HuffPo's Most and Least Christian States

[muffynbear]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/2 ... #s=1022627

I'm kind of shocked that my state made the top 10.

[emmiedahl]

My state is one of the least Christian states in the union. Not surprised, but proud.

I live in one of the more religious counties in the state, but I only have to drive 30 minutes to rediscover free thought.

[QAF_Rocks]

California always shows up smack dab in the middle of these polls. My county is a lot less religious than average, though.

The largest group here is "Unclaimed," followed by "Catholic." Those two groups make up 630,747 of the 718,451 people in our county.

[Witsec7]

Ah Boregonia, always among the least religious states. :D

[Koala]

Alabama made #3 w/ 56%. I'm a fish out of water *sigh*

[Peas n carrots]

What you find on this survey is that just because a state is quote on quote 'Christian" does not necessarily make it conservative. Minnesota, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Massachusetts are high on the list, but they trend liberal in national elections. Others you see on there such as Arizona or West Virginia are shown as being some of the least Christian, but they are all very conservative.

I will have to do some more reading of the article on seeing how Christian was defined in the survey.

[pomology]

I'm not surprised that New Jersey is not among the least Christian states because it has a ton of Catholics, but I feel like most Christians here are pretty secularized (I'm not actually sure that word really means what I'm using it to mean when it refers to Christians, but it does when it refers to Jews, which is really my only frame of reference and I can't come up with another word, so I'm keeping it).

[slh12280]

Not surprised that my home state of Vermont ranked 48th. It seems like we have a lot of churches in the area I live, but not many people attend them. Of the Christians we do have I think they are pretty liberal.

[JenniferJuniper]

What you find on this survey is that just because a state is quote on quote 'Christian" does not necessarily make it conservative. Minnesota, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Massachusetts are high on the list, but they trend liberal in national elections. Others you see on there such as Arizona or West Virginia are shown as being some of the least Christian, but they are all very conservative.

I will have to do some more reading of the article on seeing how Christian was defined in the survey.

There are two entirely different slide shows; the one at the top jives with the map and lists Massachusetts as one of the most Christian states while the slide show at the bottom lists Massachusetts as fourth "least religious" state.

So apparently there is some sort of major disconnect between "being Christian" and "being religious". Considering that most "Christians" I know in Massachusetts are actually very casual Catholics, this could be the part of the explanation. Either way, it's a misleading study, and the slide shows keep freezing my damn computer.

[QAF_Rocks]

There are two entirely different slide shows; the one at the top jives with the map and lists Massachusetts as one of the most Christian states while the slide show at the bottom lists Massachusetts as fourth "least religious" state.

So apparently there is some sort of major disconnect between "being Christian" and "being religious". Considering that most "Christians" I know in Massachusetts are actually very casual Catholics, this could be the part of the explanation. Either way, it's a misleading study, and the slide shows keep freezing my damn computer.

I think a lot depends on what group of Christians makes up the majority. A place where the majority of people are fundie/evangelical is going to have a very different feel than a place where the majority are Catholic.

[marmalade]

Ironic that good ole Mississippi ranks #1 here and #50 in education, income and just about every other source of support a person needs to succeed. I won't even get into their backward abortion shit.

Yeah, CA may be middlin', but trust me, anyone I know in my county who professes a religion is not likely Christian. Don't forget that certain areas of the country have huge Jewish populations and this is one of them. Because this is a VERY ethnically diverse area, we have Hindis, Muslims, Buddhists, and, well, just about any religion (or non-religion) that can be identified.

Frankly, I like it that way. How can one learn tolerance if they refuse to interact with people of the faiths? This is not directed solely at Christians; it's the source of too many world conflicts.

[holothuroidea]

So who wants to move to Maine?

pomology, I know what you mean about Jersey being largely Christian but mostly secularized. The large majority of people I know are ECO Catholics (Easter, Christmas and One other day) who use birth control and don't have "traditional" family structures.

[ladypuglover]

:? I see full on fundies every stinking day and I live in one of the least religious states? Am I reading that wrong?

Well! I learn something new everyday and I wonder how much more fundy it would be if my state were in the top 10 instead of the bottom 10. :think:

[Glass Cowcatcher]

:? I see full on fundies every stinking day and I live in one of the least religious states? Am I reading that wrong?

Well! I learn something new everyday and I wonder how much more fundy it would be if my state were in the top 10 instead of the bottom 10. :think:

Maybe if they are "home churched" the way they answer throws of the numbers?

[ladypuglover]

Maybe if they are "home churched" the way they answer throws of the numbers?

Could be as I know a whole bunch who home church. Hmmm. :think:

[Witsec7]

Could be as I know a whole bunch who home church. Hmmm. :think:

The population outside your town is pretty much reflected in those overall percentages. Unfortunately for you Pugs, your town has become ground zero for some powerful religionists.

[Handmaiden of Dog]

There is a big difference between the Gallop poll survey results (bottom slide show) and the Religious census results (the top slide show.) My state, NC, is the 8th most religious according to Gallop but 29th (just above New York) according to the census by Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies with 46,737 adherents per 100,000.

[ladypuglover]

The population outside your town is pretty much reflected in those overall percentages. Unfortunately for you Pugs, your town has become ground zero for some powerful religionists.

:lol: Now I have the Weird Al song "Christmas at Ground Zero" running through my ears. It fits either way. :lol: :lol:

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[QAF_Rocks]

Yeah, CA may be middlin', but trust me, anyone I know in my county who professes a religion is not likely Christian. Don't forget that certain areas of the country have huge Jewish populations and this is one of them. Because this is a VERY ethnically diverse area, we have Hindis, Muslims, Buddhists, and, well, just about any religion (or non-religion) that can be identified.

True, although I would be very surprised if there were any county in California that didn't have Christians as the majority. Maybe not far in the majority, but Hindus, Muslims, and Buddhists are very small populations.

People can look up their counties here: http://www.thearda.com/rcms2010

Looking at the stats for my own county, it's actually really interesting. We have more Buddhists than Lutherans, more Reform Jews than Southern Baptists, more Greek Orthodox than Assemblies of God.

One thing I found surprising is that Mormons outstrip every single mainline Protestant denomination: Episcopalians, Presbyterians, Methodists, etc.

[Elle]

I'm astounded my state is among the least. In the town where I went to high school, the population is about 9,000 now, but they have dozens of churches. I think that town has the highest number of churches per capita than any in the US. There is no tolerance toward gays, so it's baffling that they elected the first openly trans mayor in the US. But he still prefers male pronouns despite living as a woman, and is married to a woman, and has only physically transitioned from the waist up, so I guess they still see him as a man, and the town was about to sink under the old mayor who was incumbent. There are a lot of Mennonites who live off the grid and only allow women to work in the family restaurants because there are property taxes (very high to make up for no sales tax) and tourism only happens in the summer, so there's not much of a chance to earn enough money when even the men rarely have any high-schooling.

Everyone here in my current area of the state that I know is one extreme (hardcore atheist) or hardcore Christian (like reversing vasectomies while praying for forgiveness, having 8 kids by the age of 30 and homeschooling to avoid pro-gay influence, etc.), and I'm the odd duck whose agnostic. I'm 60 miles or so from the town I went to high school, and that town is like another world.

[mockingbird]

People can look up their counties here: http://www.thearda.com/rcms2010

Oooh, lovely. My new county is majority evangelical (well, behind "unclaimed"). I should prepare for some fundy encounters.. :roll:

[sippin0nsunshine]

Ahh, the town I live in is mostly Unclaimed, followed by Mainline Protestant. Makes sense since most of the religious people I know in this town are Pentecostal. My hometown is also mostly Unclaimed, followed by Catholic.

[Elle]

People can look up their counties here: http://www.thearda.com/rcms2010

Like a nerd, I saw the URL and though, "Ah, the Ardalambion! Cool!" It's a Lord of the Rings thing.

BTW if=s black protestant? Is this a segregated protestant church for black people?