Religious people are more moral.
So are totalitarian states! In fact this was one of the debating points for communist dictators and most nondemocratic governments. They point at their streets absolutely proud of their lack of crime and point at our crime ridden America. I just shrug my shoulders and say... "Hey freedom sometimes comes at a price." Freedom from mental totalitarianism ALSO comes at a price. Someone who believes that a giant, invisible pink bunny rabbit is following him and watching what he's doing will certainly act more moral but he's living a fraud, a lie, a mental delusion. Maybe his delusion is better for society but the ideals behind the USA are truth, honesty and liberty - his potential poor behavior is a necessary payment for freedom from intelligence usurping religious indoctrination.
Beware ye of little sins.
But ARE Christians more moral? I found that my ethics actually improved once I dropped the arbitrary and irrational rules of Christianity. The problem is... "Beware ye of little sins.". I would be incapable of following the insanely stringent rules of Matt 5-7 and I was thoroughly confused as to whether I was supposed to follow the laws of the Old Testament. Oops, I looked with lust at a woman. Wait, you mean the Sabbath is on Saturday - have I been committing sin? I called the police, am I resisting evil? Should I be drinking milk with steak? You see the problem here is all the irrational, religious rules are mixed up with real, secular ethics like "don't steal, don't lie, respect the lives and property of others". What this means is that you end up brooding over what a sinner you are and realizing that you will never, ever be able to follow the rules... SO WHY BOTHER? Just go ahead and do what you have to do and ask forgiveness! This is very dangerous and maybe why the next paragraph is so true.
The biggest thieves I've ever known were fundamentalists.
Yes, a lawyer who went to church with my Mom ripped her off for hundreds. The employees I hired who were baptist/reborn Christian ALWAYS ended up stealing from us - sometimes for thousands. These WEREN'T just Christians in name - my Mom and I could talk with any of them at length about the Bible, the churches they attended and Christian doctrine. They would be wildly enthusiastic and 100% correct about their beliefs. Pretty soon we made it a point NEVER to hire from her church and to treat an evangelical Christian with the same type of care as a multiple felon! It's my opinion that Christians get so used to breaking rules and asking forgiveness that taking the next step into stealing and asking forgiveness is really not all that hard.
Christian Bias
Another problem is that Christians ASSUME that if you're committing crimes than you must NOT be a Christian! Totally false: As an example, my wife's friend was a stripper and drug addict who stole and readily engaged in all sorts of deviant sexual acts. She advised my wife not to marry me because I wasn't spiritual enough and would send her emails 'witnessing' to her.
I want to emphasize that atheists are UNDERrepresented in prison.