Religious diversity may be caused by disease

An article from the most recent Economist. It reads a little like its from the April 1st edition.

"Mr Fincher and his colleague Randy Thornhill wondered if disease might be driving important aspects of human social behaviour, too. Their hypothesis is that in places where disease is rampant, it behoves groups not to mix with one another more than is strictly necessary, in order to reduce the risk of contagion. They therefore predict that patterns of behaviour which promote group exclusivity will be stronger in disease-ridden areas. Since religious differences are certainly in that category, they specifically predict that the number of different religions in a place will vary with the disease load."

Anyway you can read it and weep (or laugh here)-

http://www.economist.com/science/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11839270