Posted on 05/29/2012 7:43:58 AM PDT by Paladins Prayer
When it comes to religiosity, some American states truly do fit in to the union — the European Union, that is.
According to recent surveys, the most and least religious states are mainly where one might expect: respectively, the Bible Belt of the South, and New England and the West. A recent Gallup study, for instance, rated (in order) Mississippi, Utah, Alabama, Louisiana, Arkansas, South Carolina, Tennessee, North Carolina, Georgia, and Oklahoma as the 10 most religious states; and Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts, Alaska, Oregon, Nevada, Washington, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, New York, and Rhode Island (the last three were tied for 10th place) as the least.
This is significant because authentic religiosity correlates with many other things. Just consider voting patterns, for instance. Nine of the 10 most religious states are conservative bastions that consistently vote Republican in presidential elections; the one exception is North Carolina, which, owing in large part to demographic changes, is now a Republican-leaning swing state. In contrast, 10 of the least religious states are either Democrat bastions or are close to that; the exceptions are Democratic-leaning swing state New Hampshire; and Alaska, whose rugged rural individualism breeds a conservative libertarianism. And is it surprising that these American states vote like Europeans? When it comes to faith, their residents believe like Europeans. Modern liberalism is the political arm du jour of atheism.
Another thing that correlates with atheism is lower charitable giving.
(Excerpt) Read more at thenewamerican.com ...
Good article.
The second half discusses, in a way, the concept is covered very well by Bill Whittle here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dwz_Z62e0s
The two compliment each other extraordinarily well.
How did the heathen state of Maryland escape this list?
Of course, I've always thought the NE was a place of terrible stingy snobs, but that's just me.
Yet the main problem with the atheist “just do the right thing” argument is that “right” is not a concept correlative to atheism. After all, if God exists and has created a moral standard called “Truth,” then that standard exists apart from man and thus is transcendent; it is an objective reality — it is real. But if God doesn’t exist, then what we call right and wrong is merely man’s preference. Think about it: If we found that the vast majority of the world loved chocolate and hated vanilla, would we label vanilla “wrong” or “evil”? No, we would simply recognize it as a matter of taste. But, then how does it make any sense to label murder wrong if the only reason we do so is that most of the world prefers we not kill others in a way labeled “unjust”? If it’s all a matter of collective preference, then the hard, cold reality is that murder belongs in the same category as flavor: taste.
This sums up the reason for many of the changes we see in society to day, along with the "evolving" of opinions.
I recently moved to Utah from Maryland (THE Freak state). Meanest? Maryland was mean: people with pitbulls, people looking at you like they hoped to mug you, liberals...you know, human flotsam and jetsam. In the month I have been in Utah I have not met one mean person or seen one mean act. Everyone says hello, clerks are helpful beyond the call of duty and everyone has been coerdial ansd helpful. Have I died and gone to Heaven?????
Just ping the Mormon hating cabal who bobs around this forum like untethered turds in a punchbowl.
They'll be glad to convince you that (a)you are in hell or (b)you've just been lucky enough to associate with the 35% or so of Utah's population which are not Mormon.
No, you're approximately 800 miles northwest of Heaven, but you're a lot closer than you were as a resident of Maryland. ;^).
ROTFLMAO!! You NAILED that one!
Alaska is as conservative as they come, but more like a different country than a different state. Reason is all the different cultures and with the influx of Asians; becoming more so. Many Indians also tend to dismiss White Man’s Religion too and yet I know many Indians who are registered Repubs due to their military service.
You’ll notice the Bill Whittle video focuses on government, rather than religion. It’s one reason I think the video and this article compliment one another.
Bump
“Have I died and gone to Heaven?????”
Nah, you overshot heaven by about 750-1000 miles.
AKA: “Texas”
I really don’t fully understand the anti-Mormon thing that some obsess about. If anything, I fully understand the anti-Moozlum thing. The Mormons I have met seem to have good values and are interested in raising families with good values. I guess that is upsetting to some. For instance the might have some problem with a naked man eating someone else’s face (Miami), 30+ weekend shootings (Chicago) and so forth. I’m just sayin’.
A couple of anecdotes--
When I was in Silver Spring, Md., a few years ago, I tried to ask passersby for directions to a certain street, but got responses such as, "get away from me!" I finally had to find the street on my own.
In Cedar City, Utah, I hit a patch of snow while trying to parallel park and wound up skidding so that I was perpendicular to the street, then I couldn't drive away because my wheels were stuck in the snow. A group of teenagers suddenly appeared and pulled my car out. I figured that's one of the ways in which "red" states differ from "blue" states.
However, I will add that when it comes to taxes, relative to other states, Texas is awesome, and the native Texans are good people (except Austin).
” When I was in Silver Spring, Md., a few years ago, I tried to ask passersby for directions to a certain street, but got responses such as, “get away from me!” I finally had to find the street on my own. “
That was a nice place to live 30-40 years ago.
Too bad Northwest Florida isn’t a separate state, or they’d be on the “nice” list...
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