Why is the South/Midwest so religious?

[Ardent15]

What, historically, has made this region of the United States more conservative and religious than other regions?

[maxsolomon]

1. more churches?

seriously, i dunno if it is historically more religious than, say, puritan regions of the NE.

[BlooInBloo]

2. ...

Is a big part of the entire answer to many questions.

[Liquorice]

16. Maybe the South is more religious because of the influence of

the black communities. As a group, African-Americans have the highest level of religiosity in the country.

[Cha]

3. And yet so

hypocritical? They're all over, though..got some right around this Upper State New York town.

[AllentownJake]

4. They were actually less religous than the northeast

The south was at least at the founding of this country.

I think it is more a cultural identity thing than an actual religion thing.

I see little Christ in their brand of Christianity.

[RagAss]

5. Hurricanes and Tornados.....it's that simple.

[Carl Skan]

6. Relative lack of urban centers.

When the primary social exposure you get during the week is at church, you tend to put more weight in it.

[Taverner]

7. Rural vs Urban

The demographics are completely different

Rural America is not the same as Urban America

Same thing happens in Canada, Russia, China - the rural areas are always more conservative since the benefits of change are not as apparent to them.

The differences between those places and here is the Electoral College - the Electoral College gives way too much power to sparsely populated states. Jefferson did this - and to be honest, I have no idea why.

[AllentownJake]

8. Jefferson

Was a southern planter...just a reminder on why he did this.

[Taverner]

17. Yes, and his Slaves and Plantation may have been the hippie commune of its day

But it was still a PLANTATION with SLAVES

[AllentownJake]

21. The Virginians

wrote in provisions to the constitution to protect the institution of slavery.

[mitchum]

31. That is the correct answer

[nadinbrzezinski]

24. Jefferson did this to protect minorities

and so did the rest of them. Madison is quite clear in the Federalists about this. I cannot remember which precisely, I think Ten... I have to re-read them

And you are right is more a function of rural vs urban. Hell, the back country of SD County, as far as you can get from the south is the same way.

[anonymous171]

27. What? Do you mean the Senate? Small states have hardly any say in the EC.

[VMI Dem]

9. Why does the West/Northeast have so many slums and ghettos?

[AllentownJake]

10. There are plenty in the south and mid-west as well

They just might not be as large.

[VMI Dem]

11. Exactly.

Thanks.

[HughMoran]

12. It's popular

People need acceptance and peer pressure to comply is much much higher.

[Carl Skan]

15. That's everywhere though

The difference is it's pressure to comply with different things.

[HughMoran]

23. Well, true to some extent

I can tell you that peer pressure in highly diverse areas is MUCH lower due to the obvious reason that multi-cultural/racial areas just don't have as many issues to agree on, therefor peer pressure is necessarily lower. Where I grew up in the city, I could just jump to a different social circle if I didn't like what my current group was doing & the pressure on me to comply. Try doing that in a small town where everyone is the same religion/race & people talk to each other - especially when even one person decides to buck tradition.

[monmouth]

13. Go all the way back to those glorious pioneers. The bible was pretty

much all they had to sustain them through what had to have been treacherous times. Famine, Indians, and fear of the unknown. All social activities were centered around the church. Good reading material was rare, ergo, the bible. That's my take anyway.

[Thickasabrick]

14. Lack of movie theaters and bars. nt

[KansDem]

18. I think it's because both areas were/are predominantly agrarian...

The South had cotton and tobacco, the Midwest has corn, wheat, sorghum, etc. And cattle.

Both tend to require large areas of land, forcing citizens to live in small(er) towns. Smaller communities, tended to mono-cultural with the church providing the community's center and foundation.

Just my observation as one who has lived in the Midwest and in small towns...

[Ardent15]

33. Yeah, that makes sense.

Thanks.

[DesertFlower]

19. god only knows.

[Hepburn]

20. MidWest....

...because of the long winters and nothing better to do?

BTW: I am a native Ohioan!

[TxRider]

22. Sparse population means church is the social center

[Bravo Zulu]

25. There is nothing out there to stimulate their minds,

sooo, the religious nuts can brain wash them!

[LuvNewcastle]

26. It's the difference in religion.

The South is dominated by Evangelical Protestant denominations. Members of these denominations tend to wear their religion on their sleeves, and they like to try to spread it around. Members of the Catholic Church and the more mainline Protestant denominations of the northeast tend to keep their faith more private. So it isn't really that the South is more religious, the religious people here are just more vocal about it.

[DCKit]

28. Too much flouride in the water.

Ever notice the huge, mutant teeth on those Mormons?

[FarCenter]

29. Because they descend from criminals Britain dumped in Carolinas and Georgia

These were originally penal colonies, and continued to be so up to the Revolutionary War. After the Revolution, Britain opened up Australia as its new dumping ground.

Furthermore, the north also got a lot more immigrants who came from Northern and Central Europe after the Napoleonic Wars had further diminished the grip of religion on Europe.

[stray cat]

30. Clearly something different than what is in the water that makes the East and West coast

atheists and proudly secular and generally less civil - at least on the surface, and less community oriented and more self-absorbed and capitalistic.

[marmar]

32. The South and Midwest are one region?