So... where are all the Jews? [Maps of distribution of religions in the US]

Want to know where to find the highest concentrations of Muslims in the United States? How about counties that are (yowza) more than 50% Baptist? The American Ethnic Geography course at Valparaiso university has the question covered.

Having come out of a background in geology, I'm always convinced that no question can be solved without looking at a map, and these maps are fascinating.

Some of the answers you get from looking at the maps are expected. Yes, Utah really is populated by Mormons to an astounding degree, with most counties boasting more 50% adherents to the LDS church. But what explains the high number of Mormons in Liberty County, Florida?

Distribution of Mormons

The Baptist church is unbelievable concentrated in the south. But though it's geographically restricted, the number of Baptists in these areas is often as dominating as are Mormons in Utah, with dozens of counties where Baptists make up more than half the population. This certainly suggests that anyone seeking political office in these areas had better be on pretty good terms with the Convention.

Distribution of Baptists

Having only been a UCC member for a few years, and having only attended small churches, I'm quite impressed by the span of the United Church of Christ. I'm also astonished to see that there are counties where UCC membership ranges to 35% of the population -- and those counties are not where you'd likely expect them to be.

Distribution of UCC Members

Anyone trying to suss out the relationship between regional trends in politics and religion would do well to give these maps a good examination. Aside from the more practical aspects, there's a wealth of fascinating insight. Who knew the Missouri Synod of the Lutherans wasn't centered in Missouri? Did you expect Maryland to have some of the highest percentages of Muslims? Did you know there's a county in Colorado that 20% Quaker?

Personally, I found that not only is my home county one of the highest percentages of Baptists in the country, the largest second block appears to be Old Order Amish.

Not exactly the wildest place to grow up.

The U.S. Census Bureau, due to issues related to the separation of church and state, does not ask questions related to faith or religion on the decennial census. Accordingly, there are few sources of comprehensive data on church membership and religious affiliation for the United States. Perhaps the leading organization to address this gap is the Glenmary Research Center, which publishes Religious Congregations and Membership in the United States, 2000. The following series of county-level choropleth maps, which reveals the distribution of the larger and more regionally concentrated church bodies, draws on this resource. The maps are in GIF format.

I agree with that in part.

Where as the Mormon church(?) is primarily one denomination and it's church authority is concentrated in one body, the Baptist have a very diverse and wide ranging governing bodies. One convention does not speak for all Baptists, not even close. Almost all Baptists church bodies are self governing, meaning they do what they want to to a certain degree.

The Roman Catholic Church has a wing that is very liberal-socialist. Many of them identify with the Hispanic cultures of South America and the Carribean, and organize assiduously to protect illegal aliens, organize protests , and assure that the "Underground Railroad" of Hispanic Roman Catholic Hispanics remains intact INTO the USA.

Opus Dei is one organization that has become instrumental in helping this kind of organization.There are many other Roman Catholic liberal organizations which are smaller and more local.

Religion is a good thing, but when it interferes with policy of a free republic and its laws, it must be carefully examined. Like good old Ben Franklin, I believe a little bit of religion can go a long way, and is best taken in small doses, so that the Republic can be preserved. This preservation needs to come BEFORE organized religion as a priority, or eventually we will lose much of our 1st amendment right to worship as we please.

Not all Roman Catholics are conservative, and Massachusetts is a case in point on how public policy is skewd to the left too far for the good of the nation.As much as I appreciate Roman Catholic conservatives and love them, I also loath Roman Catholic liberal-socialists, for they mean nothing good for the nation and weaken the republic, for they have a goal of religious conquest which is strictly fueled by illegal immigration. This threatens all Americans and it must be stopped.

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