Top Five Most Religious U.S. States

[Filuwaúrdjan]

If it was because his intent was to cast doubt on your religion by saying most believers are stupid, that was a fair point.

That was part of it. But only part.

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That wasn't.

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I strongly object to the tendency of a lot of people here to view themselves as being part of some sort of intelligent elite when all they actually are is spoiled snobs sneering at people less fortunate than themselves. That sort of attitude is really quite sickening.

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

Weekly church attendance does not equal religiousness.

Says you. Sure, any moron can claim  to be religious, and not really be. Why do you think Massachusetts is so strongly Catholic and yet is pro-choice and pro-gay.

But church attendance isn't the only thing.  I did a study on this earlier this year for social psych.  Let me explain it to you.

We asked people (and we found a variety of religions so that we would get some diversity) the following religiousity questions:

1. How important is religion in your life?
2. How important is regularly attending religious services/events to you?
3. How important is strictly following your religions religious beliefs to you?
4. How important is it to believe that your religion's teachings are to be taken literally all the time?

Those were on a 1-7 scale.

This was crossed with...

1. How open would you be to going to a party hosted by a...
2. How open would you be to going to a lecture given by a...
3. How open would you be to having a roommate who is a...
4. How open would you be to dating somebody who is a...

Then we had the following religions:
1. Catholic
2. Protestan
3. Atheist
4. Agnostic
5. Muslim
6. Jew
7. Buddhist
8. Hindu
(We were gonna do Pagan, but we wanted only .

Those were rated on a scale of 1-7.

We found that following the beliefs and teachings led to people being the least open.  And that people were least open about dating somebody other than their religion.  Roommate didn't affect it much, and lectures/parties were hardly affected at all.  Muslims and Hindu's were the group that people were most intolerant of.  Protestants and Catholics were actually a little more tolerant than we thought htey'd be, but Protestants and Muslims were the least intollerant overall.

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

What complete and utter twaddle.

How often you go to church means ABSOLUTELY nothing. All it shows is that you either go for show or to actually worship. It's an artificial measurement of a person's faith.

[Stranger in a strange land]

still, I think church attendance is a much better proxy for "religiousness" than self-identification. Judge people by their actions, not by their words

[Tetro Kornbluth]

If it was because his intent was to cast doubt on your religion by saying most believers are stupid, that was a fair point.

That was part of it. But only part.

You must be logged in to read this quote.

That wasn't.

You must be logged in to read this quote.

I strongly object to the tendency of a lot of people here to view themselves as being part of some sort of intelligent elite when all they actually are is spoiled snobs sneering at people less fortunate than themselves. That sort of attitude is really quite sickening.

^^^^^^^^^^ (strongly agree)

Btw, as for church attendance: Attendance figures are only important in a relative sense, ie. If there has been a significant drop in church attendance from 15 years earlier then it does suggest a declining religiousity regardless of the actual numbers involved. The opposite is true of static numbers; 25% attendance in 1980 and 26% attendance doesn't actually prove anything. Except that I will point out that especially in Rural areas (at least in Ireland) going to church is as much (if not much more) social than religious as it can be the best place to get the community together. In urban areas no such emphasis exists.

[Alcon]

Al is, of course, correct this time.  I wonder what has led to fezzy's atheism.  Fezzy is probably taking his place among the elite and finds religion too lowly for sophisticated types like him.  Or perhaps the family has fallen on hard times, and several domestic servants have had to be dismissed.  What a cruel world this is, too cruel for a God to exist!

But I find it interesting how rich people are less likely to believe in a higher power.  You'd think that worldly wealth would lead to more belief, not less.  It would seem natural that the poor would feel forgotten by God.

I don't want to speak for Al, but I don't think he'd find your blatant reverse-classism much better.

Perhaps we can stop trying to explain away others' belief or lack of belief based on pseudopsychology or cultural superiority (you may not be rich, but you're exercising the same kind of implied elitism).  It comes off as defensive and kind of pathetic.

[Gabu]

Beyond the question of whether or not people with a lower IQ (which does not exactly equate to less intelligence overall) tend to be more religious, whose answer is "yes"... one ought to ask the obvious question in response to that: why exactly does that matter?  People with a lower IQ also tend to believe that the sky is blue and that 2 + 2 = 4.  Doesn't make those things false.  If that statement was an attempt to prove that atheism is the correct belief system, the originator of that statement really ought to rethink what he considers his own intelligence level to be, because he appears to be fit to believe in religion... by his admission, at least.

[Person Man]

Just because you are religious doesn't make you a 'tard or a social conservative. Threads like this piss me off.

[Alcon]

Just because you are religious doesn't make you a 'tard or a social conservative. Threads like this piss me off.

To the credit of everyone who has posted in this thread, none of them have said that.

[they don't love you like i love you]

Just because you are religious doesn't make you a 'tard or a social conservative. Threads like this piss me off.

To the credit of everyone who has posted in this thread, none of them have said that.

Well the poster you are quoting has a weird habit of reading things that haven't been said. For example he considers someone describing themselves as "more educated" because they have or are working toward a master's degree to be an "Orwellian" statement.

[Ebowed]

Or perhaps the family has fallen on hard times, and several domestic servants have had to be dismissed.  What a cruel world this is, too cruel for a God to exist!

Another useless troll.

[Beet]

fezzy's comment was offensive, but one of the main attractions that religions have for people is definitely that they offer hope and sustenance beyond the physical, and people who are down on their luck in life are more likely to look for those things. I don't think it's a great mystery. Nor is it surprising that modernity has not succeeded in solving all of humanity's problems.

[Verily]

fezzy's comment was offensive, but one of the main attractions that religions have for people is definitely that they offer hope and sustenance beyond the physical, and people who are down on their luck in life are more likely to look for those things. I don't think it's a great mystery. Nor is it surprising that modernity has not succeeded in solving all of humanity's problems.

But then religion is only worthwhile as a blanket, which is nice but rather naive. I suppose people can't be forced not to retreat to religion for comfort, but it baffles me why it is encouraged. Surely we should be facing our problems?

[Gabu]

But then religion is only worthwhile as a blanket, which is nice but rather naive. I suppose people can't be forced not to retreat to religion for comfort, but it baffles me why it is encouraged. Surely we should be facing our problems?

Hope is quite possibly the single most important thing for a human to possess, and religion is one of the biggest providers of it.

[Beet]

fezzy's comment was offensive, but one of the main attractions that religions have for people is definitely that they offer hope and sustenance beyond the physical, and people who are down on their luck in life are more likely to look for those things. I don't think it's a great mystery. Nor is it surprising that modernity has not succeeded in solving all of humanity's problems.

But then religion is only worthwhile as a blanket, which is nice but rather naive. I suppose people can't be forced not to retreat to religion for comfort, but it baffles me why it is encouraged. Surely we should be facing our problems?

Religion should not be used as a crutch. But arguably, everyone needs something more than what the physical world offers, regardless of one's current station in life. This is not just 'feeble-minded' people (often those people do not even know to look for religion), and not just poor people or unhappy people. It is interesting that America is the most affluent, successful and materialistic society on earth and yet even in our wealthy states, a large majority of people are religious.

Further, there is the notion that even someone who lives entirely in the physical realm cannot by definition realize their full humanity. This is a huge chasm between the materialistic left and the traditional right, but it need not determine one's politics.

In Christianity, the biggest attraction is a personal relationship with Jesus. If you like Him, and are attracted to Him, this is the greatest reward. The afterlife and self-affirmation is significant, but it's only because you get to spend more time with Him.

Religion is a lot more complicated than it was being painted in my comment. I was just expressing my reactions to fezzy's comment.

[tik 🪀✨]

Perhaps one could draw a correlation between the states with the most basic of plights and religious involvement. A healthier, better educated, and wealthier person is more likely to feel self-satisfied and not need "help" (one could argue).