Religious Devotion and Politics

Examining an Important National Faultline

In February 2016, the Pew Research Center published a study entitled, How Religious is Your State. One question on the survey asked how important religion was in the respondent’s life. The states were then ranked by what percent responded that religion was very important in the respondents’ lives. Alabama and Mississippi tied for first with 77 percent. Alabama was also first in those who said they believed in God with absolute certainty, 82 percent. Alabamians were second, 73 percent, in those who claim to pray daily. They were also second with 51 percent who claimed they went to church one or more times weekly.  

I have listed the first 15 states that were classified as highly religious, i.e. those where 60 percent or more respondents considered religion very important in their lives. Besides that  percentage figure for each state, I have given the percent who voted for Trump in the 2020 Election.

You may notice that 14 of the 15 of these states are either Southern or Border States having a Southern religious culture. Utah is the exception, being predominantly LDS.

The only Southern state that did not make the top 15 was Florida, which has a mixed Southern and national culture but was tied with several others at 22^nd place.

Some Midwestern, Plains, and Mountain States that ranked high in Trump votes are noted below:

I mention Maryland separately, which is a mix of a small part of Southern culture now overwhelmed by District of Columba culture.  Maryland, which 141 years ago supplied 30,000 volunteers to the Confederate Army, tied at place 22 with 54 percent religious, but is one of the most left-progressive states in the U.S. with only a 32 percent vote for Trump.

It is worth noting, along with Maryland, the lowest percent of Trump voters in 2020 and their low inclination to religious devotion:

New England is for the most part solidly Democrat and low in religious inclinations. New Hampshire was once a reliably conservative Republican state but is now a hard capture for Republicans. Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont have moved considerably to the left politically and religiously, due to immigration from Massachusetts and New York City. New York ranks 43^rd in religious devotion at 46 percent, and Trump received only 38 percent of the vote in 2020. However, Republican Lee Zeldin received 47 percent of the vote in the 2022 Governor race.

Two states that may determine the U.S. Senate majority may be of interest.

Of the 15 states that were 60 percent or more religious, Trump won 13 of them (87%) in 2020. Of the 33 states that were at least 51 percent religious, 70 percent of them voted for Trump in 2020. Of the 17 states with below 50 percent religious, Trump won only one—Alaska—which is only 45 percent religious, but where Trump received 53 percent of the vote.   

There are, of course,  other cultural, ethnic, and economic factors with many nuances that influence each voter, community, and state. 

In my county, Johnston County, North Carolina, there was no provision for straight-party voting, but virtually all the Republican candidates got close to 62 percent of the 2022 vote in the county. Donald Trump got 61 percent of the vote in the county in 2020.

North Carolina did have a bit of a red wave this year. Conservative Republican Ted Budd was elected to the United States Senate. The State Senate Republicans now hold 30 of 50 seats,  and Republicans in the NC House have 68 of 120 seats.  Republicans will also have a 5 to 2 majority on the North Carolina Supreme Court. 

However, the national election results make me wonder how much crime, lawless corruption, lying, illegal immigration, inflation, unemployment, social nonsense, moral and spiritual depravity, tyranny, and war will be necessary to wake Americans up to the disastrous evils and follies that are wrecking our culture and threaten our civilizational collapse.