Do you live in a godless city?
The American Bible Society conducted a study to find America's most Bible-minded cities - defined as a combination of how often study participants read the Bible and how accurate they think it is, reported TIME Magazine.
A random nationwide sample of more than 46,000 adults, queried through online interviews and telephone, showed that the Bible Belt is alive and well: Cities in Tennessee, Alabama, Virginia, Missouri and Louisiana are in the top 5 most Bible-minded, whereas cities on the East and West coast are at the bottom of the list.
The study also found an inverse correlation between the size of the city and "Bible friendliness," noting that "Of the top 25 Bible-minded markets, only three have a population of greater than 1 million households: Charlotte, N.C.; Nashville, Tenn.; and Dallas."
Here are the top and bottom 10 lists:
The 10 Most Bible-Minded Cities
- Chattanooga, Tennessee
- Birmingham, Alabama
- Roanoke/Lynchburg, Virginia
- Springfield, Missouri
- Shreveport, Louisiana
- Charlotte, North Carolina
- Greenville/Spartanburg, South Carolina / Asheville, North Carolina
- Little Rock, Arkansas
- Jackson, Mississippi
- Knoxville, Tennessee
The 10 Least Bible-Minded Cities
- Providence, Rhode Island / New Bedford, Massachusetts
- Albany, New York
- Boston, Massachusetts
- San Francisco, California
- Cedar Rapids, Iowa
- Buffalo, New York
- Hartford/New Haven, Connecticut
- Phoenix, Arizona
- Burlington, Vermont
- Portland, Maine
Surprisingly, the den of sin we call Las Vegas didn't even make the top 10 for least Bible-mindedness.