Why is the south so religious?

Question

I hate to generalize, but this is an ACTUAL QUESTION. I'M NOT RANTING. It seems like the south US is severely lacking in highschool graduates, and probably has more religious (Christian) people than anywhere else in the US. I know this, because i have lived all over the US, and never in my life have i seen more churches than in GEORGIA. (sorry for spelling, no sleep. ) What made the south so religious? Is it directly related to the lack of education? I'm not saying EVERY southerner is uneducated, but, again, from personal experience, i can say A LOT are. any thoughts?

See, scott b did exactly what i knew someone would. I hope you're proud of yourself for purpously TRYING to find something offensive, in something that was obviously NOT offensive.

CJ,i'm sorry if my question offends you. Because it's not intentional, and i made it very clear that i do not believe EVERY southerner is "stupid". However, the MAJORITY, is uneducated, as someone else said, in GA, they really DO take their children out of school during hunting season. I know this, because i went to a school in Georgia. And during hunting season, schooldays were even occasioanlly canceled because of the lack of interest. Does this point to a generally inteligent socienty to you? I'm sorry but tp deny the south being uneducated and to support that they are strongly religious is both accusing me of generalizing and doing it yourself. Who here is the biggot? Why would you get so defensive when i am not trying to offend, if what i say is not true? As i've said to many other people, if you like to discuss further, feel free to IM me, My instant messenger contact information is on my profile. ANYONE is welcome.

Answer 1

I'm in Georgia. I'm a college graduate and not religious. Most of my friends and family have post-graduate degrees (and attend some form of church).

You don't hate to generalize at all; you're quite good at it.

Answer 2

I'm not a Christian, I have a high school diploma, college degree and was raised in Georgia. Yes you are right the south is very religious and seems to have a lot more Churches than other areas. I was raised christian, but as I got older I made an educated choice to no longer follow that course.

However, how can you berate Scott B and say that you are not trying to be offensive? Either you are trying to get a rise out of southern people and are a troll, you are another kind of bigot, or you are showing you true closed mindedness in generalizing without statistics to prove your generalization.

How is your personal experience a justification of proof in order for you to determine that southerners in general are more likely to be uneducated than people in any other parts of this country?

Answer 3

Why do you think Georgia is so uneducated? Apparently it has nothing to do with the facts. The following is from the USA Census:
High school graduates, percent of persons age 25+, 2000 Georgia 78.6% USA 80.4%
Bachelor's degree or higher, pct of persons age 25+, 2000 Georgia 24.3% USA 24.4%

The same goes for Religious. To see religions by percentage, see the second URL from USA Today. No religion is 12% in GA and 13% in NY, not a huge difference.

Answer 4

Other than New York city and possibly the state of Vermont I am not so sure that's true. I've lived in the south and now mid west, Chicago suburb. I see little difference in the amount of churches and numbers of cars at church on Sunday.

Answer 5

It is true and a proven factor that most people in the South are more religious than in many other areas. However, being born and raised in the South you hear many; I am sincere when I say this, many stories told gives you a sense of underlined, untold mysteries which gave a lot of people no other choice but to turn to God. What I am trying to say is: many people raised in the south ARE unlearned and uneducated, especially those in the last 4-5 decades. A lot of them are raised in 'big' families so the older siblings tend to take care of and many times raise the younger children, which robs them of schooling and other important life experiences needed to help them become their best. Christianity is the second thing they learn after family unity. Please, do not allow my answer to fray you from understanding that, although these people may be in many cases unlearned and uneducated that their belief in God is not sincere. In fact, they are more sincere than most educated Christian, yet, because of the lack of education and proper studying of the word of God by an unlearned leader, they are not being taught properly, they do not know, and do not experience what God intend for true believers, so, they serve God in the sincerity of what they know and in many cases will not change or list to anything else even if it's the truth. Truth to them is what they have been taught. This is sad, I know.

Answer 6

As a southern implant, I must say you are right. I've been trying to figure it out for the last two years.

As ridiculous as this seems, here is an explaination I have heard from several southerners:

The folks in the south are the only US people who have ever known defeat in a war. Yes, this goes back to the civil war. Apparently 140 years is not enough to ease the pain.

Although the churches are annoying and I get tired of the baptists and the evangelicals coming up to my door and preaching the "word", my biggest issue with the south is that the work most people do is always half assed. Finding a honest and competant contractor, plumber, electrician, etc is like trying to find a southern male who doesn't like beer. The people down here are not very effecient at all.

I hate to say this but if the south was like this during the civil war, no wonder they got their butts kicked.

But the weather is nicer down here.... ;)

Answer 7

okay. It's not really that the south is religious...but there are just a bunch a religious people in the south. i live in florida and im religious. =] but i do not lack an education. well im in the 7th grade...so im not finished with my education. but im not gonna lack an education when i grow up. so i will not be part of the few people that u speak of. people who dont have an education whether its in the east or the west, or the south or the north....its not because of religion....butbecause they either choose not to have one cuz they go to school and waste their parents money and dont care, or because they cant afford it.


God bless. =]

Answer 8

When I read you opinion the main thing I got out of it is that you’re biased against the South and very irrational so I don’t particularly care whether you’re educated or not. I’m going to answer your question simply because a lot of Southerners and foreign people get on this site and will see this question and I want to leave an idealistic response besides some of the other ones listed. A lot of prejudice about the South is because enough of us don’t have enough say in the media so we need to get out there and educate those who can listen to reason- thus I will talk more to others than to you.

First off you ask about the question: “Why is the South so religious?” but then you immediately assume you know the answer to your question is a lack of education. Is this scientific? Now, there’s nothing wrong with offering a suggestion that requires clarification but I’m just saying you seem pretty certain you know the answer and take off on that assumption in the rest of your statements. Based on your statements the question you should have asked is: “Is the South less educated due to religion?” since you seem convinced that it’s less educated to begin with and you seem to look for yes/no confirmation on the religion part. You don’t seem to be asking about why it’s really religious at all and the responders pick up on error by not answering the original question anyway. This makes me wonder why you bother to ask this question in the first place. Are you looking for insight or a cheering section? Secondly, you seem to assume that religion must be connected to a lack of intelligence yet offer no proof. Thirdly, you state opinions almost as facts. For example, you say it SEEMS the South is severely lacking in high school graduates and then you say you have SEEN more churches and from your (obviously limited personal experience) that “A LOT” of Southerners are uneducated. You then clarify that “the MAJORITY is uneducated”. Next, you get off topic (of why the South is religious, remember) by talking about people taking their children out of school (if they’re not taking them out for bible classes then one wonders what the subject is). Beyond that you confuse a very few examples for a general consensus when you say “in GA, they really DO take their children out of school during hunting season. I know this, BECAUSE i went to a school in Georgia.” Okay, so one or two schools means this has something to do with the whole state of Georgia, the South, and/or religion? Pepper is from Georgia and stated that she was unfamiliar with this practice and hinted that it might be rural. Well I’m from the rural South and I’ve never heard of this at all despite many sportsmen in the area. Again, your logic is baffling and yet you accuse most Southerners of being uneducated. (Don’t back out of this: MAJORITY means “most people”)

As further proof of your faulty logic, you probably confuse facts with speculation. All schools in the U.S. (at least today- I don’t know your age) are required to be open a minimum number of days. I believe it’s been that way for a long time but I admit I’m too damn lazy to look this up. According to the website I list, D.C. and 29 states (including Georgia) are open at least 180 days and all states are open 170 days. I know nothing about the number of hours though. Given they have a few days for snow or other emergencies it’s likely your school simply used the hunting for a lack of snow or whatever. Even if a school closes for hunting how is it different from closing over snow or simply not being open for any other reason? Now, if you think 180 days is not enough, fine, but that should be your issue and line of questioning, not WHY they let them out- unless you can give some logical reason for it.

Okay, that’s my LOGICAL problems with you. My personal issues are just as serious. I’ve lived in the South my whole life and my experiences don’t line up with what you say at all and no, I won’t give you any private information or contact you because you cannot handle the truth. I don’t doubt the South is more religious overall but I just don’t see it as having anything to do with a lack of education. Yes, I’m well educated and no, I’m not religious but I used to be and don’t see that I am that much different now. It’s just a philosophy and only a few things about it bother me however I have FAR more issues with the baseness, faulty logic, and mean spiritedness of those who either hate religion or the American South (which they often confuse anyway). In my family the baby boomer age and down are significantly more educated than older Southerners who had less opportunity however I’m not so sure they are less religious. I think it’s irrelevant as you are probably one of those types who want to believe the South is “messed up” and like any kind of prejudice, you will just retain anything that goes along with your assumptions and ignore anything that rejects those assumptions. As long as you are pleased with your assumptions you will never change and I don’t particularly care if you do or not. Tell you what: does it make you feel better if I say I am having an affair with my cousin and I attend one of those snake handling churches having just now graduated the eighth grade? Hmmmm, let’s go with that then. You cannot possibly understand how happy I am to see questions like yours because I know that our time is coming: just look at the idealistic responses of the pro-Southerners on this question vs. the ignorance of the anti-Southerners.

Incidentally, (as a scientific person) I can’t help but wonder if you’re either a Yankee or a person of Nordic descent (or something close?) as I’ve been noticing a very distinct pattern.

Answer 9

As a transplanted Yankee (NJ) living in north Florida about a half an hour's drive from the GA state line, I have really been pondering this one myself. The town I live in is so tiny it's not even on the maps, we don't even have a post office, but there are no less than 15 churches within a 10 mile radius. Bizarre. As for the religion vs. education aspect, I think you may be onto something there. My husband has friends in GA who literally take their kids out of school every single year during hunting season, their insight being that hunting is more important to ensure the family's survival when the apocolypse comes. I am baffled.

Answer 10

You are trying to justify calling all Christians and southerners, stupid? Nice way you dressed it up but that is the message, right? Because clearly no southerner or Christian could be smart... Wow, what a load of bigotry. Maybe you have lived all over, but it hasn't shown you one universal truth... people are pretty much the same all over, lack of education doesn't correlate to a belief in God, and people not from the south, tend to judge it harshly because true idiocy is to criticize what is different from you.