- Oct 31, 2008
- 20,389
- 12,081
- 36
- Country
- United States
- Faith
- Catholic
- Marital Status
- Married
- Politics
- US-Libertarian
This map was first shared on Reddit, and I found it interesting so I thought I would share it here. I can't say any of the data is surprising, but it still is interesting to see. The thing I wonder about is how they define "adhering" because all of the states with the highest percentages are states that lean towards political ideologies that conflict with the Church.
A couple thoughts:
First, I didn't think I would notice much of a difference going from my primarily protestant and irreligious town in Northern California to the DMV (DC/Maryland/Northern Virginia area). Where before there were two parishes to serve a city of 100,000 people, now I have a dozen within 10 miles of me. Of all kinds. To say nothing of my fiancée's area on Long Island where there aren't only a plethora of parishes but Catholicism in general is on open display in the life and culture of the people there, they hardly think about it.
Second, going off that last point, it had me thinking about how distinct east coast and west coast Catholicism are in my observation. Because east coast Catholicism has been sustained by Irish and Italian immigrants for centuries, it's more integrated into American life. With west coast Catholicism, it seems more compartmentalized into hispanic culture since it's almost entirely sustained by Mexican immigrants, so it's less accessible that way.
Maybe it's more to do with the fact that Catholicism is a minority religion in my hometown, where on Long Island it's widespread and commonplace. Nobody thinks anything of public shrines, stations of the cross.
Maybe it's just my odd sampling but it's a peculiar thing to be in two very different places that have pronounced Catholic cultures and yet one is easier to partake in than the other.
A couple thoughts:
First, I didn't think I would notice much of a difference going from my primarily protestant and irreligious town in Northern California to the DMV (DC/Maryland/Northern Virginia area). Where before there were two parishes to serve a city of 100,000 people, now I have a dozen within 10 miles of me. Of all kinds. To say nothing of my fiancée's area on Long Island where there aren't only a plethora of parishes but Catholicism in general is on open display in the life and culture of the people there, they hardly think about it.
Second, going off that last point, it had me thinking about how distinct east coast and west coast Catholicism are in my observation. Because east coast Catholicism has been sustained by Irish and Italian immigrants for centuries, it's more integrated into American life. With west coast Catholicism, it seems more compartmentalized into hispanic culture since it's almost entirely sustained by Mexican immigrants, so it's less accessible that way.
Maybe it's more to do with the fact that Catholicism is a minority religion in my hometown, where on Long Island it's widespread and commonplace. Nobody thinks anything of public shrines, stations of the cross.
Maybe it's just my odd sampling but it's a peculiar thing to be in two very different places that have pronounced Catholic cultures and yet one is easier to partake in than the other.
