“Poor man goes to heaven and rich man goes to hell”, preached the passionate pastor at the Sunday mass. Sitting in the Jesus Evangelistic Mission Chapel, I noticed how the minimalist church received rich donations from attendees ranging from 6-month-old babies to 70-year olds. People who looked like they did not have the means to buy their next meal were coughing up Le 10,000 (little over $1) at every round of collection. Having lived in West Africa for a few months now, it is difficult to overlook the extent of influence that religion has on the society here. From posters to playlists, the Abrahamic gods get featured everywhere. In regions where traditional religions survived the colonial wave, voodoo, black magic and other forms of belief guide the way.

For a country with almost 70% of the population below the poverty line, it seemed rather intriguing that people turned to religion for hope and better life, rather than the government. It got me wondering if there is a correlation between religiosity and poverty.

The Telegraph recently mapped out the world’s most and least religious countries in the world. I did a side by side comparison of the GDP and the corruption perception index for the 10 most religious countries:

Country	*GDP (in $)	**Corruption Index (rank)
Ethiopa	80 billion	107
Malawi	6 billion	122
Niger	8 billion	112
Sri Lanka	87 billion	91
Yemen	18 billion	175
Burundi	3 billion	157
Djibouti	2 billion	122
Mauritiana	5 billion	143
Somalia	7 billion	180
Afghanistan	20 billion	177

Comparing that with the list of 10 least religious countries:

Country	*GDP (in $)	**Corruption Index (rank)
China	12 trillion	77
Japan	4 trillion	20
Estonia	25 billion	21
Sweden	538 billion	6
Norway	399 billion	3
Czech Republic	216 billion	42
Hongkong	341 billion	13
Netherlands	826 billion	8
Israel	351 billion	32
UK	3 trillion	8

*Based on World Bank Data

**Sourced from Corruptive Perception Index, 2017 (Transparency International)

The overarching trend seems to be that poorer countries with corrupt institutions are also characterized by greater religiosity. On the other hand, the 10 least religious countries have larger GDPs and are characterized by relatively lower levels of corruption.  What could link together these moving pieces? One potential explanation could be that there are lack of adequate safety nets and opportunities in low GDP countries. Hence, people have no real scope for upward mobility and rely on religion for comfort. Doom and gloom predictions about the trials and tribulations that humanity will face may help some people attribute a higher purpose to their suffering, explaining it as “part of God’s ultimate plan.”

Furthermore, these local religious institutions may also provide for people’s basic needs through free childcare programs, food pantries, and clothing drives, contributing to a greater sense of faith.

However, these top-level observations cannot be taken at face value. There are undoubtedly more complex mechanisms at play linking faith, state behavior and economic growth. That said, it is interesting to note these patterns for what it is worth.

These observations pose some deeper, yet fascinating questions: Is faith relevant only as long as material possessions are missing? Does government have the capacity and ability to ‘play god’ for all practical purposes of assuring human safety and well-being?

Who has the answers………god knows!