Supreme Court hears case on free school choice and religious freedom
The Supreme Court is hearing oral arguments in Espinoza v. Montana, which concerns state scholarship funds and the prohibition on their use in parochial schools.
Did you know that North Florida is part of the Bible Belt?
In case you don’t know, the Bible Belt is the region of the United States where Christian values play a major role in the society, culture and politics of the surrounding states.
Recently, nonprofit technology company Smilehub released a ranking of the most religious states in the U.S. Florida’s ranking was consistent with its position in the Bible Belt.
Florida is among the 20 most religious states in the US on this list. Here’s why.
Which state is the most religious?
To rank the most religious states in the country, Smilehub compared each state based on 11 criteria in three categories: religious interest and places of worship, religious education and careers, and religious organizations.
According to the Smilehub study, the most religious state in the USA is Alabama. Florida came 19th in the top 20 ranking.
According to the Smilehub study, these are the 20 most religious states in the USA:
- Alabama
- Virginia
- Texas
- Tennessee
- North Carolina
- South Carolina
- Indiana
- Pennsylvania
- Georgia
- new York
- Missouri
- California
- Arkansas
- Minnesota
- Illinois
- Oklahoma
- Mississippi
- Ohio
- Florida
- Kentucky
Which country is the least religious?
The least religious state on this list is Maine, followed by New Hampshire, Nevada, Vermont and Alaska.
Is Florida in the Bible Belt?
There is a saying about Florida that goes, “The further north you go, the further south you go.”
If that doesn’t make sense to you, it means that North Florida is culturally much more southerly than South Florida. And that’s consistent with most maps of the Bible Belt, which usually include only one part of Florida: North Florida.
“The Bible Belt is believed to encompass most of the southeastern United States, stretching from Virginia to northern Florida and west into parts of Texas, Oklahoma and Missouri,” according to Business Insider.
“People in the Bible Belt tend to be conservative and attend church more often than people in other parts of the country.”
Here’s how Florida performed in each of Smilehub’s categories:
- 29. – Percentage of adults who consider religion to be very important in their lives
- 4. – Charities for religious purposes per capita
- 25. – Degrees in Religious Studies per capita
- 10. – Religious institutions per capita
- 13. – Religious occupations per capita
- 11. – Municipalities per capita
