Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Location: Jefferson City 4 days a week, St. Louis 3 days a week
2,709 posts, read 5,092,866 times
Reputation: 1028
Advertisements
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lake County IN
What you gotta understand is that about 80% of Americans identify as Christians, so that means that it's everywhere, but when people talk about the "Bible Belt", they're talking about an aggressive, "fire & brimstone" type of Christianity that's very fundamentalist.
It's not just about being Christian or even very devout. It's about these towns in the South that literally like Barack Obama said, "cling to guns and religion".
I don't think there's too many places outside of The South, even in small towns, which tend to be more religious that are that way.
As midwesterners, even if we're religious, we're more like church on Sunday, handle your business the rest of the week, as opposed to blowing up abortion clinics and accusing Obama of being a Muslim. We're more Ned Flanders than Jerry Falwell
That's why I definitely think that there is a "Bible Belt", which has it's own unique fundamentalist Christian, mostly White, Evangelical base in the south that exists outside of the rest of the country.
It's a known fact that the Bible Belt extends into the Midwest. Not as far north as where you live, but it's got a definite presence in parts of Missouri, Kansas, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio, all states that border the outer rim of the south.
Location: northern Vermont - previously NM, WA, & MA
10,743 posts, read 23,798,187 times
Reputation: 14640
Quote:
Originally Posted by garmin239
There is also the factor that many people in the Northeast will identify with a religion, but will not practice it.
I know many people who claim themselves to be catholic, but they never go to church, never pray, support many issues the church is against(gay rights for example), and do many un-christian things. They basically go to Church once a year on christmas because it's a family tradition.
Where many people I've encountered in the south and parts of the midwest will actually practice their religion and support the churches beliefs.
New Mexico is also very heavily Catholic. With a large hispanic population the Catholic tradition are very much in line with family traditions (Catholic/Hispanic ancestry go's back centuries in this state). There are exceptions in rural parts of Eastern NM which have more in common with rural "bible belt" Texas, otherwise New Mexico is pretty live and let live and doesn't have a very strong fundmentalist protestant Christian influence.
New Mexico is also very heavily Catholic. With a large hispanic population the Catholic tradition are very much in line with family traditions (Catholic/Hispanic ancestry go's back centuries in this state). There are exceptions in rural parts of Eastern NM which have more in common with rural "bible belt" Texas, otherwise New Mexico is pretty live and let live and doesn't have a very strong fundmentalist protestant Christian influence.
yea, I was thinking more the European catholics when I wrote the post. We have a large Puerto Rican population here that practices catholicism and they are better at attending church services.
People misunderstand what being "unaffiliated" with a major religion means, particularly in the southern mountains.
Quote:
Appalachia’s people make a clear distinction between religion and faith. They have always understood that theology, words about God, is controlled and manipulated by human institutions far more easily than is Spirit-led faith. Inevitably, most mountain church communities operate almost entirely outside of denominational frameworks. They are largely self-determining and without denominational allegiances or agendas, believing that "each church holds the key to its own door." These churches are prevalent and widespread yet remain unnoted and uncounted in any census of church life in the United States. As a result, Appalachia has a prominent and false image of a region that is largely "unchurched." This image serves some denominations’ justifications for maintaining mission work in Appalachia.
I pose this question, what defines the Bible Belt?
These are my personal thoughts:
Quote:
Is it large amounts of people who are Christian?
I would say most of the country is "large amounts of Christians" so that's too vague to be the main factor. So "yes" in the sense that being Christian is like the first prerequisite.
Quote:
Is it specifially geared toward large concentrations of Protestants?
Yes, more so than Catholics because Protestants tend to have a more outward demonstration of faith in varying levels of extremity.
Quote:
Is it geared towards Baptist specifially?
Yes, but I would say mostly by consequence of statistic. Since the religious environment of Bible belt areas is mostly Southern Baptist or Independent Baptists it just happens to play out that way. For example, this could in theory apply to Methodists or Presbyterians as well since there are major variations of thought even within those sects but it just happens to work out to be baptist because people from all across the spectrum are Baptist, generally speaking, in the Bible belt.
Quote:
Can areas that majority Catholic qualify?
Theoretically yeah but I stick to my idea of defining it as a protestant phenomenon because Protestants TEND to do the things you hear about that are classic of the Bible belt and Catholics TEND to keep to themselves.
I think the concept of the bible belt doesn't have a lot to do with religious affiliation but instead how people practice their faith. Even in a state like Massachusetts you have a high number of people who claim to be religious, but in a state like Alabama, it's expected that you wear your religion on your sleeve. It's your way of proving that you are a person of faith which grants you acceptance into your community.
I kind of agree with the rural/urban divide. In Georgia, there are religious people everywhere. But you sense it more in the rural areas. In small towns here, the church is the social hub of the community. So people are involved in their churches by default. It Atlanta and a lot of the suburban areas it's different. There are a large amount of evangelical conservatives- the suburbs here are kind of known for that. But most people separate their religion from the rest of their lives. They're not as likely to talk about it in mixed company and it doesn't control their social lives either.
I think a lot of it stems from the growing religious diversity here. In a lot of suburbs, you could be a Christian family with neighbors who are Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist and non religious. So it doesn't play well for you to be very open with your religion because many of the people you associate with don't share your faith. So, in Atlanta, and in every other urban area, it becomes more private which changes the way you look at the world. You're more likely to be accepting of people of other faiths if they're your friends, neighbors and coworkers.
And yes, Athens, GA is full of atheists, agnostics, and new age types, as is expected in a college town.
you'll know you're in the Bible Belt, if your town, or a town close by recites the Lord's Prayer aloud before football games, and the local high school has a "Bible verse of the day" on the morning announcements. My town wasn't like this, but the town to the North was like this. I found it strange, but many of my friends from other parts of TN said that this was normal. That kinda thing would never fly in my town, so there are difference, even in a small area
I get the football prayer, but isn't a daily bible verse at a public school a massive violation of the separation of church and state? I came from a very Christian community, but teachers at my school wouldn't dare recite bible verses in class, let alone talk about their religious beliefs. I'm surprised that school got away with it.
Of course, that's one more thing that bothers me about areas of the bible belt- the arrogance put forth that assumes everybody believes the way they do, even among fellow Christians.
I'm a Christian, but I was raised Episcopalian, when everyone around me was Southern Baptist. First of all, most people didn't know a damn thing about the Episcopal Church and asked me on more than one occasion if our church was Christian. Then they would discover the liberalism of the church compared to their Baptist churches and it was like their heads exploded. "You mean you let gay people become pastors in your church??? That's terrible!!" First of all, they're called priests, and second, yes we do. You certainly don't have to agree with it but respect the fact that people believe differently than you.
I also remember one time in middle school- I had a friend who was Muslim. He was from Afghanistan, which also didn't help him in the friend department. But one day, a few of us were talking. I asked him about what Muslims believe, and he told me that Muslims believe that Mohammed is their prophet, and not Jesus. Well, the kid next to me stood up and declared, "Well I certainly know who MY lord and savior is!"
People in the bible belt aren't often faced with people of other faiths, so they see someone who has a different religion as a threat to their way of life and they can get defensive.
But from what I can gather from this thread so far, this kind of attitude can exist anywhere, but especially so in the south.
'Socially conservative Protestantism' is the key word. Actually, I find the idea of contrasting Fundamentalists with 'mainline Protestant' kind of unusual. I've been to all sorts of Churches, and it seems there isn't all that great a deal between the core beliefs between them. Sure one might accept evolution, another might not, but all share the same zeal for Jesus and God.
According to this map MOST of Missouri falls into the Bible Belt, the only Midwest state where this is the case. Not unsurprisingly Eastern New Mexico is also the Bible Belt. Statistically, it does look like the Eastern NM/Texas Panhandle/Oklahoma region is one of the most religious in the country.
Geographically, it appears the Bible belt virtually equals the South.
They speak about the 'Buckle' of the Belt but of course there are places within the Belt that don't really belong there. As I mentioned somewhere like New Orleans, college towns in North Carolina, Austin, Houston, clearly not St. Louis, MO, and Orlando is pretty debatable too, but it's on the southern fringe of the Belt too.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
