have no consolation and the rich would have to look for some other group in society to exploit? Maybe the wealthy should adopt as their motto Jesus words that the poor will always be with us!

The “invisible hand” is God’s hand because the Biblically literate understand that God instructs individuals to give to the poor and not the state. An analysis of the only government God ever created shows that God intended government to be small and unobtrusive. His warnings through Samuel to the Israelis who wanted a king reinforce that.