Wrath!

I think I can scoop Strange Maps for once. Wired posts these infographics of what Kansas State geographers consider maps of the 7 Deadly sins. (Red is sinnier, Yellow is more good)

Greed
Average income compared with number of people living below the poverty line.


Envy
Total thefts (robbery, burglary, larceny, and grand theft auto) per capita.


Wrath
Number of violent crimes (murder, assault, and rape) per capita.


Sloth
Expenditures on art, entertainment, and recreation compared with employment.


Gluttony
Number of fast-food restaurants per capita.


Lust
Number of STD cases reported per capita.


Pride
Aggregate of the other six offenses—because pride is the root of all sin.

So this is sort of a cool little thought experiment, but the methodology doesn't seem right for all of these. Greed, envy, wrath, and lust make sense. But what is the deal with gluttony? Aren't we one of the fattest countries? Why didn't they just do obesity rates? I'm pretty sure there should be more gluttony. And I don't really agree with the criteria for sloth. They should have done something a bit more sloth-related than entertainment spending. How about density of delivery restaurants, or cable subscriptions versus income? Not to mention the laziness of just making Pride the composite one. It would have been better to just use Porsche ownership or bloggers per capita. Not bad though.

As usual, those hypocrites in the bible belt stick out as the region least able to live by the rules they're always telling us we don't follow...

Kansas State University Geography/USACE