Where is the Bible Belt exactly?

[Orchidflower]

Am I the only one that thought the Bible Belt was in the South? Wrong-o if you look at this map. It's obviously in the Midwest. Wondered how many others are surprised at this information besides me?




http://www.valpo.edu/geomet/pics/geo200/religion/adherents.gif

 

[REWahoo]

Looks more like a leotard than a belt...

 

[samclem]

Am I the only one that thought the Bible Belt was in the South? Wrong-o if you look at this map. It's obviously in the Midwest. Wondered how many others are surprised at this information besides me?

http://www.valpo.edu/geomet/pics/geo200/religion/adherents.gif

That's pretty neat.
--The Utah/Nevada border stands out very clearly
-- I wonder if the unexpectedly (to me) low numbers in the South have anything to do with the definition of "adherents." It looks like they totlled up the membership among 149 religious bodies for each area, then divided the total by the number of residents. I would guess a lot of the churches in the south (particularly the rural south) are independent and might not be captured by this method.

 

[W2R]

Samclem is probably right.

Either that, or living in North Dakota is enough to cause a person to get religion.

(caveat: I've never been there, and I'm sure it's a very nice place - - just joking because it just seems so cold and far away, from here!)

 

[Notmuchlonger]

Its pretty much what Ive heard. Going through Missouri last summer a gentleman mentioned to me that I looked just like his preacher.

 

[brewer12345]

Looks like the Bible Belt roughly equals flyover country.

 

[Leonidas]

I think there is some confusion about what the Bible Belt is, and the map in the link provided by OP is not going to help you find it.

 

[brewer12345]

I think there is some confusion about what the Bible Belt is, and the map in the link provided by OP is not going to help you find it.

Its like pornography: "I can't define it, but I know it when I see it. Praise the Lord!"

 

[FUEGO]

Its like pornography: "I can't define it, but I know it when I see it. Praise the Lord!"

Or Praise Buddha, Allah, Spirits of Ancient Ancestors, or Flying Spaghetti Monster. Depending on where you at.

 

[Moemg]

I think there is some confusion about what the Bible Belt is, and the map in the link provided by OP is not going to help you find it.

You will know it when you arrive there !
Look for churches in strip malls
Businesses advertising their religion
Lots of uptight people and you have arrived in the bible belt !

 

[FIREd]

Hum, anyone who says Alabama and Tennessee are not in the Bible Belt must have never set foot down here. Within a 2-mile radius of my house, I can count 4 mega churches and at least 20 other large churches.

 

[Janet H]

A slight hijack... When I was a kid we moved to rural NC from the midwest. My mom spent a quite a bit of time trying to ease the culture shock and answer my many questions about school prayer, etc by explaining all about the bible belt. I was convinced that this was the belt was found halfway between the white shoes and bad comb overs of the several preachers I had been introduced to.

kids.....

 

[samclem]

Here's a map from the Pew Religious Landscape Survey. This tracks a little closer to what I experienced based on having lived in some of these states.
*************************************
Religious beliefs and practices:
Importance of Religion in One's Life

Percentage of each state's population that says religion in their life is: Very important

Question wording: How important is religion in your life -- very important, somewhat important, not too important, or not at all important?

Religious beliefs and practices in: United States (Cumulative)

• Very important (56%)
• Somewhat important (26%)
• Not too important/ not at all important (16%)

********************************************************

 

[Ed_The_Gypsy]

The Bible Belt is anywhere east of the Cascades.

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Rush to the arms of Jesus! (Drive with your eyes closed.)

 

[bank5]

There's some interesting info about the Bible Belt on Wikipedia: Bible Belt - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The region is usually contrasted with mainstream Protestants and Catholics of the northeast, the religiously diverse Midwest and Great Lakes, the Mormon Corridor in Utah and southern Idaho, the Catholic-dominated "Rosary Belt" of south Texas–Louisiana–Florida,[citation needed] and the relatively secular western United States. The percentage of non-religious people is the highest in the northwestern state of Washington at 25%, compared to the Bible Belt state of Alabama, where it is 6%.[1] Also Mississippi has the highest number of Baptists at 55%.[2]

 

[Notmuchlonger]

You will know it when you arrive there !
Look for churches in strip malls
Businesses advertising their religion
Lots of uptight people and you have arrived in the bible belt !

Guess you might find a whole lot of people uptight then

 

[W2R]

Here's a map from the Pew Religious Landscape Survey. This tracks a little closer to what I experienced based on having lived in some of these states.

This map makes more sense to me. If you take this map, subtract Louisiana (at least the southern part)* and add the Carolinas, that would be my perception of the Bible Belt.

*South Louisiana just doesn't qualify in my opinion. There are probably more drive-through Daiquiri shops in the New Orleans area than churches. Catholicism is very strong here, but more in a social sense - - how many really go to mass every Sunday? Not so many IMO.

 

[Leonidas]

This area in red on this map is much closer to accurately depicting the Bible Belt than anything I've seen here so far.

The key is that the location of the Bible Belt does not depend on the overall religious nature of the people living there. But is rather more dependent on elements of the specific nature of that religion which is predominant in the area, and its roles in regard to congregants and the community that surrounds it (theology and ecclesiology). So, you could have places that are full to the brim with the religious, like Utah, or the Rosary Belt, which are not the Bible Belt.

 

[ziggy29]

I think the map above is more representative of what I think of as the "Bible Belt." My interpretation of it is that it is usually the part of the country where the culture is more influenced by Christianity, and for one reason or another, that seems to correlate fairly highly with concentrations of the Baptist denomination.

 

[FinanceDude]

I can ASSURE you, South Carolina is the HEART of the Bible Belt..........

 

[FUEGO]

This got me thinking. Bible belt is defined by evangelical protestant denominations, particularly baptist. Wikipedia (per Bank5's link) agrees, definiting it as follows: "Bible Belt is an informal term for an area of the United States in which socially conservative evangelical Protestantism is a dominant part of the culture and Christian church attendance across the denominations is extremely high."

This makes sense. Sort of you know it when you see it. I live in the bible belt. A common form of small talk when you meet someone is "Oh, which church do you go to?". This may rank higher on the list of polite questions to ask above "What do you do?" in some social circles (not mine though).

 

[FUEGO]

I can ASSURE you, South Carolina is the HEART of the Bible Belt..........

I think SC is one of the devil horn's of the bible belt and Mississippi is the actual heart.

 

[Sarah in SC]

Fuego, the Pentecostal's will be showing up at your door with some snakes very soon to dissuade you from discussing the devil's horns and SC in the same sentence.
Agreed, though, that wherever the Bible Belt is, SC better be smack dab in the middle of it.

 

[haha]

You're in the Bible Belt if your kid's sumer camp features services by snake-handlers.

Ha

 

[FUEGO]

Fuego, the Pentecostal's will be showing up at your door with some snakes very soon to dissuade you from discussing the devil's horns and SC in the same sentence.

My cousin was seriously into the snake handling for a while. Another relative still is apparently... I knew that was big in the Appalachian area, but is it big in the remainder of SC and Charleston specifically?