Religion and Societal Health

A few months ago, I linked to a paper, "Cross-National Correlations of Quantifiable Social Health with Popular Religiosity and Secularity in the Prosperous Democracies," published in the Journal of Religion and Society," which concluded that (among other things), "[i]n general, higher rates of belief in and worship of a creator correlate with higher rates of homicide, juvenile and early adult mortality, STD infection rates, teen pregnancy, and abortion in the prosperous democracies."  Also:  "The widely held fear that a Godless citizenry must experience societal disaster is therefore refuted. Contradicting these conclusions requires demonstrating a positive link between theism and societal conditions in the first world with a similarly large body of data - a doubtful possibility in view of the observable trends." 

Here, in the latest issue of Touchstone Magazine, is an essay by George Gallup, Jr.,responding to the study.  (Here is a link to another interesting response and critique of the study.)