Why are there so many "highly religious" people in the South?

[Anonymous]

When in Rome?

[Anonymous]

Other people posted before me that there is an inverse relationship between poverty/lack of exposure to new ideas, and religion. They are right.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:A culture that encourages being outspoken about faith, attending church, believing in God. (Generally.)

Versus a culture that encourages skepticism, intellectual curiosity over faith, and being more attached to the notion that science is incompatible with faith. (Generally.)

I say none of those things in a positive or pejorative way.

So cultural differences. Do you think that culture is prevalent in the schools in the South too?

Absolutely.

I grew up in the South and was forced to pray in public school, in the 90s. By forced to pray, I mean the principal came on over the intercom, and said "bow your heads, let us pray, heavenly father...blah blah." I told my homeroom teacher this was illegal and she told me to shut up and stop being ridiculous. There was prayer at all school events such as athletic events and graduations. I remember our cheerleaders being very excited and crying when someone was saved.

Here the first question you are asked is "what do you do?" There it is "where do you go to church?" There's tremendous emphasis placed on church-going, especially in smaller towns.

What does this mean?

Cheerleaders were happy when they learned that a friend of theirs had asked Jesus to enter their heart and he did. This means that person will go to heaven when they die, so it is cause for great celebration

Thank you for explaining. At first I thought it might be football related but I guess not.

Were most kids "saved"? Was there pressure if you were not already? Teenage years can be tough - think this made it harder - or easier - at all?

I'm pp and am not from the south myself and have never been a fundamentalist Christian -- I'm just familiar with some of the lingo.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A culture that encourages being outspoken about faith, attending church, believing in God. (Generally.)

Versus a culture that encourages skepticism, intellectual curiosity over faith, and being more attached to the notion that science is incompatible with faith. (Generally.)

I say none of those things in a positive or pejorative way.

So cultural differences. Do you think that culture is prevalent in the schools in the South too?

Absolutely.

I grew up in the South and was forced to pray in public school, in the 90s. By forced to pray, I mean the principal came on over the intercom, and said "bow your heads, let us pray, heavenly father...blah blah." I told my homeroom teacher this was illegal and she told me to shut up and stop being ridiculous. There was prayer at all school events such as athletic events and graduations. I remember our cheerleaders being very excited and crying when someone was saved.

Here the first question you are asked is "what do you do?" There it is "where do you go to church?" There's tremendous emphasis placed on church-going, especially in smaller towns.

You mean it's like in the movie, "Saved"? Although in the movie, I thought they were in a private school, but I could be wrong. Being a foreigner, this seems incredible to me. And I went to a private school in Scotland where we prayed and sang hymns - it just wasn't a big deal, and the music was beautiful. But this whole "saving" thing and emoting about it... wow.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A culture that encourages being outspoken about faith, attending church, believing in God. (Generally.)

Versus a culture that encourages skepticism, intellectual curiosity over faith, and being more attached to the notion that science is incompatible with faith. (Generally.)

I say none of those things in a positive or pejorative way.

So cultural differences. Do you think that culture is prevalent in the schools in the South too?

Absolutely.

I grew up in the South and was forced to pray in public school, in the 90s. By forced to pray, I mean the principal came on over the intercom, and said "bow your heads, let us pray, heavenly father...blah blah." I told my homeroom teacher this was illegal and she told me to shut up and stop being ridiculous. There was prayer at all school events such as athletic events and graduations. I remember our cheerleaders being very excited and crying when someone was saved.

Here the first question you are asked is "what do you do?" There it is "where do you go to church?" There's tremendous emphasis placed on church-going, especially in smaller towns.

What does this mean?

Cheerleaders were happy when they learned that a friend of theirs had asked Jesus to enter their heart and he did. This means that person will go to heaven when they die, so it is cause for great celebration

Thank you for explaining. At first I thought it might be football related but I guess not.

Were most kids "saved"? Was there pressure if you were not already? Teenage years can be tough - think this made it harder - or easier - at all?

NP Most of the kids at my school were saved. I grew up in an evangelical Christian area. You had to be saved (ask and accept Jesus into your heart) to become a Christian. You couldn't just go to church. Once you were old enough to understand right and wrong and take some responsibility for your actions, you had to be saved, make a public proclamation of your faith, and be baptized. It was expected of everyone, because not to do so meant you were basically rejecting your family's religion.

Some people didn't go to church, but most people did. Even if they didn't believe in it. It's easier to just go along with it than to take a stand against your community. In my 4th grade class, on Monday mornings, our teacher had us line up for recess with the kids who went to church/Sunday school at the head of the line, and the kids who skipped at the rear. We didn't have to pray every morning at school, but teachers would often recommend and allow time for a quick silent prayer before tests, and there was always a prayer at events (potlucks, sporting events, etc.) In high school, the most popular club was FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes). We had revivals geared toward teens a few times a year where it was expected for the teens to pledge to remain virgins until marriage. Some of those revivals made you go up to the front of the auditorium or stand at your seat so someone could bring you a form/card to sign that was your "contract with god" that you could show the world, or you'd get a ring to wear to remind yourself you were married to god until you marry your husband/wife. It was all very public and no one was forced to participate, but if you didn't, you were slut shamed at school the next week.

Not conforming to those beliefs was incredibly hard for kids. Most of us just pretended until we got out of that small town, went to college and had some real life experiences, and then either stopped with religion or became more moderate. The ones who stayed, even if they drank and did drugs or had sex on Friday nights then showed up with their chastity rings on Sunday mornings at church, eventually settled down and put the same pressure to conform on their own kids.

I graduated high school in 1997. This was in the 1990s. From my high school friends' Facebook pages (at least the ones who stayed), it's still happening with the next generation.

[Anonymous]

People stick to their guns and their religion.

[Anonymous]

Thank you for sharing. It sounds like it could create a lot of stress for kids if they didn't share those beliefs. Was that in the South?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thank you for sharing. It sounds like it could create a lot of stress for kids if they didn't share those beliefs. Was that in the South?

Np here. I don't think it would cause stress.
Just a fact of navigating it.

You're usually in the literal and figurative clubs. Or you're not. And everyone knows where you stand pretty much. And everyone knows if you are religious but being wayward anyway.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Other people posted before me that there is an inverse relationship between poverty/lack of exposure to new ideas, and religion. They are right.

+1 And, as a PP noted, wealth. And to answer another PPs question, immigrants come to the US for job opportunities and to get the best education for their children. Thus, high levels of immigration to the Northeast and West Coast and low levels of immigration to the South.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Other people posted before me that there is an inverse relationship between poverty/lack of exposure to new ideas, and religion. They are right.

+1 And, as a PP noted, wealth. And to answer another PPs question, immigrants come to the US for job opportunities and to get the best education for their children. Thus, high levels of immigration to the Northeast and West Coast and low levels of immigration to the South.

+1 to all of this.

It is worth noting that the highest divorce rates are in the most religious, or Bible Belt states.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thank you for sharing. It sounds like it could create a lot of stress for kids if they didn't share those beliefs. Was that in the South?

Np here. I don't think it would cause stress.
Just a fact of navigating it.

You're usually in the literal and figurative clubs. Or you're not. And everyone knows where you stand pretty much. And everyone knows if you are religious but being wayward anyway.

What about the slut shaming the PP described? That would stress me out if it happened to me or even if I thought it could happen to me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thank you for sharing. It sounds like it could create a lot of stress for kids if they didn't share those beliefs. Was that in the South?

Np here. I don't think it would cause stress.
Just a fact of navigating it.

You're usually in the literal and figurative clubs. Or you're not. And everyone knows where you stand pretty much. And everyone knows if you are religious but being wayward anyway.

Actually it was quite stressful. It triggered some pretty severe anxiety and depression in me. I get like an outsider for not believing in my heart that everything I learned in church was true. I felt like something must have been wrong with me for wanting something different, because they told me something was wrong with people who didn't believe the same way. It was stressful for me to think that I'd go to hell and let my family down because god knew what was in my heart, and it was doubt rather than belief. It also stressed me out to think of a world full of people destined to go to hell because they chose to have sex, smoke pot, or not be baptized the right way.

Some people are better at faking it or letting it roll of their backs. It was extremely unhealthy for me. Getting out of that culture was the healthiest thing I could do for myself.

It was in the south.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thank you for sharing. It sounds like it could create a lot of stress for kids if they didn't share those beliefs. Was that in the South?

Np here. I don't think it would cause stress.
Just a fact of navigating it.

You're usually in the literal and figurative clubs. Or you're not. And everyone knows where you stand pretty much. And everyone knows if you are religious but being wayward anyway.

Actually it was quite stressful. It triggered some pretty severe anxiety and depression in me. I get like an outsider for not believing in my heart that everything I learned in church was true. I felt like something must have been wrong with me for wanting something different, because they told me something was wrong with people who didn't believe the same way. It was stressful for me to think that I'd go to hell and let my family down because god knew what was in my heart, and it was doubt rather than belief. It also stressed me out to think of a world full of people destined to go to hell because they chose to have sex, smoke pot, or not be baptized the right way.

Some people are better at faking it or letting it roll of their backs. It was extremely unhealthy for me. Getting out of that culture was the healthiest thing I could do for myself.

It was in the south.

Also, in small towns it's the main social event. That and going to Walmart. I'm not being mean by saying that. That's my experience though.

[Anonymous]

Another factor others aren't mentioning is that the reduced immigration to the South is very tied up to slavery. There was already a population of supressed people doing the worst manual labor jobs in the South vs. needing to import immigrants willing to work for low wages in the North. Many also believe that the delayed industrialization of the South was due in large part to the surplus of cheap labor created by slavery. There was less drive for industrialization because the was human labor inexpensive enough to be comparable to machines, and by the time the technology caught up to the slave work force the civil war had been lost and there was no money to invest in new technology, leaving the South in the dust as the northern factories thrived.

[Anonymous]

There is so much to despise about the South. If it wanted to secede, I would be fine with that.