Churches provide services where the government does not. I read a journal that said "Recent empirical research has demonstrated that countries with higher levels of religiosity are characterized by greater income inequality."
If we were to close some of the gap with income inequality- and the government provided more services to people- what would be the effect on churches and religion?
That's a good point. It probably would be less religious if that were the case. Too many churches that will help you out with food and shelter but will have a catch like having you listen to a sermon or something. People who don't know better and need the help start to think that god is good. If the government did more to fill this role, perhaps more people wouldn't credit religion for helping them.
It has been shown the biggest thing cutting the effect of religon is a national healthcare plan. People no longer feel the need for an invisible diety to preserve their health when they have a tangible program.