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Every year NH, Maine, Vermont & Mass are in the top slots, the order changes slightly from year to year:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gallup
New Hampshire is the least religious state in the U.S., edging out Vermont in Gallup's 2015 state-by-state analysis.
. . .
Over the past eight years, New Hampshire and Vermont have vied for the bottom position on Gallup's ranking of the most religious states. This year, New Hampshire comes in two percentage points lower than Vermont, and those two states are significantly lower in religiosity than the next two states, also in New England: Maine and Massachusetts.
Maine, Vermont, and New Hampshire all come in at upwards of 50% "non-religious", reporting that religion is not important and who seldom or never attend religious services.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gallup
As has been the case since 2008, the least religious states generally are those in the two northern corners of the country. Rhode Island and New York join New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts and Maine in the Northeast, while Oregon, Washington, Wyoming and Alaska are among the least religious states in the Northwest. The one additional state among the least religious is Hawaii.
Maybe weather is a factor? I know where I would be spending my Sunday mornings if I lived in Hawaii
And most people in New Hampshire really don't care which church their neighbors go to. They don't even ask! This is very unlike many areas of the country where those who don't attend church at all are looked at as fodder for conversion... Neighbors in the St. Louis area were slightly suspicious of us east coast heathens who didn't wear religion on our sleeve and spend entire Sundays in worship...
Quote:
Originally Posted by steveusaf
I'm OK with this. Doesn't bother me in the slightest. Those that practice, do, and those that don't, don't....
New Hampshire, however, not only has many good churches, but also has a ton of great private Christian schools. Laconia Christian School, Concord Christian Academy, Trinity Christian School, Ossipee Christian School. All over the state with healthy student populations.
Point is, anything a believer needs in NH to raise their family in a strong Christian environment is at their disposal. That's all that matters
New Hampshire, however, not only has many good churches, but also has a ton of great private Christian schools. Laconia Christian School, Concord Christian Academy, Trinity Christian School, Ossipee Christian School. All over the state with healthy student populations.
Point is, anything a believer needs in NH to raise their family in a strong Christian environment is at their disposal. That's all that matters
Or, it could be that people in NH place a higher value on privacy so when someone polls them about something like their religion, they tell the pollster politely to bugger off. Part of the privacy/anti-polling attitude can be attributed to the primary every 4 years and the incessant polling that comes with it...
This is what I love about northern New England. Religiosity / spirituality is respected as private information. I could not live where people expect religious preferences to be divulged in common conversation.
Completely false. I'd be willing to bet all of New England is religious. They follow a different religion called government...
Basically you're free to discuss whatever you want, just as long as you don't utter something slightly religious, else you be looked askance at. There are likely strongly Puritanical roots to this odd cultural norm of keeping the most important discussions of life's purpose and meaning to one's self. Christmas Day wasn't even celebrated in the early days of the Massachusetts Bay colonies, and this dour attitude lives on, even if the Puritans don't.
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