Dr. Rodney Stark, in his book America's Blessings (published by Templeton Press), attempts to correlate religiosity with crime in Chapter Two. He offers Table 2.1 as evidence that crime in irreligious Western Europe exceeds crime in the mostly Christian US. In looking at this table, it seems clear, according to Dr. Stark, that crime rates are indeed lower in the mostly religious US than in irreligious Europe. To exemplify this, Dr. Stark tabulates UNODC data in the categories he offers (burglary, theft and assault), where US crime numbers are always shown at the bottom of each category. So far so good it seems, yet, there are serious problems with his analysis.
The first problem with Dr. Stark's analysis, is that he fails to tabulate the crimes of rape and robbery (which are a part of the UNODC date set). Why is that, since these are both violent crimes (you'll discover the answer)? Nor does he show the same nation's crime statistics for each crime category. He also fails to offer the caveat listed by the UNODC regarding the use of these data (which is shown below). Why not?
Dr. Stark never tabulates homicide (much higher in the US) because he believes it to be under-reported in Europe. No data for his assertion of under reporting are offered.
It is my contention that Dr. Stark, in his Table 2.1, has cherry picked from the UNODC data set to make the deceptive point that crime and religiosity correlate. They do no such thing using UNODC data!
The Templeton Press website offers the following virtues of Sir John Templeton (copied from their site) with explanation:
Honesty, thrift, forgiveness, kindness, humility, joy, love, self
reliance, altruism, perseverance, creativity, curiosity, generosity,
gratitude, and purpose are but some of the qualities that Templeton
Press explores in our ever-expanding Virtues publishing list.
Our founder, Sir John Templeton,
believed that these virtues were universal truths. Though they had all
been taught by the many world religions for hundreds of years, he sought
to find evidence of their usefulness through rigorous scientific and
statistical research funded by his John Templeton Foundation.
I sincerely believe that Dr. Stark's data were not presented honestly in Table 2.1 of his book America's Blessings and to show this I offer the following:
The first table below was created from Dr. Stark's book America's Blessings. The second table was created using UNODC data for nations with complete data for the year 2010 which include rape and robbery (not included by Dr. Stark). Caveats are shown. Approximate national religiosity data are also included (Dr. Stark failed to offer this).
Please come to your own conclusions.
America's Blessings by Rodney Stark |
|
Table 2.1. | |
Comparing American and Western European Crime Rates (2008) | |
Burglaries per 100,000 Population | |
Denmark | 1715 |
Austria | 1203 |
Switzerland | 1147 |
UK | 1068 |
Sweden | 1024 |
Belgium | 849 |
Netherlands | 738 |
USA | 713 |
Thefts per 100,000 Population | |
Sweden | 4256 |
Denmark | 3483 |
UK | 3013 |
Norway | 2647 |
Germany | 2399 |
Finland | 2266 |
USA | 2114 |
Assaults per 100,000 Population | |
Sweden | 919 |
UK | 770 |
Belgium | 697 |
Finland | 656 |
Germany | 630 |
Ireland | 389 |
Netherlands | 361 |
Portugal | 314 |
France | 303 |
USA | 268 |
Source: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime 2009. |
The following Table was created using 2010 crime data from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)
https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/data-and-analysis/statistics/crime.html
"Please note that when using the figures, any cross-national comparisons should be conducted with caution because of the differences that exist between the legal definitions of offenses in countries, or the different methods of offense counting and recording."
* Changes in definitions and/or counting rules are reported by the Member State to indicate a break in the time series.
"The Religiosity Index is a measure of the importance of religion for respondents and their self-reported attendance of religious services. For religions in which attendance at services is limited, care must be used in interpreting the data. (Gallup WorldView) In 2006, 2007, and 2008, Gallup asked representative samples in 143 countries and territories whether religion was an important part of their daily lives. Based on the results, the Table shows religiosity by country, ranging from the least religious to the most religious on a relative basis. Data from 2009 Gallup poll."
Please compare the following table's crime and religiosity data with those of Stark's Table 2.1.
Assault | Rape | Robbery | Theft | Burglary | ||||||||||
Country | Religiosity | Incidence | Country | Religiosity | Incidence | Country | Religiosity | Incidence | Country | Religiosity | Incidence | Country | Religiosity | Incidence |
Sweden | 17 | 936.6 | Sweden | 17 | 63.5 | Belgium | 33 | 1723.2 | Netherlands | 25 | 3985 | Denmark | 18 | 1742.4 |
Belgium | 33 | 723.8 | Belgium | 33 | 29.1 | Spain | 50 | 1146 | Sweden | 17 | 3923 | New Zealand | 33 | 1358.1 |
UK | 27 | 655 | UK | 27 | 28 | Chile | 70 | 477.2 | Denmark | 18 | 3443.3 | Austria | 55 | 1054.5 |
Germany | 41 | 626.8 | USA | 65 | 27.6 | Trinidad and Tobago | 92 | 381.9 | New Zealand | 33 | 2677.1 | Sweden | 17 | 988.5 |
Israel | 50 | 620.2 | New Zealand | 33 | 25.8 | France | 30 | 192.8 | Norway* | 21 | 2594.4 | Netherlands | 25 | 965.3 |
Finland | 28 | 616.3 | Norway* | 21 | 19.2 | Portugal | 72 | 191.5 | UK | 27 | 2539 | UK | 27 | 933 |
Republic of Korea | 33 | 606.7 | France | 30 | 16.1 | UK | 27 | 136 | Finland | 28 | 2269.5 | Belgium | 33 | 898.7 |
Netherlands | 25 | 362.9 | Finland | 28 | 15.2 | USA | 65 | 118.9 | Germany | 41 | 2227.5 | Switzerland* | 42 | 812.1 |
Ireland | 54 | 336.4 | Israel | 50 | 13.8 | Russian Federation | 33 | 115.1 | Belgium | 33 | 2195.2 | Greece | 72 | 711.8 |
France | 30 | 307.2 | Ireland | 54 | 10.7 | Sweden | 17 | 98.3 | USA | 65 | 1999 | USA | 65 | 698.6 |
Portugal | 72 | 288.7 | Austria | 55 | 10.4 | Netherlands | 25 | 96.9 | Austria | 55 | 1795.7 | Chile | 70 | 668.5 |
New Zealand | 33 | 257.8 | Republic of Moldova | 72 | 10.3 | Canada | 42 | 89.6 | Canada | 42 | 1597 | Macedonia | 79 | 650.3 |
USA | 65 | 251.9 | Netherlands | 25 | 9.9 | Ireland | 54 | 71.5 | Switzerland* | 42 | 1560.3 | Slovenia | 47 | 644.7 |
Denmark | 18 | 191 | Germany | 41 | 9.4 | Denmark | 18 | 60.7 | Ireland | 54 | 1463.5 | Canada | 42 | 578.4 |
Czech Republic | 21 | 172.2 | Switzerland* | 42 | 7.1 | Germany | 41 | 58.5 | Slovenia | 47 | 1441.4 | Ireland | 54 | 568.7 |
Canada | 42 | 163 | Chile | 70 | 6.8 | Switzerland* | 42 | 57.5 | Hungary | 39 | 1344.2 | Czech Republic | 21 | 560 |
Hungary | 39 | 145.6 | Trinidad and Tobago | 92 | 6.7 | New Zealand | 33 | 57 | France | 30 | 1218.2 | France | 30 | 516 |
Chile | 70 | 130.1 | Denmark | 18 | 6.2 | Greece | 72 | 53.5 | Czech Republic | 21 | 1203.8 | Israel | 50 | 480.1 |
Algeria | 93 | 116.7 | Czech Republic | 21 | 5.6 | Austria | 55 | 51.3 | Chile | 70 | 1093 | Portugal | 72 | 474.4 |
Hong Kong | 23 | 107.8 | Romania | 84 | 4.2 | Poland | 75 | 50.6 | Greece | 72 | 1043.4 | Germany | 41 | 467.8 |
Slovenia | 47 | 107.5 | Poland | 75 | 4.1 | Bulgaria | 34 | 49.9 | Israel | 50 | 975.2 | Hungary | 39 | 443.2 |
Tajikistan | 85 | 79.8 | Portugal | 72 | 4 | Israel | 50 | 39.2 | Portugal | 72 | 890.5 | Norway* | 21 | 436.2 |
Greece | 72 | 67.2 | Russian Federation | 33 | 3.4 | Czech Republic | 21 | 38.3 | Russian Federation | 33 | 775.3 | Spain | 50 | 434.9 |
Norway* | 21 | 60 | Spain | 50 | 3.4 | Serbia | 51 | 36.7 | Croatia | 67 | 683.7 | Croatia | 67 | 419 |
Romania | 84 | 57.3 | Cyprus | 75 | 3.3 | Norway* | 21 | 34.5 | Bulgaria | 34 | 673.6 | Trinidad and Tobago | 92 | 391.8 |
Spain | 50 | 54.4 | Singapore | 70 | 3.2 | Hungary | 39 | 34 | Japan | 24 | 559.1 | Poland | 75 | 366 |
Trinidad and Tobago | 92 | 45.9 | Croatia | 67 | 3.2 | Macedonia | 79 | 29.3 | Poland | 75 | 532.7 | Finland | 28 | 346.3 |
Slovakia | 47 | 44.4 | Slovenia | 47 | 3.1 | Croatia | 67 | 28.3 | Slovakia | 47 | 447.9 | Bulgaria | 34 | 320.3 |
Japan | 24 | 44.4 | Bulgaria | 34 | 2.8 | Finland | 28 | 28.1 | Republic of Moldova | 72 | 381.9 | Cyprus | 75 | 292.8 |
Austria | 55 | 43 | Hungary | 39 | 2.5 | Slovenia | 47 | 22.8 | Singapore | 70 | 359 | Slovakia | 47 | 270.6 |
Bulgaria | 34 | 40.5 | Kenya | 94 | 2.3 | Slovakia | 47 | 21.7 | Spain | 50 | 313.9 | Russian Federation | 33 | 249.3 |
Kenya | 94 | 34.7 | Slovakia | 47 | 2.1 | Montenegro | 46 | 21.7 | Trinidad and Tobago | 92 | 304 | Republic of Korea | 33 | 226.1 |
Montenegro | 46 | 30.6 | Greece | 72 | 1.9 | Cyprus | 75 | 14.1 | Macedonia | 79 | 237.6 | Montenegro | 46 | 218.7 |
Russian Federation | 33 | 27.8 | Canada | 42 | 1.7 | Romania | 84 | 11.6 | Romania | 84 | 227.3 | Serbia | 51 | 154 |
Croatia | 67 | 22.4 | Hong Kong | 23 | 1.6 | Armenia | 73 | 11.5 | Hong Kong | 23 | 209.6 | Republic of Moldova | 72 | 126.6 |
Singapore | 70 | 20 | Macedonia | 79 | 1.4 | Hong Kong | 23 | 11 | Serbia | 51 | 161.4 | Japan | 24 | 107.9 |
Cyprus | 75 | 15.7 | Japan | 24 | 1 | Singapore | 70 | 10.2 | Cyprus | 75 | 151.3 | Armenia | 73 | 78.4 |
Serbia | 51 | 14.1 | Indonesia | 99 | 0.9 | Republic of Korea | 33 | 9.2 | Algeria | 93 | 144 | Romania | 84 | 78 |
Indonesia | 99 | 13.3 | Algeria | 93 | 0.9 | Albania | 33 | 7.4 | Albania | 33 | 124.1 | Tajikistan | 85 | 69.3 |
Macedonia | 79 | 12 | Tajikistan | 85 | 0.8 | Kenya | 94 | 7 | Armenia | 73 | 118.5 | Hong Kong | 23 | 64.4 |
Republic of Moldova | 72 | 11.6 | Montenegro | 46 | 0.8 | Republic of Moldova | 72 | 5.2 | Montenegro | 46 | 83.9 | Algeria | 93 | 24.6 |
Switzerland* | 42 | 6.4 | Albania | 33 | 0.7 | Indonesia | 99 | 4.1 | Tajikistan | 85 | 52 | Indonesia | 99 | 22.4 |
Albania | 33 | 5.6 | Serbia | 51 | 0.7 | Tajikistan | 85 | 3.6 | Kenya | 94 | 30 | Singapore | 70 | 16.1 |
Armenia | 73 | 5 | Armenia | 73 | 0.4 | Japan | 24 | 3.2 | Indonesia | 99 | 10.2 | Albania | 33 | 7.2 |
Poland | 75 | 1.4 | Republic of Korea | 33 | Algeria | 93 | 0.9 | Republic of Korea | 33 | 10.2 | Kenya | 94 | 4.4 |