andrewcriddle wrote: ↑Wed Nov 08, 2023 8:37 am
There is a known issue that self-reporting exaggerates religious attendance.
Andrew Criddle
Another non sequitur? Do you have a point that's relevant?
If only 27.6% of the Maine population "self-reports" regularly attending worship services, versus 78.1% in Utah, are you saying people in Maine are more honest/less exaggerating? On the contrary, I would think that
if all religious people exaggerate (your off-topic point), then a state-by-state comparison AND FURTHERMORE a county-by-county comparison will largely obviate that issue. In other words, we will still see 'apples-to-apples', so THE REAL POINT, a true difference in Religiosity*, will appear
as shown. We might quibble over percentages (e.g. do Mormons exaggerate abit more than Catholics? By how much?), and a more precise granular focus on counties would probably raise or lower the Religiosity stat a few %age points on all counties across this study. So what. We still have a reasonable portrait of religiosity, however nebulous that may be in your mind.
A couple of years earlier,
Alabama was ranked the "Most Religious State" by a Pew Center study and different metrics: "% of adults who are 'highly religious'".
1. Alabama 77%
2. Mississippi 77%
3. Tennessee 73%
4. Louisiana 71%
5. Arkansas 70%
6. S. Carolina 70%
Note that Massachusetts -- which again
supposedly has the largest county by population that is 'most religious, by attendance' -- actually ranks almost dead last, as 'the least religious state in the USA'. I think this is true, also: look at how progressive MA is, the first for gay marriage, strong on abortion rights, separation of Church & State, etc.
48. Connecticut 43%
49. Maine 34%
50. Vermont 34%
51. Massachusetts 33%
52. New Hampshire 33%
Having visited Alabama, and lived w/ someone from there, I can easily imagine that Alabama is the Most Religious State in the USA. Again supposedly, Jefferson County (674,721) is the Most Religious (Well-Populated) County in Alabama (83.9%). Surprise, surprise! That's Birmingham AL: where my roommate grew up and still lives. In other words, these statistics are (coincidentally, but actually) entirely consistent with what I know, saw, experienced personally. (The leading counties in MS and TN are very rural and among the least populous in the USA; like Mono Co CA, they're basically irrelevant to our discussion.)
But again, Norfolk Co. in MA was scored 64.7.%:
Jefferson Co. is only 30% more religious. Rural-urban Jefferson Co. is 3x larger by area, but somewhat smaller by population; Norfolk Co. also contains some urban areas, but overall it is much less rural and twice as densely populated. This factor is key, I think: about 45% of
Norfolk Co. identifies as Catholic (evangelicals are a trivial percentage or so), whereas about 35% of Jefferson Co. identifies as Baptist (but about 55% all residents would be evangelicals, all totaled). This is consistent with my understanding that evangelicals ARE "more religious" than Catholics, but also that Norfolk Co. was indeed a 'religiously Catholic' place when I was growing up, and remains so 'relatively'. Politically, 64% of Norfolk Co. is Independent or Republican, and in recent years Senator Scott Brown (R-MA) was from Norfolk Co. and 35% of Presidential votes were cast for Trump: I believe alot of conservative Catholics voted for Trump, there it is.
* Religiosity: I'll simplify it thus. I am also well aware that some religious people don't attend "church" and that different qualifications are possible.
