Gallup: Georgia 7th most religious state
Georgia is the least religious state in the Deep South, according to the latest heresy from Gallup, and only the seventh most religious in The Union.
The good news? America, despite the best efforts of ice cream-creating non-creationists in Vermont, is still “a religious nation — with about seven in 10 Americans classified as very or moderately religious.”
In the recently-released survey, Mississippi maintains its death-grip as “most religious” state.
Mississippi, which has two football teams in the SEC, including one that stole (not very religious of them!) a football recruit from UGA, has a populace that is allegedly 58% “very religious,” according to the survey.
Georgia, which allows its citizens to fritter away money on the lottery, is ensconced among relatively puritanical neighbors, except for Florida, which is mostly full of Yankees, according to my cousin.
The language of Heaven will definitely have a Southern twang as eight of the top 10 religious states — Mississippi, Georgia, both Carolinas, Tennessee, Alabama, Louisiana and Arkansas – are in the South.
Utah, which is not Baptist, also ranks high, as does Oklahoma, which fortunately for them is within hollering distance of the Christian people of Arkansas.
Texas, despite the rhetoric from its politicians, ranks 11th.
Vermont, a state with a small population apparently hellbent on tugging a loose thread of the moral fabric of American society, is the least religious state. Only 19 percent of the population there says they go to church regularly or consider religion an important part of their life.
Here’s the complete list from Gallup:
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67 comments Add your comment
Progressive Humanist
February 16th, 2013
9:12 am
No, I’d say that generally speaking religious people are indeed stupid. They have allowed themselves to be indoctrinated into living a cult existence based on a truly foolish assumption en lieu of any evidence whatsoever- that an invisible, omnipotent, omniscient, magical primate-like creature who existed before space, time, energy, and matter thought the universe into existence using his powers of mental telepathy via a brain that functioned without space, time, energy, or matter. That’s just stupidity.
Progressive Humanist
February 16th, 2013
9:29 am
burntgrassroot @4:36 is an example of someone so delusional he has apparently lost all touch with reality. The question is whether religion has been a primary cause of his delusions, or instead, that he was weak minded prior to his indoctrination and was predisposed and susceptible to a cult mentality and/or addiction. My professional opinion is that a lack of adequate education and a rejection of advanced cognition in the home early in life makes one more susceptible later in life to embrace illogical, childish fantasies.
Progressive Humanist
February 16th, 2013
9:43 am
For those suggesting that there is no correlation between intelligence and education, I would argue that your assertion is evidence of a lack of education on your part. But I’ll humor you and request that you define intelligence as you understand it. Certainly intelligence encompasses more than the verbal and quantitative constructs measured on an IQ test, but IQ is commonly thought of as the most general indicator of intelligence. And what does IQ most strongly predict? It is a strong indicator of how well an individual will perform academically and how far they will advance in their education (which is really what it was originally intended for). So if we are using IQ as the measure of intelligence, then there is actually a very strong positive correlation between intelligence and education.
The results of a number of recent studies show a negative correlation between IQ and religious thinking. That means the more religious a person tends to be the more likely they are to have a low IQ, and the less religious a person tends to be the more likely they are to have a high IQ. And since IQ and education level correlate so strongly, this is why states with high levels of education tend to be the least religious and states with low levels of education tend to be the most religious.
Thems the facts, Neanderthals.
NO God but there is humor
February 16th, 2013
3:58 pm
I am a great example of how education and experience can lead to lack of faith. I was raised in an extreme North Georgia small community (county barely had 8,000 folks even though its around 30,000 today). I was raised very religiously. Went to Abac as a Wildlife major but did not finish…went into Marines instead. Met lots of people from around the nation. Realized blacks were regular folk!!! First revelation. Traveled the globe! Realized Muslims are regular folk! 2nd revelation. Began to study world religions and realized all the different ways people have used to come up with faiths and indeed how Abraham incorporated his experiences into what became the Old Testament. Epic of Gilgamesh, Hammurabi’s code of laws, influences from Zoroastrianism (first monotheistic religion but not the same God as the Judaic based faiths). And it is simply impossible to believe the tale of Christianity. Pope’s and higher up Cardinals chose the books of the modern bible thus it is not God’s words but the words that a pope wanted the masses to hear. Why not include the Book of Judas? Why not the Book of Mary? They both exist but are not in the New Testament because some powerful white Italian said to leave them out. Modern religion leads to intolerance, racism (many still insist those with African ancestry are the lost tribe of Ham…idiocy), and many other problems that aid in preventing the progress of humanity.
TimeBad
February 18th, 2013
5:29 am
All of you religion haters are so funny. You talk about how religious people are full of hate, but all I see are all of you talking about how stupid the south is. That’s really unbiased and loving of you all.
rooster
February 19th, 2013
12:17 am
If you examine the chart, you will find a strong correlation between greater religiosity and larger black populations. 8 of the 9 most religious states (the 9th being Mormom Utah) are in the top 11 states in black percentage of population. The smallest black share of population in those 8 states is 15%. Georgia’s is 30%. On the other hand, the 10 least religious states have some of the smallest black population shares. The largest black population share among those states is 10%. The rest are below 7% Now, I don’t think anyone disputes that African-Americans are more religious and more likely to attend church regularly than the population as a whole. There’s a close fit – not perfect, but close – between the “religiosity” of states and the percentages of their populations which are black. This is probably the variable which, if controlled for, would reduce differences among states by the most. Of course there would still be some difference, as southern (and midwestern) whites are surely somewhat more religious on average than northeast and west coast whites.
Speaking of religion and its influence on society, it’s interesting that Atlanta has no analog to the Catholic archbishops of large northern cities, or to the pastor of the First Baptist Church of Dallas,Texas, who can be sure of making local news with any pronouncement they may care to issue. Archbishops in New York and Chicago have openly used their ease of access to local media to intimidate Catholic candidates and voters. The pastor at Dallas First Baptist knows any endorsement he makes will be played as big news in the north Texas media. This has been the case for many years, at least as far back as W. A. Criswell in the ’70’s. There simply is no such person in Atlanta – no single religious figure with that kind of clout. No one who can make a phone call on Monday and be on the front page on Tuesday. And hasn’t been for many years.
From the Capitol area up Peachtree inside the city, there are 4 Methodist, 3 Catholic, 3 Presbyterian, 2 Episcopal churches, 1 Lutheran, 1 Baptist and 1 Chrisitian church, and 1 synagogue. Significant and beautiful buildings one and all. But for most Atlantans, their influence is just that – being great visual elements on the city’s iconic street. The best known event sponsored by any church in the area is probably the Greek Festival at Annnunciation Orthodox Church on Clairmont, an annual affair loved mostly for the great food. The largest Hindu temple on the planet outside of India is in Lilburn. I bet more Atlantans know that than can tell you who the pastor of any church is. And while the First Baptist Church of Atlanta is behind a screen of trees, on the wrong side of 285, in a converted warehouse, its lack of visual impact exactly matching its lack of influence, First Baptist of Dallas is a major downtown institution, like the chamber of commerce. Now, Dallas-Ft.Worth is pretty much what you’d have if Shreveport or Tupelo suddenly had 6 million people and the ugliest architecture this side of Dubai. So a Baptist preacher having as much entree to the media as a citywide elected official isn’t so surprising. But the influence wielded by archbishops in breathlessly sophisticated places like New York, Chicago, and Boston, whether it is to harass pro-choice candidates, get shock-jocks fired over one girl-boy sexual indiscretion in one pew at the back of one church, or cover up hundreds of priest-boy sexual assaults in the cloak rooms of dozens of churches – that kind of influence and impunity can only exist because a sufficient segment of those communities is afraid to challenge it, and because local media up to and including the Grey Lady acquiesce in and enable it. Just some points to ponder before deciding who you’re gonna call stupid.
rooster
February 19th, 2013
4:41 pm
Oops. Forgot the Christian Science Church at Peachtree and 15th. Sorry.