Littler doubt that is the intent of this post, but by the same measure we can say that the Northeast is more liberal because is has more Catholics. And indeed voting records testify to this correlation in which Catholics overall vote about 50/50 for the liberal vs. conservative Pres. candidate versus approx. 80% of evangelicals - which tend to have highest divorce rates - consistently voting conservative. And also in past decades affirming conservative values and basic beliefs far more than Catholics.
And since Rome manifestly considers even proabortion, prohomosexual public figures as members in life and in death (showing her understanding of canon law), liberal Catholics cannot be dismissed as CINOS. Meanwhile the term "Protestant" (55% of once-married black Protestant have been divorced) is far too broad to be very meaningful as far as correlation to faith specifics (and the once-distinctive term "evangelical" is increasingly watered down. Even in 2006 Barna reported that just 8% of the adult population in fit the criteria its nine questions used to categorize people as evangelicals, versus 38% of the population) except that the typical broad allowance of divorce in Protestantism and even among many or most in the evangelical subset has much to do with the divorce rate, while one annulment for every 6.5 marriages celebrated in the Catholic church in American also should be factored in.
And the level of faith-devotion certainly is correspondent to divorce rates:
The federalist.com
As is practice versus profession:
(http://nineteensixty-four.blogspot.com/2013/07/unmentionables-faith-and-sex-principles.html)
Pope's proclamation, like views of U.S. Catholics, indicates openness to nontraditional families Six-in-ten Catholics say the church should allow those who are divorced and have remarried without obtaining an annulment to receive Communion, according to a 2015 Pew Research Center Survey. - https://www.pewresearch.org/topic/family-relationships/marriage-divorce/divorce/
yet other reasons proffered in this thread also must be considered, with income level having the more correspondence to divorce rates. "An annual income of over $50,000 can decrease the risk of divorce by as much as 30% versus those with an income of under $25k." (https://www.wf-lawyers.com/divorce-statistics-and-facts/)
Also related is education level:
(https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/09/14/as-u-s-marriage-rate-hovers-at-50-education-gap-in-marital-status-widens/) And with evangelicals having the lower income..
Another factor is the increase in co-habitation and less people being married, which seems to correspond to these stats:
The data show that nine of the twenty one countries surveyed in Europe have experienced falls in divorce rates over 25 years. The biggest falls in divorce figures were in the UK (-27%), Switzerland (-22%), Germany (-17%), and Hungary (-14%).
The biggest risers were Italy (+151%), Spain (+32%), Latvia (+29%) and Poland (+26%). (http://nineteensixty-four.blogspot.com/2013/09/divorce-still-less-likely-among.html)
Thus using divorce rates alone as a barometer of faith and morality then secularism would be credited. Meanwhile.
| Religious tradition | Married | Living with a partner | Divorced/separated | Widowed | Never married | For full question wording, see the survey questionnaire. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buddhist | 39% | 11% | 10% | 2% | 37% | 263 | |
| Catholic | 52% | 8% | 12% | 7% | 21% | 7,176 | |
| Evangelical Protestant | 55% | 5% | 14% | 8% | 18% | 8,562 | |
| Hindu | 60% | 3% | 5% | 1% | 32% | 198 | |
| Historically Black Protestant | 31% | 6% | 19% | 9% | 36% | 1,907 | |
| Jehovah's Witness | 53% | 5% | 12% | 8% | 21% | 244 | |
| Jewish | 56% | 6% | 9% | 6% | 23% | 843 | |
| Mainline Protestant | 55% | 6% | 12% | 9% | 18% | 6,048 | |
| Mormon | 66% | 3% | 7% | 5% | 19% | 661 | |
| Muslim | 41% | 4% | 8% | 1% | 45% | 234 | |
| Orthodox Christian | 48% | 5% | 9% | 6% | 31% | 182 | |
| Unaffiliated (religious "nones") | 37% | 11% | 11% | 3% | 37% | 7,523 | (https://www.pewforum.org/religious-landscape-study/marital-status/) |