Gregory Paul and Phil Zuckerman have investigated this question by teasing out correlations like this. Their conclusion, as discussed in [1] and [2] is that thr

Gregory Paul and Phil Zuckerman have investigated this question by teasing out correlations like this. Their conclusion, as discussed in [1] and [2] is that three factors correlate well with a drop in religiosity: (a) egalitarianism (i.e. not being in a rat race against the Joneses and also not suffering the lifelong indignity of being substantially less well off than others), (b) freedom from financial and other catastrophes (as provided by a socialistic-leaning society) which does away with the need for a Big Brother to help you out and correct the injustices, and (c) education as you suggest. Education is helpful but the other two factors apparently rank above it. [1] http://www.epjournal.net/articles/the-chronic-dependence-of-popular-religiosity-upon-dysfunctional-psychosociological-conditions/ http://www.epjournal.net/articles/the-chronic-dependence-of-... [2] http://edge.org/3rd_culture/paul07/paul07_index.html http://edge.org/3rd_culture/paul07/paul07_index.html