Comments about ‘Spiritual state of the states: Utah and the South are most religious areas in U.S.’

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Salt Lake City, UT

"What will a beleif against gravity do? And how do people prove there lack of beleif? "

*shrugs* Ask the people who don't believe the earth is warming.

Mississippi has the highest rates of obesity, infant mortality, people in the 47% not paying income taxes, and poverty. That's not a blue state. Basically the best thing Alabama has (well, other than football) is that it's not Mississippi.

Boise, ID

Funny that Vermont is last. Joseph Smith left there as quick as he could!

Danbury, CT

Wow, lot's of generalities here from both right and left. Stop trying to understand the world in oversimplified ways, people!

Counter Intelligence
Salt Lake City, UT

If because of its low religiosity your state is more likely to impose amoral secular sexual values in school, less likely to teach that scientific theory is truly theory in science classes, more likely to force others to pay for abortion and abortofacient drugs under the phony guise of being pro-choice when NO is never tolerated as an actual choice, and less likely to tolerate diversity of thought and substitute equality of outcome for equality of opportunity for it citizens, then I would argue that you have little to be proud of in that state.



Well said. The consensus here is usually the more religious the more worthy. From reading comments for a couple years it seems to mean the more judgmental and elitist.

Counter Intelligence
Salt Lake City, UT


AKA "I judge you to be judgemental"

Point noticed

Tyler D
Meridian, ID

@Counter Intelligence and @Blue

Enjoyed reading both of your counter-point comments as good demonstrations of the fact that no one political side has a monopoly on the truth. In my experience most conservative and liberals I know are decent people, they simply emphasis different issues and concerns.

What’s troubling though (and what the media does constantly) is that the two sides talk past each other, and rather than honestly discussing each other’s fair points and criticisms, they instead engage in this silly “yeah, but what about…” back and forth, and then often move on to questioning the other’s motives, character and even patriotism.

Alright, enough of the “nice guy” stuff – Counter Intelligence, are you seriously suggesting that the theory of evolution (which is a “theory” in the same manner as the theory of gravity) and the theory of Creationism (which is a “theory” in the same manner as the theory of Santa Claus) are on equal scientific footing? Science is about teaching facts supported by evidence… nothing more.

Tossing that in didn’t help your case…

layton, UT

56% very religious in Utah, which is probably around 50% are Mormons and maybe 5% Christian(Catholic Protestant. While Vermont is 19% very religious, which maybe 15% are Christian.
Utah with 5% Christians could be the least Christian state in the U.S..

Allen, TX

Let's look at Oregon #46) and Texas (#11). Why? No other reason than I have lived a large part of my adult life in both.

Oregon is more conservative than its reputation would suggest, and Texas is more liberal than it's would suggest.

However, in Oregon, Sunday was just another Saturday, as all the stores were open and all activities were equally schedules on Sunday as on Saturday.

Frankly, it is much easier to observe the Sabbath in Texas, where there are still lots of businesses that close on Sunday, and there are churches on every other corner. I like it that way. If you don't, go to Vermont. (Brrrr)

Manti, UT

Gee Blue, why are you so hung up on public reproductive planning? Why are you so anxious to embrace diversity and equality when some of it breaks the laws of nature and God? What is so great about the THEORY of evolution versus creationism? Actually, I believe that evolution does not deny the Creator but rather shows His infinite intelligence. But both evolution and creationism should be taught in schools in all fairness. I would argue that our state has more opportunities for happiness, less confusion, less evil than the ones who don't believe in a higher power or even religion. Condemning a generally good, healthy, and moral population because you don't agree with their beliefs and calling them backward shows a lot of bias in your part

utah cornhusker

II thought Nebraska would be higher but not higher than Utah. Being raised in Nebraska one of the things I remember the most were friends parents who would go to church on Saturday night and stop for a few belts at the bar before going home. I love Nebraska in many ways but Wish we weren't such a minority back here and that people weren't So intolerant of religions beliefs.

Lightening Lad
Austin , TX

I would be very concerned about being lumped with the least educated and most backward place in the US in Mississippi. It's a state with the highest rate of teen pregnancy, and lowest high school graduation rate . It's the spirituality rather than religious that matters most, that should be our goal, one that must be done in the privacy of each one heart and head, not in the congregation of any church.

Gilmer, TX

The bias against religion and the bias against the South are both interesting. As a Southerner and a graduate of Brigham Young University, I can state that the South is no more racist than any other part of the nation. I do enjoy being with church-going people. The majority of my closest friends are LDS because I spend more time with them and we share so many core beliefs. But I still have many, many non-LDS friends and as a general rule I feel closer to those who regularly attend church. I can tell a real benefit to the average person when he or she attends church.

West Jordan, Utah

Utah and some of these states in the south also have the worst education in the country.

Park City, Ut

Reading many of these comments gives me hope for our beautiful state. We might be (tied with) number 2, but we're nothing like number 1. Now if we could get people to quit voting these yahoos we have into office, I will really start to believe things are changing for the better in Utah!

I know it. I Live it. I Love it.
Provo, UT


Spend some time in Provo. Feel free to meet very well educated people who are religious.

You might spend some time in the south too. Not having the same level of education as other parts of the country doesn't make anyone stupid. One may not have an education, yet still be wise. I'm sure many people in Mississippi are very wise. As many Utahn's revere Joseph Smith as being very wise, despite being uneducated... your question is very ironic.

orem, UT

Tyler D.


The theory of evolution is not equal to the Theory of gravity. The Theory of gravity is consistent. The theory of evolution hits roadblocks occasionally when a skull or bone fragment is found that does not fit in the current model, it is based on our best guesses given the information we know so far. (CI's point)

Santa is a tradition. God is a belief. I'm not sure how the word "theory" applies here.

Stay nice, you had good things to say.

A Quaker
Brooklyn, NY

As a New Yorker, I'd like to point out that you can be widely diverse and not arch-conservative and still be a "most religious area." From the "didyouknow" website:

"83% of New Yorkers are affiliated to some organized religion. This is a rate of adherents larger than that of the state ... one of the highest in the entire United States.

"Christians comprise about 70% of the population; 40% of whom are Catholic and 30% Protestant. They attend approximately ... 6000 churches. New York City also boasts the world’s largest cathedral, the Episcopal Church of St John the Divine.

"12% of New Yorker claim Jewish decent. There are more Jews in New York City than there are in the Jerusalem city limits. They have more than 1000 synagogues...

"There are almost a million Muslims in New York City. ...There are more than 100 mosques in the city, plus an unknown number of small mosques that worshipers set up in their apartments or places that are not visible from the street."

Midwest City, USA, OK

Given the propensity of schools to discriminate or even suspend or expel students who don't agree with common liberals ideas, I don't think looking at publically recorded "education" is terribly useful in determining a populace's quality. Especially since, despite low expenditure, Utah's youth perform quite well-and quite a few of them are homeschooled, gaining reliable one-on-one learning while cutting required costs to public school funding.

I can also say that after spending some time in Mississippi, Texas, Oklahoma, Utah, and red center-Arizona and comparing it to California, Colorodo, and blue-south Arizona, that the mannerism and quality of the former are of a quality lacking in the latter.

Finally, it is in "religiosity" that one is admonished to love their brothers and sisters as God's children, and from which our very inalianable rights are derived. Without it we're left with cold, egotistical, cynical, hypocritical, misrepresenting social alternatives...

Indianapolis, IN

Isn't it fun to listen to ignorance? My guess is that most of you from Utah have never even visited the south, let alone spent any extended period of time down there.
I grew up in Utah, graduated HS in Mississippi, went to BYU, spent a decade in the Northeast, and now I'm in the Midwest. NEWSFLASH! There are backward people everywhere! There are also highly educated people everywhere. Most people regardless of where they live are completely ignorant about the rest of the country and the world. Utah does not hold a monopoly on living in a bubble.
Just be careful making generalizations about groups of people you've never actually met. Some southerners think all Utahns still practice polygamy and sacrifice virgins in the SL temple and toss the bodies out the window into the Great Salt Lake. Sounds ridiculous, right? You people trashing the south don't sound all that different right now.

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