A law professor and associate professor of geography set out to create the most comprehensive map of U.S. payday lenders to date. What they found, to their surprise, was “a surprising relationship between populations of Christian conservatives and the proliferation of payday lenders.” And it’s not a side effect of a poor population that happens to be Christian, according to the authors: “Our research showed that the correlation between payday lenders and the political power of conservative Christians was stronger than the correlation between payday lenders and the proportion of a population living below the poverty line.”
Here are a couple of screen grabs from Google Earth—you can download and view the maps yourself if you want to explore them.
The authors speculate that this may be the sad after-effect of a political deal-with-the-devil a couple of decades ago—after all, Christianity has historically been against usury:
Peterson, who also holds an appointment at the University of Florida, Fredric G. Levin College of Law, said he believes part of the explanation for their findings lies in politics. “When the Christian Right allied itself with conservative Wall Street business interests in the 1980s and early ’90s, consumer protection law was placed to the side as an inconvenient sticking point. The laws allowing an astonishing number of triple-digit-interest-rate lenders throughout most of the Christian South and Mormon West are a legacy of that political alliance.
(Thanks to Mike!)
“U of U Professor Coauthors Study Mapping Correlation Between Christian Right, Payday Lenders” [S.J. Quinney College of Law - University of Utah]
RELATED
Interactive data maps [California State University Northridge]
“Usury Law and the Christian Right: Faith Based Political Power and the Geography of the American Payday Loan Regulation” [SSRN]
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While in no way would I, nor am I, comparing Payday Loans conmen and the Ku Klux Klan (since many victims of Payday Loan scams are black), there seems to be the same gullibility in the rabidly christian poor and those who sided with the KKK in the past.
The poor thought the KKK and Payday Loans were helping when in fact the loaners and politically connected were in bed and helping each other.
One thing I don’t understand about this crap is why employers don’t provide advances to low wage employees. Since it’s money already earned, why can’t the employer loan it in advance without interest?
And if we’re talking about people on welfare, why don’t the banks offer short term loans for small amounts to people with accounts at their banks for at least two years? It would eliminate a lot of such legalized thievery.
Georgia and North Carolina are not included because both states make payday loans illegal.
@robtbork: its illegal in NC. Have no idea about GA.
I think there’s more of a correlation between the politics of de-regulation in these states, albeit the de-regulation advocates then to draw their support from Christian evangelicals.
But I will say that my family’s business when I was growing up noticed that people who pay with checks that have the little Jesus fish logo on them were more likely to write hot checks. I saw this in effect, especially among people who have Jesus fish on their checks and wanted NET-30 or NET-60 payments (get the product, then pay within 30 or 60 days without interest — a courtesy to regular retail customers). They type of product the business sold was likely to end up in gift shops in Red States, so we would get a lot of “Jesus fish” checks. (Not a majority of the checks, but a noticeable amount of them.)
Our theory was that people so into Christianity that they would advertise their faith as logos on their checks were more likely to run their businesses under the business model that “the Lord will come through for you in a pinch”. Subsequently, they were more likely to write a check for something in hopes the funds would be available when the check is cashed.
Obviously you don’t need to be a evangelical to engage in such irresponsible behavior, nor do all evangelical business people engage in this habit. But numbers don’t lie, and a disproportional amount of “Jesus fish” checks that bounced.
I guess some Christians have forgotten the concept that God helps those than help themselves, which to me, a Godless heathen, sounds suspiciously tautological: if you help yourself do you really need God’s “intervention”?.
To those that suggest that there’s anti-Christian animus in this conversation, keep in mind that it’s our hostility to organized religion intruding in the public sphere – a feeling our Founding Fathers also had – that is the real target of our ire.
Religion’s a great thing, kept inside the home. The problem is, of course, the Bible Thumpers can’t seem to embrace this American concept.
You cram it down others’ throats, you legislate based on it in a punitive, non-Christlike fashion, you leap on your soapbox pointing fingers while selectively choosing which snips are “relevant”, then so as you reap, you sow.
So to speak.
@Trai_Dep: So it’s OK then to insult ALL Christians in posts that are meant to target only the hypocritical jackasses that try to “cram religion down your throat”. Somehow, that doesn’t make much sense to me.
How is that stereotyping better than any other?
@Trai_Dep: So for one to insult Christians as a whole is OK because there are some hypocritical jackasses?
So this is an OK stereotype, then? I guess so. I doubt the ACLU will be leaping to the rescue of the Fundamental Christian Right anytime soon.
Arrg. Sorry for the double post. I thought 5-ish minutes would be enough, I guess not. I had a post get eaten the other day, so I’m a bit on guard.
Until the good Christians rise up and denounce the Rome-genuflecting and temple-money-changing ones, yes. In a word. If evil hypocrites stole my religion in the name of their own personal power, I’d be at the barricades. By falling silent, by allowing them to act in my faith’s name, I’d be as bad as they were.
I certainly wouldn’t be offended if others blamed me for the horrible things done by a sect that got out of control while I sat on my hands.
Don’t like being compared, do something about it. Or take your lumps.
@Trai_Dep: Wow. That’s the best you can do? The “good” Christians should roundly denounce the “bad” Christians? Then, wouldn’t they be doing the same thing they would be denouncing the “bad” guys for? Telling them how to live their lives and practice their religion? Kinda a conundrum, isn’t it? Not to mention, if that was universally practiced, I’d wager that the world would be a MUCH happier place. So good luck with that. So, by your logic, it’s OK for me to call all Muslims terrorists? That’s for the green-light.
And by the way, I’m not offended, I guess it bothers me when I hear people making statements like the ones I’ve been reading here, because it is those same folks that are the first to start making statements about the gubmint being unjust to “brown people” when there is even a hint of racial profiling while air traveling (for example). Seems kinda hypocritical (to bring my point full-circle).
This just proves that religion and politics don’t and shouldn’t be mixed.
@Peeved Guy: When I said “That’s for the green-light.”, I meant, Thanks for the green light.
@BookbagNinja: How so? I’m specifically directing my comment to those who feel the burning need to criticize a large section of society based on the actions of a few.
@Trai_Dep: You seem to get upset by people forcing their beliefs upon you but it is OK for you to force your beliefs?
Religion is a system of beliefs. Atheism too is a belief system. Hence, atheism is a form of religion and should be treated as such.
I find it funny when people lable another group and say ‘they believe this’ when in reality you know nothing about the other group.
Just an FYI for some of you: most religous people believe in evolution and see the bible as a book of parables. Yes, since the book was written by those with the power of the time, gays were not treated well by said book. And most people who have a religion or simply believe in some form of God know this and do not pay attention to it. It is more for the stories of being charitable, kind, etc.
The big bang theory was proposed by a Roman Catholic priest. Hmmm. Guess they are not a bunch of bumpkins after all.
@tozmervo:
Read the study. (the last link the SSRN link [papers.ssrn.com])
The colors on that map do NOT correspond to the “Christian Power Index,” they are for rankings of the number of payday lenders. Thus the things being compared on the overlay map are the number of payday lenders…vs the number of payday lenders.
Look on page 29 of the PDF. There’s your correlation.
Also, in the first few pages, they explain the CPI. It doesn’t sound perfect, but it isn’t complete bullshit.
As a representative of payday lenders, I wanted to let you know about this press release recently released by the industry:
Payday lenders called a new study that claims to have “conclusive proof that conservative Christian Americans are a prime demographic target of the payday lending industry” preposterous.
This study, “Usury Law and the Christian Right,” comes on the heels of prior allegations that payday lenders locate in communities with high populations of military, women, Hispanics, the elderly, African Americans, recent immigrants, young people, Native Americans, social security recipients, veterans, the poor and households with a median annual income of $48,000. A recent BusinessWeek article said payday lenders are now targeting more affluent neighborhoods.
Analysts estimate that 19 million U.S. households used a payday loan in 2006.
“Our industry has been accused of ‘targeting’ the military, minorities, women, immigrants, the elderly, the poor, the middle-class and now conservative Christians,” said Darrin Andersen, president of the Community Financial Services Association of America. “Who’s left? This is preposterous.”
“The only common denominator is that our customers are people with steady sources of income and bank accounts who sometimes have unexpected or unbudgeted expenses that require cash between paychecks. Our customers are reasonable people who appreciate having an lower cost option that allows them to avoid bouncing checks or accruing late or overdraft protection fees,” Andersen added.
“While critics of the industry assign labels to our customers in an attempt to further their political agendas, the fact is that we provide services to a broad cross section of Americans because there is a broad demand for the financial service we provide,” said Andersen. “Our customers represent a broad demographic segment and cannot be grouped based on race, sex or religion.”
Sharing the payday lending industry response to the study…
NEWS FLASH: Payday Lending Industry Apparently Targets Everyone
Research Demonstrates Payday Lending Customers Can’t be Labeled
WASHINGTON, DC – Payday lenders called a new study that claims to have “conclusive proof that conservative Christian Americans are a prime demographic target of the payday lending industry” preposterous.
This study, “Usury Law and the Christian Right,” comes on the heels of prior allegations that payday lenders locate in communities with high populations of military, women, Hispanics, the elderly, African Americans, recent immigrants, young people, Native Americans, social security recipients, veterans, the poor and households with a median annual income of $48,000. A recent BusinessWeek article said payday lenders are now targeting more affluent neighborhoods.
Analysts estimate that 19 million U.S. households used a payday loan in 2006.
“Our industry has been accused of ‘targeting’ the military, minorities, women, immigrants, the elderly, the poor, the middle-class and now conservative Christians,” said Darrin Andersen, president of the Community Financial Services Association of America. “Who’s left? This is preposterous.”
“The only common denominator is that our customers are people with steady sources of income and bank accounts who sometimes have unexpected or unbudgeted expenses that require cash between paychecks. Our customers are reasonable people who appreciate having an lower cost option that allows them to avoid bouncing checks or accruing late or overdraft protection fees,” Andersen added.
“While critics of the industry assign labels to our customers in an attempt to further their political agendas, the fact is that we provide services to a broad cross section of Americans because there is a broad demand for the financial service we provide,” said Andersen. “Our customers represent a broad demographic segment and cannot be grouped based on race, sex or religion.”
Andersen said the recent report by Christopher Peterson and Steven Graves, which purports to show that payday advance businesses target Christians, was little more than, “advocacy masquerading as scholarship,” and questioned what accusations the industry might face next from opponents of consumer choice in financial services.
The report’s methodology, logic and conclusions were also called into question. Rather than empirically identifying people of faith, it constructs a ‘Christian Power Index,’ compares the number of payday advance locations with coffee shops and fast food restaurants, relies on ‘Bible Belt’ stereotypes and fails to account for the popularity of payday advances in states that do not fit the authors’ preconceived conclusion, including California, Ohio, Montana and elsewhere.
Andersen said that research shows payday advance customers to be middle-income, educated, working families, more than half earning between $25,000 and $50,000 annually, 58 percent having attended college, and one in five having a bachelor’s degree. He added that payday advance customers are not the “un-banked”, as 100% have a checking account at a credit union or bank, but turn to payday lenders for low dollar short-term credit needs.
They’re reaping what the money changers sowed.