So much for Family Values: Red States underperform Blue states

Via Dispatches comes this study comparing red and blue states in various categories: health care, education, out-of-wedlock births, murder, and divorce. Shock of shocks, the evil liberal blue states outperform the family-values consevative red states.

"By almost any measure of societal breakdown that so-called Republican 'values voters' decry, it is Red State America where moral failure is greatest."

I found the educational trend particularly disturbing. While there is room to critcize some of the measures used, I've done my own study of blue vs red states on educational achievement (HS diploma, undergrad, graduate degree, etc.) and found a very strong correlation in favor of the blue states.

And gee willy, what social trend do you suppose best indicates this nonvalued Republicanism?

"If the Republican electoral map closely correlates with social dysfunction, it is frequent church attendance which strongly predicts Republican party preference."

You don't say? So just like the rest of the world, the data by state shows the canard that belief in gods gives one a moral edge over those that don't is complete nonsense. Once you stop theorizing and look at the actual data, the pattern is decidedly the opposite of that: more religiousity means MORE sin, not less.