One nation under God, mapped

[JDDavis]

http://www.vox.com/2015/3/6/8155789/religious-group-state-chart


The Public Religion Research Institute regularly polls Americans on their religious beliefs and practices, and they put together some striking data on the most common religious affiliations in each state. Vox's Anand Katakam put together this map showing every state's most prevalent tradition (sadly, DC is left out):


Keep in mind that these are pluralities, not majorities; Catholicism is more common than any other tradition in Maryland but is still followed by only 20 percent of the population.

Perhaps the biggest surprise here is that "unaffiliated" is the biggest group in 13 states, and is tied for the biggest group nationally with Catholics at 22 percent of the population. Some of these are liberal states you might expect to make the list, like Vermont or Oregon, but Montana, Alaska, and Idaho also have unaffiliated pluralities. In only five states — Alabama, Louisiana, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota — is it not in the top three religious traditions. The full PRRI chart, showing the top three for each state, is here:

http://publicreligion.org/2015/03/top-three-religions-in-each-state/

I thought I would share this here. Feel free to share it in that OTHER place if you wish. I just don't really like posting stuff there.

[Warren DeMontague]

1. YAY OREGON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Arugula Latte]

4. So happy to live in a Godless Heathen Hotbed!

[AngryDem001]

6. SWEEEEEEET!!!

My state fucking ROCKS in that dept!!

[Lordquinton]

2. Aside from really weird religious groupings

"So it's not the case that atheists are a plurality in many American states, but these numbers do suggest that a large and growing segment of the population is dissatisfied with organized religion, either due to non-belief or because they choose to express their faith outside of formal religious institutions."

Unaffiliated means more that they didn't fit into the groups they set out, and less non-believers.

[Curmudgeoness]

3. It is true that "unaffiliated" is a huge group of people

who are dissatisfied with "organized religion", but I have hope for the people who classify themselves this way. My first baby step to atheism was becoming "unaffiliated". The disillusionment of all the organized religions was my first step, then I admitted that I did not think that there was a god, and I just kept moving in that direction. I was timid, and I was afraid to admit that I was an atheist. In fact, I probably was not an atheist at that time.....but I was thinking and I was having a lot of problems with what I was seeing. It seems like a natural progression now. I think that many who walk away from organized religion will either not give a shit about religion, or they will keep their journey going.

[trotsky]

7. Yup, that is the path I followed as well.

Raised Lutheran, then probably spent some time "unaffiliated" (if I had ever been surveyed at the time), visiting a few other churches in the process, before rejecting it altogether.

[AlbertCat]

5. The Public Religion Research Institute

Ignores Jews and Hindus and Buddhists.... apparently.

"Religion" means Christian or unaffiliated apparently.

[whatthehey]

8. Can you think of a state where they should be in the top 3?

Since that's all that's shown, it would only be an intentional omission if they were in the top 3.

Presidential Polls rarely include Mickey Mouse in their summary graphics, but he gets votes every time.