Alabama Mayor Fights Crime with Bibles
I found this blog that compares Birmingham, AL with Madison, WI, two cities roughly equal in size and population:
CBNNews.com
April 4, 2008
One Alabama mayor is turning to God's Word to solve the skyrocketing murder rates in his city.
Birmingham Mayor Larry Langford has been accused of not doing enough to fight crime. But he argues the city doesn't need more police officers, but more of God.
Langford is holding a family summit April 4, where he will hand out 5,000 bibles in English and Spanish.
"I'm gonna give you something far better than a gun to protect yourself with. I'm gonna give you the word of God," Langford said. "He is the only source of protection you've got. I make no apologies for it. I serve a good God and I'm glad He found me."
Langford thanked The 700 Club and its partners for helping to provide the bibles.
He said that if the people of Birmingham and the nation would put Christ first, there wouldn't be all the troubled families and crime-ridden cities across America.
I found this blog that compares Birmingham, AL with Madison, WI, two cities roughly equal in size and population:
There are 1332 churches listed in the “SuperPages” for Birmingham, Alabama.
There are 229,424 people in Birmingham, AL according to Wikipedia.
There are 311 churches in listed in the “SuperPages” for Madison, WI.
There are 223,389 people in Madison, WI according to Wikipedia.
Birmingham, Alabama and Madison, Wisconsin are roughly the same size cities according to Wikipedia and yet the difference in number of churches according to SuperPages is roughly 1000! Not a scientific comparison, but a rough one that serves a purpose.
Now, what is the comparison of crime between the two cities?
Actual Reported Population and Crimes:
Birmingham, AL Madison, WI
Population: 233,577 222,364
Murder: 104 4
Forcible Rape: 220 64
Robbery: 1429 434
Aggravated Assault: 1422 471
Burglary: 4813 1619
Larceny Theft: 12113 5404
Vehicle Theft: 2081 475
Conclusion: Bibles and religion aren’t working.
This is neither, just by looking at the demographics for both cities.
To be scientific about it, you have to consider that this may be a fluke. The data may be misleading, and as such this area could use further study. In any case this does show a disturbing tendency between the number of churches and the high crime rate. This is also an area that could use further study. Perhaps if the churches were removed, the crime rate would go down? I'm not nearly pompous or self-deluded to know that I hold the answer to that question, but certainly a consensus could be reached, and maybe the experiment could be tried.
After all, if we try it and we're right, Birmingham gains everything and if we try it and wrong, Birmingham stays the same.