Bible Belt | |
|---|---|
Cultural region of the United States | |
 Approximate boundaries of the Bible Belt | |
| Country |  United States |
| States |  Alabama Arkansas Georgia Kentucky Louisiana Mississippi North Carolina Oklahoma South Carolina Tennessee West Virginiaand parts of:  Florida Indiana Kansas Missouri Ohio Texas Virginia Illinois Iowa New Mexico |
TheBible Belt is a region of theSouthern United States and theMidwestern state ofMissouri (which also has significant Southern influence), whereevangelicalProtestantism exerts a strong social and cultural influence. The region has been described as the mostsocially conservative across the United States due to a significant impact of Protestant Christianity on politics and culture. The region is known to have a higherchurch attendance, more evangelical Protestant denominations, and greater emphasis on traditional religious values compared to other parts of the country. The region contrasts with the religiously diverse Midwest andGreat Lakes and theMormon corridor inUtah,southern Idaho, andnorthern Arizona.
Whereas the states with the highest percentage of residents identifying as non-religious are in theWest andNew England regions of the United States (withVermont at 37%, ranking the highest), in the Bible Belt state ofAlabama it is just 12%,[1] whileTennessee has the highest proportion ofevangelical Protestants, at 52%.[2] The evangelical influence is strongest in Alabama,Georgia,North Florida,Mississippi, Arkansas, Tennessee,Kentucky, southern Missouri,Western North Carolina, theUpstate region ofSouth Carolina,Oklahoma, northern andeasternTexas,southern andwesternVirginia, andWest Virginia.
The earliest known usage of the term "Bible Belt" was by American journalist and social commentatorH. L. Mencken, who in 1924 wrote in theChicago Daily Tribune: "The old game, I suspect, is beginning to play out in the Bible Belt."[3] In 1927, Mencken claimed the term as his invention.[4][5] The term is now also used in other countries for regions with higher religious doctrine adoption.
The name "Bible Belt" has been applied historically to the South and parts of the Midwest, but is more commonly identified with the South.[6] It encompasses both theDeep South (South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and most of Louisiana) and theUpland South (North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, West Virginia, Arkansas, and Oklahoma). In a 1961 study,Wilbur Zelinsky delineated the region as the area in which Protestant denominations, especially Southern Baptist, Methodist, and evangelical, are the predominant religious affiliations.
The region also includes most ofTexas andNorth Florida, and extends east to include most of Virginia outside ofNorthern Virginia. In addition, the Bible Belt coversMissouri south of theMissouri River (i.e. theOzarks), as well asSouthern Indiana andSouthern Ohio along theOhio River.
On the other hand, areas in the South which arenot considered part of the Bible Belt include heavily Catholic Southern Louisiana, religiously diverseCentral andSouth Florida, overwhelmingly HispanicSouth Texas andTrans-Pecos, and Northern Virginia in theWashington metropolitan area. A 1978 study by Charles Heatwole identified the Bible Belt as the region dominated by 24 fundamentalist Protestant denominations, corresponding to essentially the same area mapped by Zelinsky.[7]
According to Stephen W. Tweedie, an Associate Professor Emeritus in the Department of Geography atOklahoma State University, the Bible Belt was viewed in terms of numerical concentration of the audience for religious television when he first published his research in 1995.[8] He finds two belts: one more eastern that stretches fromNorth Florida through Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, Southside Virginia, and the Carolinas; and another concentrated in Texas (excludingEl Paso andSouth Texas),Arkansas,Louisiana, (excludingNew Orleans andAcadiana), Oklahoma, Missouri (excludingKansas City andSt. Louis), andMississippi.[9] "[H]is research also broke the Bible Belt into two core regions, a western region and an eastern region." Tweedie's western Bible Belt was focused on a core that extended fromLittle Rock, Arkansas, toTulsa, Oklahoma. His eastern Bible Belt was focused on a core that included the major population centers of Alabama, Georgia, and Tennessee.[10]
A study by thePew Research Center in 2016 found that the ten most religious states were Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Louisiana, Arkansas, South Carolina, West Virginia, Georgia, Oklahoma and North Carolina.[11] A 2014 study by the Pew Research Center found that the states with the highest belief in the Bible as the literal word of God were Mississippi (56%), Alabama (51%), South Carolina (49%), West Virginia (47%), Tennessee (46%), Arkansas (45%), Louisiana (44%), Georgia (41%), Kentucky (41%), and Texas (39%).[12]
| State | Baptist | Pentecostal | Restorationist | Presbyterian | Other | Total | Share indicating religion is "Very Important"[13] | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | 31% | 5% | 3% | 2% | 8% | 49% | 77% | |
| Arkansas | 25% | 5% | 5% | 2% | 9% | 46% | 70% | |
 Delaware | 7% | 1% | 3% | 1% | 3% | 15% | 46% | |
 Washington, D.C. | 2% | 1% | 1% | 1% | 3% | 8% | 50% | |
| Florida | 8% | 4% | 2% | 1% | 9% | 24% | 53% | |
| Georgia | 21% | 4% | 2% | 1% | 10% | 38% | 64% | |
| Kentucky | 29% | 7% | 3% | 1% | 9% | 49% | 63% | |
| Louisiana | 16% | 3% | 1% | <1% | 7% | 27% | 71% | |
 Maryland | 5% | 3% | 1% | <1% | 9% | 18% | 50% | |
| Mississippi | 26% | 4% | 2% | 1% | 8% | 41% | 74% | |
| Missouri | 15% | 6% | 3% | 1% | 11% | 36% | 56% | |
| North Carolina | 20% | 4% | 1% | 1% | 9% | 35% | 62% | |
| Oklahoma | 23% | 6% | 4% | <1% | 14% | 47% | 64% | |
| South Carolina | 22% | 4% | 1% | 1% | 7% | 35% | 69% | |
| Tennessee | 33% | 4% | 6% | 2% | 7% | 52% | 71% | |
| Texas | 14% | 4% | 2% | <1% | 11% | 31% | 63% | |
| Virginia | 15% | 5% | <1% | 1% | 9% | 30% | 60% | |
| West Virginia | 19% | 7% | 2% | <1% | 11% | 39% | 64% |
In addition to the South, there is a smaller Bible Belt inWest Michigan, centered on the heavily Dutch-influenced cities ofHolland andGrand Rapids. Christian colleges in that region includeCalvin University,Hope College,Cornerstone University,Grace Christian University, andKuyper College. Much like the South, West Michigan is generally fiscally and socially conservative.
There is also a Bible Belt in the western suburbs of Chicago (especially inDuPage County), centered onWheaton. Christian colleges in that region includeWheaton College,North Central College,Northern Baptist Theological Seminary, andElmhurst University. Christian publishing houses in that region includeCrossway,InterVarsity Press, andTyndale House.Carol Stream is home to the headquarters ofChristianity Today.
Colorado Springs, Colorado could be considered a Bible belt due to the large amount of prominent evangelical organizations headquartered there includingFocus on the Family,Compassion International,The Navigators,David C. Cook,Young Life,Biblica, and others, even though it has low church attendance compared to other Bible belts.[15][16][17][18][19]
During thecolonial period (1607–1776), the South was a stronghold of theAnglican church. Its transition to a stronghold of non-Anglican Protestantism occurred gradually over the next century as a series of religious revival movements, many associated with the Baptist denomination, gained great popularity in the region.[20]
The northern colonial Bible Belt (especially New England with itsPuritan heritage) frequently performedmissionary work in the South. "The centre of Particular Baptist activity in early America was in theMiddle Colonies. In 1707 five churches inNew Jersey,Pennsylvania, andDelaware were united to form the Philadelphia Baptist Association, and through the association they embarked upon vigorous missionary activity. By 1760 the Philadelphia association included churches located in the present states ofConnecticut,New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Virginia, and West Virginia; and by 1767 further multiplication of churches had necessitated the formation of two subsidiary associations, the Warren in New England and the Ketochton in Virginia. The Philadelphia association also provided leadership in organizing the Charleston Association in the Carolinas in 1751."[21]
An influential figure wasShubal Stearns: "Shubael Stearns, a New England Separate Baptist, migrated to Sandy Creek, North Carolina, in 1755 and initiated a revival that quickly penetrated the entire Piedmont region. The churches he organized were brought together in 1758 to form the Sandy Creek Association".[21] Stearns was brother-in-law of Daniel Marshall, who was born in Windsor, Connecticut and "is generally considered the first great Baptist leader in Georgia. He founded Kiokee Baptist Church, the oldest continuing Baptist congregation in the state".[22] Also, Wait Palmer, of Toland, Connecticut,[23]: 84–85 may have influenced African American Christianity in the South: "The Silver Bluff, South Carolina, revival was a seminal development, whose role among blacks rivalled that played by the Sandy Creek revival of the Separate Baptists, to which it was indirectly related. It was probably the same Wait Palmer who had baptized Shubal Stearns in 1751 who came to Silver Bluff in 1775, baptizing and constituting a church. Abraham Marshall, who encouraged the later offshoots, was a Separate Baptist of the Sandy Creek school. The revival at the Silver Bluff plantation of George Galphin (some twelve miles from Augusta, Georgia) had brought David George to the Afro-Baptist faith and had provided a ministry forGeorge Liele".[23]: 188
According to Thomas P. Kidd, "As early as 1758, Sandy Creek missionaries helped organize a slave congregation, the Bluestone Church, on the plantation of William Byrd III, which may have been the first independently functioning African American church in North America. The church did not last long, but it reflected the Baptists' commitment to evangelizing African Americans".[24]: 249 According to Gayraud S. Wilmore, "The preaching of New England Congregationalists such as Jonathan Edwards about the coming millennium, and his conviction that Christians were called to prepare for it, reached the slaves through the far-ranging missionary work of white evangelists such as Shubal Stearns, Wait Palmer, and Matthew Moore - all of whom left Congregationalism and became Separatist Baptist preachers in the plantation country of Virginia, North and South Carolina, and Georgia".[25]: 168
A study was commissioned by theAmerican Bible Society to survey the importance of the Bible in the metropolitan areas of the United States. The report was based on 42,855 interviews conducted between 2005 and 2012. It determined the 10 most "Bible-minded" cities wereKnoxville, Tennessee;Shreveport, Louisiana;Chattanooga, Tennessee;Birmingham, Alabama;Jackson, Mississippi;Springfield, Missouri;Charlotte, North Carolina;Lynchburg, Virginia;Huntsville-Decatur, Alabama; andCharleston, West Virginia.[26]
Several locations are occasionally referred to as "the Buckle of the Bible Belt":
Evangelical Protestantism in recent decades links tosocial conservatism.[32] In 1950, PresidentHarry S. Truman told Catholic leaders he wanted to send an ambassador to theVatican. Truman said the leading Democrats in Congress approved, but they warned him, "it would defeat Democratic Senators and Congressmen in the Bible Belt."[33]
In presidential elections, the Bible Belt states of Alabama, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Texas have voted for the Republican candidate in all elections since 1980; Oklahoma has supported the Republican presidential candidate in every election since 1968, with Republicans having carried every county in the state in all presidential elections since 2004. The states of Kentucky, Louisiana, West Virginia, Arkansas, Missouri, and Tennessee have voted for the Republican candidate in all elections since 1996.
However, with the exception of Mississippi, historical geographerBarry Vann shows that counties in the upland areas of theAppalachians and theOzarks have a more conservative voting pattern than the counties located in the coastal plains.[34]
During Republican presidential primaries, Christian Social Conservatives tend to win most states from the Bible Belt. In the2008 Republican Party presidential primariesMike Huckabee won most Bible Belt states. In the2012 Republican Party presidential primariesRick Santorum won most states. Both were Christian Social Conservatives. In the2016 Republican Party presidential primariesDonald Trump won most of the states whileTed Cruz won few.
InAustralia, the term "Bible Belt" has been used to refer to areas within individual cities, which have a high concentration of Christian residents usually centralized around amegachurch, for example:[35]
The province ofAlberta has been referred to as Canada's Bible Belt with a significantCatholic,Anabaptist population, and other Protestants.[43] Certain areas of Canada's east coast region, such as the province ofNew Brunswick, also contain significant populations of Catholic, Baptist, Anglican, and United faith adherents, up to 85% overall. There is also a vast Bible belt across southernManitoba.
In Denmark, rural westernJutland in particular is considered to be the Bible Belt. This is due to the higher number of citizens who are associated (in this particular area) with conservativeLutheran Christian organizations such asthe Church Association for the Inner Mission in Denmark, which traditionally have had a very strong resistance toabortion andLGBT rights.[44] Today, the movement is strongest aroundHedensted,Løsning, Korning, and Øster Snede. The Danish Oasis Movement, theYMCA, andJehovah's Witnesses are also active in the area. The Evangelical Lutheran Free Church is active in Løsning and theAdventists inVejle.[45]
Census results show religious belief in the country is more prevalent in the east running from north to south along the border withRussia, particularly in those areas with large populations ofRussian Orthodox,Estonian Orthodox, andOrthodox Old Believers.
InNorth Ostrobothnia,Lapland, andNorthern Savonia, the influence of theLaestadian movement, a Finnish Lutheran revival, is particularly strong.[46] InSouth Ostrobothnia and Swedish-speakingOstrobothnia, the influence ofawakenism and evangelicalism (evankelisuus) is strong, as is that of theFree Church. The Finnish Bible Belt has been described on the basis of various indicators, but there is no precise definition. Mika Gissler of the THL has identified the medical districts of the Ostrobothnian regions as the Bible zone, which have distinguished themselves in the long term by a lower number of abortions than the rest of the country.[47]Perho in Central Ostrobothnia is the most Lutheran municipality in Finland.[48] Church membership in Ostrobothnia is also more common than in the rest of the country.[49] Voting of theChristian Democrats in 2019 parliamental elections was most common inLarsmo andParkano.[50]
Brittany has a long Catholic tradition, and the church has historically played an important role in the region's cultural and social life. Today, the region is known for its many religious festivals and processions, as well as its numerous churches, chapels, and shrines. Another region with a strong Catholic tradition is theVendée, which is located in western France. The Vendée has a long history of resistance to anti-clericalism and anti-Catholicism,dating back to the French Revolution.[51]
The western suburb ofParis is also know as very catholic religious, including the city ofVersailles.
An area in theOre Mountains inSaxony has been described as the "Saxon Bible Belt" with a notable evangelical Protestant/Christian fundamentalist/free church community, as well as some conservative Lutheran parishes that are opposed tosame-sex marriage. Nevertheless, theEvangelical-Lutheran Church of Saxony approved church resolutions regarding the issue regardless of opinions within those parishes.[52][53][54][55][56]
Among itsBaltic neighbors,Lithuania is in general much more religious withCatholicism having long historical roots in theculture ofLithuanians,[57] but even in this contextVilnius district andŠalčininkai district municipalities with a large number ofLithuanian Poles, are the most religious administrative regions of Lithuania. Both the Šalčininkai and Vilnius district municipalities by the rulingElectoral Action of Poles in Lithuania – Christian Families Alliance were declared as guarded and ruled byJesus Christ.[58]
InMexico, there is what is known as theRosary Belt (Spanish:Cinturón del Rosario). The term, created by journalist and writerCarlos Monsiváis in 1999, refers to a region comprising the states ofAguascalientes,Guanajuato,Jalisco,Querétaro and, in more recent years,Zacatecas, where 90% of the population professesRoman Catholicism, which has a notable influence on local politics and society. Guanajuato, for example, is one of the most important electoral strongholds of theNational Action Party, of Christian democrat tradition, mostly inspired by the Social Doctrine of the Church, and with strong conservative ideals. It was in this region where the first uprisings against the government took place during theCristero War, demanding an end to the persecution of Catholics in the country as a result of the promulgation of the so-calledCalles Law, which restricted Catholic worship in Mexico.
TheBible Belt of the Netherlands (Dutch:Bijbelgordel) stretches fromZeeland, through the West-Betuwe andVeluwe, to the northern parts of the provinceOverijssel. In this region, orthodoxCalvinists prevail.
The ABC Islands ofAruba,Bonaire, andCuraçao are all under 20% irreligious.
InNew Zealand,Mount Roskill,Auckland, contains the highest number of churches per capita in the country, and is the home of several Christian political candidates.[59] The electorate was one of the last in the country to go "wet", in 1999, having formerly been a dry area where the selling of alcohol was prohibited.[60]
In the2013 New Zealand census, theMāngere-Ōtāhuhu Local Board area of Auckland had the highest concentration of Christians in New Zealand, with 67.7 percent of the local board's 71,000 residents identifying as such. This is due to its high proportion of Pacifica immigrants.[61]
In contrast to other bible belts, both areas tend to vote for left-wing candidates and are both currently represented in parliament by the center-leftLabour Party as of 2023.[62]
TheBible Belt of Norway is located mainly inthe western andsouthern parts of the country, especially rural areas ofAgder andRogaland counties, which contains numerous devout Lutherans.
The southern and eastern parts ofPoland are much more religious than in the north and west.[63] SeePoland A and B.
Before its independence,Soviet Ukraine was known as the Bible Belt of the Soviet Union, with a significant proportion ofBaptists.[64]
The area normally called theBible Belt of Sweden is centered onJönköping insouthern Sweden and contains numerousfree churches. Of theSmåland counties,Jönköping is characterized by theFree Church,Kalmar by theHigh Church, andKronoberg by theOld Church. In a broader sense, the Bible Belt refers to the area between Jönköping and Gothenburg.[65]
There are also numerous conservative LutheranLaestadians in theTorne valley area in the far north of the country.
InNorthern Ireland, the area inCounty Antrim stretching from roughlyBallymoney toLarne and centered in the area ofBallymena is often referred to as a Bible Belt.[66] This is because the area is heavily Protestant with a largeevangelical community. From 1970 to 2010, the MP forNorth Antrim wasIan Paisley, aFree Presbyterian minister well known for his theological fundamentalism. The town of Ballymena, the largest town in the constituency, is often referred to as the "buckle" of the Bible Belt.[67]
