Where do you rank?

[BigDaddy4]

I just saw this survey about the most and least "God-minded" cities in the USA. Where does your city rank?

http://nation.time.com/2014/01/22/godless-cities-in-america/?hpt=hp_t3

I'm not surprised that my beloved Seattle area ranks #74. Though, I would have thought it would be closer to the bottom as Washington state has been near the bottom in these sorts of surveys, we just legalize pot and gay marriage, and are very liberal leaning politics (I believe we are leading the charge in making "minimum wage" a "livable wage" at $15/hr. President Obama will address the minimum wage in his State of the Union speech tonight.).

 

[Inkachu]

My town is too small to show up there My state, though (Delaware) is generally EXTREMELy godless and liberal. I can't wait to move away.

 

[akmom]

Well my entire state isn't on there, but my hometown in Ohio ranks 28th!

 

[~Anastasia~]

I just moved here and the general area is 23. My hometown is in the top 5 tho.

I actually love where I live now. Lots and lots and LOTS of churches, so hopefully I can find a good one, and there are lots of Christians here.

I'm sorry to those of y'all not liking where you live. My sister moved from one in the top 5 out to Colorado and hated it. She was back within a few months. (That wasn't the only or not even the main reason, but it could have been the CAUSE of many of the actual reasons).

 

[WolfGate]

We're in the top 20. Interesting where some areas fell. Some are obvious, some not so much.

 

[SPB1987]

Number 15 on the list.

 

[Tropical Wilds]

The closest city to me is 98.

 

[ValleyGal]

I'm not American, and I'm not sure if Canada has one of these, but I do know that I live in the Canadian Bible belt. One local site states that there are more churches per capita where I live than everywhere else in the country. And I'm personally really glad that they are mostly my denomination.

I'm going to look around for one of those for Canada....

 

[~Anastasia~]

I'm not American, and I'm not sure if Canada has one of these, but I do know that I live in the Canadian Bible belt. One local site states that there are more churches per capita where I live than everywhere else in the country. And I'm personally really glad that they are mostly my denomination.

I'm going to look around for one of those for Canada....

That's what they say about this place too ... more churches per capita than anywhere else in the US.

I've lived in such very church-rich places for most of my life.

I'm not SURE that's actually a good thing. I started thinking about that a while back. (Maybe not true where you are, VG, i'm talking about around me.) But I got to wondering, why is there the NEED for so many churches? Sometimes I go and there are 7 people, a dozen, 20. What made them NOT want to be a church with the other ones they split off from? It may actually be a bad thing to have more churches per capita ... maybe that means the people are not getting along when they decide to make their own churches ...

Anyway, sounds like you are lucky, VG.

 

[Avniel]

89. I find that ranking interesting I was here during 911 and I have never seen so many New Yorkers pray to God. I think sometimes people are like that they call on Him out of fear but when the storm passes they are done with Him.

 

[seeingeyes]

I find it interesting that this study looked for "the least Bible-minded", but that this author changed that to "the most Godless".

Also, I can't find the actual questions asked in the study, but the description of "positions held" on the Bible just screams bias to me.

(State of the Bible | American Bible Society)

One has to believe that the Bible is the inspired Word of God with no errors and read it at least four times a week in order to be "Engaged". There doesn't seem to be a category for those who read the Bible that often but have a different view.

And in order to be deemed "Friendly" you never have to read the Bible at all, you just have to agree with the surveyors opinion of the Bible.

P.S. Cleveland was at 50. That doesn't surprise me. We always split the check in Cleveland.

 

[BigDaddy4]

I'm not American, and I'm not sure if Canada has one of these, but I do know that I live in the Canadian Bible belt. One local site states that there are more churches per capita where I live than everywhere else in the country. And I'm personally really glad that they are mostly my denomination.

I'm going to look around for one of those for Canada....

Which is really interesting, too, in that you are just across the border from me, yet WA and OR states have been known as some of the least churched states. But I think that may be more influenced by the big city centers of the Seattle-Tacoma area in WA and Portland, OR. Both those areas are very liberal.

Travel to eastern Washington, which is more rural, for example, and there is more conservatism. But even Spokane shows up in the bottom half at 61 on the list, so who knows?

 

[BigDaddy4]

89. I find that ranking interesting I was here during 911 and I have never seen so many New Yorkers pray to God. I think sometimes people are like that they call on Him out of fear but when the storm passes they are done with Him.

Agreed. After 9/11 happened, a lot of people were calling on God and it was ok to talk about God, Christianity, etc. Then, at some point, liberal policies like gay marriage and legalized medicinal pot emerged as the hot topic and if you were a Christian who spoke out against either or both, you were a bigot or didn't care about those who were suffering from their medical issues.

Thank God He never changes!

 

[ValleyGal]

BigDaddy, I actually think the American mindset contributes to the Canadian (BC, at least) view of certain issues. Since Washington is liberal, I think we tend to follow suit at a secular level, but that liberalism affects Christians. My denomination is Evangelical, so we have conservative beliefs, but we are more liberal about living those beliefs out, and we are more accepting of other people having the right to choose their own values and religions. This mindset fits right along with Anabaptist (Mennonite Brethren) beliefs.

Kylissa, when I first moved here, I tried out quite a few different churches, and when my husband moved here, we sampled various MB churches. I have not been to one here with less than a couple of hundred people, and the most attended are in my denomination, up to a couple thousand. So while we have the most churches per capita, they are not empty. This suggests that we have devout church-goers, whether they are engaged in their faith or not.

 

[~Anastasia~]

.

 

[Romanseight2005]

15th

 

[Romanseight2005]

There was another study done on Bible Gateway.

Godless Cities: Bible Lovers Debate Which City is Most Bible-Minded | TIME.com

 

[BigDaddy4]

There was another study done on Bible Gateway.

Godless Cities: Bible Lovers Debate Which City is Most Bible-Minded | TIME.com

Interesting. I think using search data as a measuring tool has some serious flaws. Just look at Salt Lake City. The mormons have their own site that has their own scriptures, Bible included, so they probably don't use outside resources as much to search or read verses.

But, the survey I posted has some flaws, too, in that it is limited in its survey questions.

Nevertheless, I thought it was interesting to compare the results of the two.

 

[CounselorForChrist]

89. I find that ranking interesting I was here during 911 and I have never seen so many New Yorkers pray to God. I think sometimes people are like that they call on Him out of fear but when the storm passes they are done with Him.

on 9/11 as I seen the second jet hit the tower I heard and seen lots of people praying. I was surprised. But by the night time I said "I guarantee you this *We are all one as americans!* junk will fade away after a few days or weeks." And I was right. Humans are predictable depending where they live. In terms of americans big tragedy like school shootings, bombings and 9/11 bring us together.

We act like one big family full of support. But we ALWAYS forget that feeling soon after the news stops talking about the incident. Probably because we are to busy bickering once again about something. After 9/11 the praying turned into "Well God did this to america!" or "Your God let people die!"/ And the love all goes away at that point.

Its why I never believe world peace would work. Of course you don't need to "bet" (not that I believe in betting honestly)on it because the bible even says things will only get worse. Brother turning on brother and so on.

Sorry for the topic hijack LOL.

 

[~Anastasia~]

Interesting. I think using search data as a measuring tool has some serious flaws. Just look at Salt Lake City. The mormons have their own site that has their own scriptures, Bible included, so they probably don't use outside resources as much to search or read verses.

But, the survey I posted has some flaws, too, in that it is limited in its survey questions.

Nevertheless, I thought it was interesting to compare the results of the two.

"My" cities nearly all fell according to that one, except I think Dallas moved up.

It can also be affected by the local age/income demographic. If you have a lot of older people in an area, or poorer people, I think you will see less online Bible searches compared to those who read. And if you have a lot of younger people who are very used to relying on Bible aps, online searches, etc., I think you may see more. I know Dallas is a very "tech-y" city compared to many places I've lived.