CINXE.COM

<!DOCTYPE html> <html class="client-nojs" lang="en" dir="ltr"> <head> <meta charset="UTF-8"/> <title>Bible Belt - RationalWiki</title> <script>document.documentElement.className="client-js";RLCONF={"wgBreakFrames":!1,"wgSeparatorTransformTable":["",""],"wgDigitTransformTable":["",""],"wgDefaultDateFormat":"dmy","wgMonthNames":["","January","February","March","April","May","June","July","August","September","October","November","December"],"wgRequestId":"Z-yqOLjCvrCTTkRPhLVMYgAAAdM","wgCSPNonce":!1,"wgCanonicalNamespace":"","wgCanonicalSpecialPageName":!1,"wgNamespaceNumber":0,"wgPageName":"Bible_Belt","wgTitle":"Bible Belt","wgCurRevisionId":2603100,"wgRevisionId":2603100,"wgArticleId":9683,"wgIsArticle":!0,"wgIsRedirect":!1,"wgAction":"view","wgUserName":null,"wgUserGroups":["*"],"wgCategories":["Pages using DynamicPageList parser function","Bronze-level articles","United States politics","Articles with funspace counterparts","United States states","Christianity"],"wgPageContentLanguage":"en","wgPageContentModel":"wikitext","wgRelevantPageName":"Bible_Belt","wgRelevantArticleId":9683,"wgIsProbablyEditable":!0 ,"wgRelevantPageIsProbablyEditable":!0,"wgRestrictionEdit":[],"wgRestrictionMove":[],"wgMediaViewerOnClick":!0,"wgMediaViewerEnabledByDefault":!0};RLSTATE={"site.styles":"ready","noscript":"ready","user.styles":"ready","user":"ready","user.options":"loading","ext.cite.styles":"ready","skins.vector.styles.legacy":"ready","mediawiki.toc.styles":"ready"};RLPAGEMODULES=["ext.cite.ux-enhancements","site","mediawiki.page.startup","mediawiki.page.ready","mediawiki.toc","skins.vector.legacy.js","ext.gadget.ReferenceTooltips","mmv.head","mmv.bootstrap.autostart"];</script> <script>(RLQ=window.RLQ||[]).push(function(){mw.loader.implement("user.options@1hzgi",function($,jQuery,require,module){/*@nomin*/mw.user.tokens.set({"patrolToken":"+\\","watchToken":"+\\","csrfToken":"+\\"}); });});</script> <link rel="stylesheet" href="/w/load.php?lang=en&modules=ext.cite.styles%7Cmediawiki.toc.styles%7Cskins.vector.styles.legacy&only=styles&skin=vector"/> <script async="" src="/w/load.php?lang=en&modules=startup&only=scripts&raw=1&skin=vector"></script> <meta name="ResourceLoaderDynamicStyles" content=""/> <link rel="stylesheet" href="/w/load.php?lang=en&modules=site.styles&only=styles&skin=vector"/> <meta name="generator" content="MediaWiki 1.35.6"/> <meta name="description" content="The Bible Belt is the part of the United States where fundamentalist Protestant (particularly Baptist) Christianity is more prevalent than in the rest of the US. Anybody who isn't a Real True Christian™ (see No True Scotsman) may find themselves unwelcome at best, told by their fundamentalist neighbors that they will burn in Hell. Those who are particularly unlucky will indeed find themselves in Hell — that is, Hell on Earth, risking physical attack against themselves or even their children.&#91;1&#93; This happens especially in the smaller towns and villages. It even affects the way they vote.&#91;2&#93; Gay people are probably most at risk. Youngsters who tell their parents that they are gay risk being disowned or even attacked physically.&#91;3&#93;"/> <link rel="alternate" type="application/x-wiki" title="Edit" href="/w/index.php?title=Bible_Belt&action=edit"/> <link rel="edit" title="Edit" href="/w/index.php?title=Bible_Belt&action=edit"/> <link rel="shortcut icon" href="/favicon.ico"/> <link rel="search" type="application/opensearchdescription+xml" href="/w/opensearch_desc.php" title="RationalWiki (en)"/> <link rel="EditURI" type="application/rsd+xml" href="https://rationalwiki.org/w/api.php?action=rsd"/> <link rel="license" href="/wiki/RationalWiki:Copyrights"/> <link rel="alternate" type="application/atom+xml" title="RationalWiki Atom feed" href="/w/index.php?title=Special:RecentChanges&feed=atom"/> <meta property="og:type" content="article"/> <meta property="og:site_name" content="RationalWiki"/> <meta property="og:title" content="Bible Belt"/> <meta property="og:description" content="The Bible Belt is the part of the United States where fundamentalist Protestant (particularly Baptist) Christianity is more prevalent than in the rest of the US. Anybody who isn't a Real True Christian™ (see No True Scotsman) may find themselves unwelcome at best, told by their fundamentalist neighbors that they will burn in Hell. Those who are particularly unlucky will indeed find themselves in Hell — that is, Hell on Earth, risking physical attack against themselves or even their children.&#91;1&#93; This happens especially in the smaller towns and villages. It even affects the way they vote.&#91;2&#93; Gay people are probably most at risk. Youngsters who tell their parents that they are gay risk being disowned or even attacked physically.&#91;3&#93;"/> <meta property="og:url" content="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Bible_Belt"/>  </head> <body class="mediawiki ltr sitedir-ltr mw-hide-empty-elt ns-0 ns-subject mw-editable page-Bible_Belt rootpage-Bible_Belt skin-vector action-view minerva--history-page-action-enabled skin-vector-legacy"> <div id="mw-page-base" class="noprint"></div> <div id="mw-head-base" class="noprint"></div> <div id="content" class="mw-body" role="main"> <a id="top"></a> <div id="siteNotice" class="mw-body-content"><div id="localNotice" lang="en" dir="ltr"><div id="2025_RationalWiki_.27Oregon_Plan.27_Fundraiser"> <table role="presentation" style="margin: 1em auto 1em auto; width: 100%;"> <tbody><tr> <td style="width: 60%; text-align: left;"><big><center><b><a href="/wiki/RationalWiki:Fundraiser" title="RationalWiki:Fundraiser">2025 RationalWiki 'Oregon Plan' Fundraiser</a></b></center></big> <p><b>There is no RationalWiki without you.</b> We are a small non-profit with no staff—we are hundreds of volunteers who document pseudoscience and crankery around the world every day. We will never allow ads because we must remain independent. We cannot rely on big donors with corresponding big agendas. We are not the largest website around, but <a href="/wiki/RationalWiki:Fundraiser" title="RationalWiki:Fundraiser">we believe we play an important role in defending truth and objectivity</a>. </p> </td> <td style="width: 40%; text-align: center;"><big><b><a href="/wiki/RationalWiki:Fundraiser" title="RationalWiki:Fundraiser">Fighting pseudoscience isn't free</a>.<br />We are 100% user-supported! Help and donate $5, $10, $20 or whatever you can today with <img alt="PayPal Logo.png" src="/w/images/thumb/f/fb/PayPal_Logo.png/61px-PayPal_Logo.png" decoding="async" width="61" height="17" srcset="/w/images/thumb/f/fb/PayPal_Logo.png/92px-PayPal_Logo.png 1.5x, /w/images/thumb/f/fb/PayPal_Logo.png/122px-PayPal_Logo.png 2x" data-file-width="883" data-file-height="244" />!</b></big><a href="https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=67BJMQC85CUFW" title="Donate via PayPal" rel="nofollow"><img alt="" src="/w/images/thumb/1/10/DonateButton.png/100px-DonateButton.png" decoding="async" width="100" height="32" srcset="/w/images/thumb/1/10/DonateButton.png/150px-DonateButton.png 1.5x, /w/images/thumb/1/10/DonateButton.png/200px-DonateButton.png 2x" data-file-width="759" data-file-height="241" /></a> </td></tr></tbody></table> <div role="progressbar" style="width: 100%; border: 2px solid black; position: relative; padding: 2px; border-radius: 18px;"> <a href="/wiki/RationalWiki:Fundraiser" title="RationalWiki:Fundraiser"><span style="text-shadow: -1px -1px 0 #FFFFFF, 1px -1px 0 #FFFFFF, -1px 1px 0 #FFFFFF, 1px 1px 0 #FFFFFF; color: black; font-size: 125%; position: absolute; left: 0%; margin: 0 0 0 10px"><b>Donations so far: $8765.50</b></span></a><a href="/wiki/RationalWiki:Fundraiser" title="RationalWiki:Fundraiser"><span style="text-shadow: -1px -1px 0 #FFFFFF, 1px -1px 0 #FFFFFF, -1px 1px 0 #FFFFFF, 1px 1px 0 #FFFFFF; color: black; font-size: 125%; position: absolute; right: 0%; margin: 0 10px 0 0"><b>Goal: $10000</b></span></a><div style="height: 28px; border-radius: 14px; background-color: hsl(70.124,100%,45%); width: 87.655%;"></div> </div></div></div></div> <div class="mw-indicators mw-body-content"> <div id="mw-indicator-bronze" class="mw-indicator"><a href="/wiki/Category:Bronze-level_articles" title="Category:Bronze-level articles"><img alt="Bronze-level article" src="/w/images/thumb/3/3d/Copperbrain.png/25px-Copperbrain.png" decoding="async" width="25" height="25" style="vertical-align: baseline" srcset="/w/images/thumb/3/3d/Copperbrain.png/38px-Copperbrain.png 1.5x, /w/images/thumb/3/3d/Copperbrain.png/50px-Copperbrain.png 2x" data-file-width="800" data-file-height="800" /></a></div> </div> <h1 id="firstHeading" class="firstHeading" lang="en">Bible Belt</h1> <div id="bodyContent" class="mw-body-content"> <div id="siteSub" class="noprint">From RationalWiki</div> <div id="contentSub"></div> <div id="contentSub2"></div> <div id="jump-to-nav"></div> <a class="mw-jump-link" href="#mw-head">Jump to navigation</a> <a class="mw-jump-link" href="#searchInput">Jump to search</a> <div id="mw-content-text" lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr"><div class="mw-parser-output"><table class="infobox" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" style="float: right; margin: 0 0 0.5em 0.5em; text-align:left; border: 1px solid #1E90FF; width:175px;"> <tbody><tr> <td style="font-size: 95%; text-align:center; color:White; background-color:#1E90FF"><b>God, guns, and freedom</b><br /><a href="/wiki/United_States_politics" title="United States politics"><font size="4" color="White"><b>U.S. Politics</b></font></a> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="background-color:#97DEFF;" align="center"><a href="/wiki/Category:United_States_politics" title="Category:United States politics"><img alt="Icon politics USA.svg" src="/w/images/thumb/8/8b/Icon_politics_USA.svg/100px-Icon_politics_USA.svg.png" decoding="async" width="100" height="100" srcset="/w/images/thumb/8/8b/Icon_politics_USA.svg/150px-Icon_politics_USA.svg.png 1.5x, /w/images/thumb/8/8b/Icon_politics_USA.svg/200px-Icon_politics_USA.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="200" data-file-height="200" /></a> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="font-size: 95%; color:White; background-color:#1E90FF; text-align:center;"><b>Starting arguments over Thanksgiving dinner</b> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="font-size: 95%; background-color:#97DEFF;"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Strategic_Defense_Initiative" title="Strategic Defense Initiative">Strategic Defense Initiative</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/National_Prayer_Breakfast" title="National Prayer Breakfast">National Prayer Breakfast</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Rod_Blagojevich" title="Rod Blagojevich">Rod Blagojevich</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Imperialism" title="Imperialism">Imperialism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Donald_Rumsfeld" title="Donald Rumsfeld">Donald Rumsfeld</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Democratic_Socialists_of_America" title="Democratic Socialists of America">Democratic Socialists of America</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Millard_Fillmore" title="Millard Fillmore">Millard Fillmore</a></li></ul> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="font-size: 95%; color:white; background-color:#1E90FF; text-align:center;"><b>Persons of interest</b> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="font-size: 95%; background-color:#97DEFF;"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Tulsi_Gabbard" title="Tulsi Gabbard">Tulsi Gabbard</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Mike_Pence" title="Mike Pence">Mike Pence</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ross_Perot" title="Ross Perot">Ross Perot</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Theodore_Roosevelt" title="Theodore Roosevelt">Theodore Roosevelt</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/A._Philip_Randolph" title="A. Philip Randolph">A. Philip Randolph</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Tim_Walz" title="Tim Walz">Tim Walz</a></li></ul> <div class="vte plainlinks" style="font-size:smaller; text-align:center;"><a href="/wiki/Template:Uspolitics" title="Template:Uspolitics">v</a> - <a href="/wiki/Template_talk:Uspolitics" title="Template talk:Uspolitics">t</a> - <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://rationalwiki.org/w/index.php?title=Template:Uspolitics&action=edit">e</a></div> </td></tr></tbody></table> <div role="note" class="hatnote">Sorry, were you looking for the <a href="/wiki/Confederate_States_of_America" title="Confederate States of America">Confederate States of America</a> or <a href="/wiki/Jesusland" class="mw-redirect" title="Jesusland">Jesusland</a>?</div><div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:302px;"><a href="/wiki/File:Bible_belt.PNG" class="image"><img alt="" src="/w/images/thumb/9/9a/Bible_belt.PNG/300px-Bible_belt.PNG" decoding="async" width="300" height="186" class="thumbimage" srcset="/w/images/thumb/9/9a/Bible_belt.PNG/450px-Bible_belt.PNG 1.5x, /w/images/9/9a/Bible_belt.PNG 2x" data-file-width="506" data-file-height="313" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:Bible_belt.PNG" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>The extent of the Bible Belt. On the bright side though, you may assume that there are small gray holes in the places where Atlanta, Dallas, Nashville, Charlotte, Austin, Jacksonville, Raleigh, and Houston are. And as is the case in most other areas of the country, or even the world, these cities are where the vast majority of the people live.</div></div></div> <p>The <b>Bible Belt</b> is the part of the <a href="/wiki/United_States" title="United States">United States</a> where <a href="/wiki/Fundamentalism" title="Fundamentalism">fundamentalist</a> <a href="/wiki/Protestant" title="Protestant">Protestant</a> (particularly <a href="/wiki/Baptist" title="Baptist">Baptist</a>) <a href="/wiki/Christianity" title="Christianity">Christianity</a> is more prevalent than in the rest of the US. Anybody who isn't a <a href="/wiki/Kool-Aid_drinker" class="mw-redirect" title="Kool-Aid drinker">Real True Christian™</a> (see <a href="/wiki/No_True_Scotsman" title="No True Scotsman">No True Scotsman</a>) may find themselves unwelcome at best, told by their fundamentalist neighbors that they will burn in <a href="/wiki/Hell" title="Hell">Hell</a>. Those who are particularly unlucky will indeed find themselves in Hell — that is, Hell on Earth, risking physical attack against themselves or even their children.<sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-1">[1]</a></sup> This happens especially in the smaller towns and villages. It even affects the way they vote.<sup id="cite_ref-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-2">[2]</a></sup> <a href="/wiki/Homosexuality" title="Homosexuality">Gay people</a> are probably most at risk. Youngsters who tell their parents that they are gay risk being disowned or even attacked physically.<sup id="cite_ref-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-3">[3]</a></sup> </p><p>While the Bible Belt is often considered synonymous with the American <a href="/wiki/The_South" title="The South">South</a>,<sup id="cite_ref-4" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-4">[note 1]</a></sup> many people will consider themselves from the Bible Belt if their particular town or family followed a Bible Belt-style existence. Also, "Bible Belt" can also be extended to refer to high prevalence of Christianity in regions outside the United States. For instance, in <a href="/wiki/Sweden" title="Sweden">Sweden</a>, there is a Bible Belt between Jönköping and Gothenburg, while Southern Norway is referred to as the Bible Belt in <a href="/wiki/Norway" title="Norway">Norway</a>. Oddly enough, in colonial America and the early United States, <a href="/wiki/New_England" title="New England">New England</a> was the unquestioned Bible Belt; starting in the 1840s, immigration from Ireland and Italy brought along <a href="/wiki/Catholicism" class="mw-redirect" title="Catholicism">Catholicism</a>, which dulled the Protestant and Puritanical influence over the region. </p> <div id="toc" class="toc" role="navigation" aria-labelledby="mw-toc-heading"><input type="checkbox" role="button" id="toctogglecheckbox" class="toctogglecheckbox" style="display:none" /><div class="toctitle" lang="en" dir="ltr"><h2 id="mw-toc-heading">Contents</h2><span class="toctogglespan"><label class="toctogglelabel" for="toctogglecheckbox"></label></span></div> <ul> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-1"><a href="#Buckle"><span class="tocnumber">1</span> <span class="toctext">Buckle</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-2"><a href="#The_rest_of_the_world"><span class="tocnumber">2</span> <span class="toctext">The rest of the world</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-3"><a href="#Alternate_definition"><span class="tocnumber">3</span> <span class="toctext">Alternate definition</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-4"><a href="#Dirty_little_secrets"><span class="tocnumber">4</span> <span class="toctext">Dirty little secrets</span></a> <ul> <li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-5"><a href="#The_Poverty_Belt"><span class="tocnumber">4.1</span> <span class="toctext">The Poverty Belt</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-6"><a href="#The_Poor_Health_Belt"><span class="tocnumber">4.2</span> <span class="toctext">The Poor Health Belt</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-7"><a href="#The_Divorce_Belt"><span class="tocnumber">4.3</span> <span class="toctext">The Divorce Belt</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-8"><a href="#The_Swinger_Belt"><span class="tocnumber">4.4</span> <span class="toctext">The Swinger Belt</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-9"><a href="#Belt_of_Four_Deadly_Sins_and_only_One_Heavenly_Virtue"><span class="tocnumber">4.5</span> <span class="toctext">Belt of Four Deadly Sins and only One Heavenly Virtue</span></a></li> </ul> </li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-10"><a href="#External_links"><span class="tocnumber">5</span> <span class="toctext">External links</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-11"><a href="#See_also"><span class="tocnumber">6</span> <span class="toctext">See also</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-12"><a href="#Notes"><span class="tocnumber">7</span> <span class="toctext">Notes</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-13"><a href="#References"><span class="tocnumber">8</span> <span class="toctext">References</span></a></li> </ul> </div> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="Buckle">Buckle</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Bible_Belt&action=edit&section=1" title="Edit section: Buckle">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <p>Many different places try to claim to be the "buckle of the Bible Belt," usually intended to mean the most fundamentalist part. <a href="/wiki/Tennessee" class="mw-redirect" title="Tennessee">Tennessee</a>, <a href="/wiki/Oklahoma" class="mw-redirect" title="Oklahoma">Oklahoma</a>, southern <a href="/wiki/Ohio" class="mw-redirect" title="Ohio">Ohio</a>, northwestern <a href="/wiki/Georgia" title="Georgia">Georgia</a>, and the <a href="/wiki/Florida" class="mw-redirect" title="Florida">Florida Panhandle</a> are often considered contenders. While not contiguous with the rest of the Bible Belt, the city of Colorado Springs, <a href="/wiki/Colorado" class="mw-redirect" title="Colorado">Colorado</a> is often held to be an exclave of the Bible Belt due to the preponderance of conservative Protestant <a href="/wiki/Megachurch" title="Megachurch">megachurches</a> and activist groups in the city — something that regularly makes the rest of Colorado (which is profoundly liberal/libertarian-leaning) uneasy. </p><p>The original "buckle" was Dayton, Tennessee. <a href="/wiki/H.L._Mencken" title="H.L. Mencken">H.L. Mencken</a> coined the term when he visited the town to report on the <a href="/wiki/Scopes_trial" title="Scopes trial">Scopes trial</a>. Nowadays, Oklahoma and north-central <a href="/wiki/Texas" class="mw-redirect" title="Texas">Texas</a> are typically considered the core of the region by researchers on the subject.<sup id="cite_ref-5" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-5">[4]</a></sup> </p><p>While <a href="/wiki/Utah" class="mw-redirect" title="Utah">Utah</a>, southern <a href="/wiki/Idaho" class="mw-redirect" title="Idaho">Idaho</a>, and <a href="/wiki/Arizona" class="mw-redirect" title="Arizona">Arizona</a> also have a large number of fundamentalist Christians, the Christianity in that part of the country is of the <a href="/wiki/Mormonism" title="Mormonism">Mormon</a> variety more often than not, and so they and the denizens of the "proper" Bible Belt view each other as God-forsaken <a href="/wiki/Heresy" title="Heresy">heretics</a>. This region of the country is known as the Mormon Corridor, or the Jell-O Belt (a Mormon stereotype is that they love the gelatin snack food Jell-O). </p><p>The opposite is the "Unchurched Belt", which goes across <a href="/wiki/Nevada" class="mw-redirect" title="Nevada">Nevada</a>, <a href="/wiki/Oregon" class="mw-redirect" title="Oregon">Oregon</a>, <a href="/wiki/Washington" class="mw-redirect" title="Washington">Washington</a>, and <a href="/wiki/Alaska" class="mw-redirect" title="Alaska">Alaska</a> (as well as <a href="/wiki/British_Columbia" class="mw-redirect" title="British Columbia">British Columbia</a>) and was known for having the lowest rates of religious attendance. In more recent years, however, <a href="/wiki/New_England" title="New England">New England</a> may have surpassed the Unchurched Belt in this regard. </p> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="The_rest_of_the_world">The rest of the world</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Bible_Belt&action=edit&section=2" title="Edit section: The rest of the world">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <p>Up to the 1990s, people in other countries could say, “It’s sad. Religious people in some parts of the United States are crazy. It’s nothing to do with us and we can’t do anything about it.” Not so today, in the modern world of the <a href="/wiki/Internet" title="Internet">Internet</a> where information is easy to find and practically accessible to all. </p> <ul><li>The bad side: Today, United States <a href="/wiki/Fundy" class="mw-redirect" title="Fundy">fundies</a> from the Bible Belt and from the rest of the United States are active on the <a href="/wiki/Internet" title="Internet">Internet</a>. Fundamentalists in other countries are vulnerable to infection with American fundamentalist ideas, along with some more liberal Christians. English speaking countries are especially vulnerable, since English is the only language most American fundamentalists are "<a href="/wiki/Glossolalia" class="mw-redirect" title="Glossolalia">fluent</a>" in.</li> <li>The good side: Today, rational people from the whole English-speaking world can contact people in the Bible Belt and can denounce their illogical thinking or reach out to those harmed by the bigots in the Bible Belt. Many Bible Belt <a href="/wiki/Fundy_loon" class="mw-redirect" title="Fundy loon">fundamentalists</a> are too <a href="/wiki/Brainwashing" title="Brainwashing">brainwashed</a> to hear the message, but, hopefully, some will listen. At the same time, individuals in the Bible Belt (as well as other closed societies) can be exposed to ideas they would never encounter in their community.</li> <li>The completely flip side: Also, today, Americans can see that other countries<sup id="cite_ref-6" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-6">[note 2]</a></sup> have their own issues with religious extremists, despite their efforts to conceal it. (We're looking at YOU, <a href="/wiki/Canada" title="Canada">Canada</a>.)<sup id="cite_ref-7" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-7">[note 3]</a></sup></li></ul> <p>Additionally, some European countries such as the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden have their own Bible Belts – see the Wikipedia articles on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bible_Belt_(Netherlands)" class="extiw" title="wp:Bible Belt (Netherlands)" rel="nofollow"><span style="color:#477979 !important;" title="Wikipedia: Bible Belt (Netherlands)">Bible Belt (Netherlands)</span></a>,<sup><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/12px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png" decoding="async" width="12" height="12" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/18px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/24px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="128" data-file-height="128" /></sup> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bible_Belt_(Norway)" class="extiw" title="wp:Bible Belt (Norway)" rel="nofollow"><span style="color:#477979 !important;" title="Wikipedia: Bible Belt (Norway)">Bible Belt (Norway)</span></a>,<sup><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/12px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png" decoding="async" width="12" height="12" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/18px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/24px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="128" data-file-height="128" /></sup> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bible_Belt_(Sweden)" class="extiw" title="wp:Bible Belt (Sweden)" rel="nofollow"><span style="color:#477979 !important;" title="Wikipedia: Bible Belt (Sweden)">Bible Belt (Sweden)</span></a>.<sup><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/12px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png" decoding="async" width="12" height="12" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/18px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/24px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="128" data-file-height="128" /></sup> </p> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="Alternate_definition">Alternate definition</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Bible_Belt&action=edit&section=3" title="Edit section: Alternate definition">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <div style="clear: right; float:right; border:solid #ff8500 1px; margin: 1px 0; width:250px; padding:2px; background:#ffff80;"> <table cellspacing="0"> <tbody><tr> <td style="width:45px;height:45px;text-align:center"><span class="plainlinks"><a href="/wiki/File:Icon_fun.svg" class="image"><img alt="Icon fun.svg" src="/w/images/thumb/5/5c/Icon_fun.svg/50px-Icon_fun.svg.png" decoding="async" width="50" height="50" srcset="/w/images/thumb/5/5c/Icon_fun.svg/75px-Icon_fun.svg.png 1.5x, /w/images/thumb/5/5c/Icon_fun.svg/100px-Icon_fun.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="200" data-file-height="200" /></a></span> </td> <td style="font-size:9pt;padding:4pt;line-height:1.25em;color:red;">For those of you in the mood, <a href="/wiki/RationalWiki" title="RationalWiki">RationalWiki</a> has a <i>fun</i> article about <i><a href="/wiki/Fun:Jesusland" title="Fun:Jesusland">Jesusland</a></i>. </td></tr></tbody></table></div> <p>Take a belt. A good, stout leather belt is best. Inscribe upon it some appropriate Bible verses, such as: </p> <ul><li>"He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes." (<a href="/wiki/RationalWiki:Annotated_Bible/Proverbs#Proverbs_13:24" title="RationalWiki:Annotated Bible/Proverbs">Proverbs 13:24</a>)</li> <li>"Chasten thy son while there is hope, and let not thy soul spare for his crying." (<a href="/wiki/RationalWiki:Annotated_Bible/Proverbs#Proverbs_19:18" title="RationalWiki:Annotated Bible/Proverbs">Proverbs 19:18</a>)</li> <li>"Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him." (<a href="/wiki/RationalWiki:Annotated_Bible/Proverbs#Proverbs_22:15" title="RationalWiki:Annotated Bible/Proverbs">Proverbs 22:15</a>)</li> <li>"Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die. Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell." (<a href="/wiki/RationalWiki:Annotated_Bible/Proverbs#Proverbs_23:13" title="RationalWiki:Annotated Bible/Proverbs">Proverbs 23:13-14</a>)</li> <li>"The rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame." (<a href="/wiki/RationalWiki:Annotated_Bible/Proverbs#Proverbs_29:15" title="RationalWiki:Annotated Bible/Proverbs">Proverbs 29:15</a>)</li> <li>"The Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son. Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father?" (<a href="/wiki/RationalWiki:Annotated_Bible/Hebrews#Hebrews_12:6" title="RationalWiki:Annotated Bible/Hebrews">Hebrews 12:6-7</a>)</li> <li>"And the king answered the people roughly, and forsook the counsel of the old men which they had given him, and spake to them after the counsel of the young men, saying, My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke: my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions." (<a href="/wiki/RationalWiki:Annotated_Bible/1_Kings#1_Kings_12:13" title="RationalWiki:Annotated Bible/1 Kings">1 Kings 12:13-14</a>)</li> <li>"And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers' money, and overthrew the tables" (<a href="/wiki/RationalWiki:Annotated_Bible/John#John_2:15" title="RationalWiki:Annotated Bible/John">John 2:15</a>)</li></ul> <p>This Bible Belt is best used in conjunction with a good old fashioned woodshed. See also: <i><a href="/wiki/To_Train_Up_a_Child" title="To Train Up a Child">To Train Up a Child</a></i>. </p> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="Dirty_little_secrets">Dirty little secrets</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Bible_Belt&action=edit&section=4" title="Edit section: Dirty little secrets">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <p>Many Bible Belters will brag about their God-fearin', small-town values, though since they are disproportionately affected by <a href="/wiki/Poverty" title="Poverty">poverty</a>, they suffer from the negative consequences of poverty. Politicians also promote bad policy in the name of religion that affects the quality of the education, which, in turn, also has negative consequences<sup id="cite_ref-8" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-8">[note 4]</a></sup> (see promotion of <a href="/wiki/Abstinence_programs" title="Abstinence programs">abstinence-only education</a>). As another website critical of religious extremism puts it, the Bible Belt: </p> <blockquote class="letter" style="width:auto; background:#f8f8ff; border:1px solid #C9C9CF;"> <p>…is an area with the highest divorce, murder, STD/HIV/AIDS, teen pregnancy, single parent homes, infant mortality, and obesity rates in the nation. As a region, the Bible Belt has the poorest health care systems and the lowest rates of high school graduation.<sup id="cite_ref-9" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-9">[5]</a></sup> </p> </blockquote> <h3><span class="mw-headline" id="The_Poverty_Belt">The Poverty Belt</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Bible_Belt&action=edit&section=5" title="Edit section: The Poverty Belt">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h3> <div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:302px;"><a href="/wiki/File:PoorestUSstates2021.jpeg" class="image"><img alt="" src="/w/images/thumb/1/14/PoorestUSstates2021.jpeg/300px-PoorestUSstates2021.jpeg" decoding="async" width="300" height="206" class="thumbimage" srcset="/w/images/thumb/1/14/PoorestUSstates2021.jpeg/450px-PoorestUSstates2021.jpeg 1.5x, /w/images/thumb/1/14/PoorestUSstates2021.jpeg/600px-PoorestUSstates2021.jpeg 2x" data-file-width="1024" data-file-height="704" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:PoorestUSstates2021.jpeg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>US states ranked by poverty, with the poorest being colored in red</div></div></div> <p>With the exceptions of Virginia and Kansas, the Bible Belt is the poorest region of the country. Much of this is due to the historical legacy that <a href="/wiki/Slavery" title="Slavery">slavery</a> had over this region, as well as the refusal to modernize anywhere with the exception of again, Virginia. Two areas in particular stand out: the Appalachian region of West Virginia and eastern Kentucky and the Mississippi river delta. A UN report on these regions has stated that there are "third world conditions" in these areas.<sup id="cite_ref-10" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-10">[6]</a></sup> Ultimately, the only areas in America that are poorer than those two are various Native American reservations, most notably Pine Ridge in <a href="/wiki/South_Dakota" class="mw-redirect" title="South Dakota">South Dakota</a>. </p> <h3><span class="mw-headline" id="The_Poor_Health_Belt">The Poor Health Belt</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Bible_Belt&action=edit&section=6" title="Edit section: The Poor Health Belt">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h3> <div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:302px;"><a href="/wiki/File:US_Obesity_Rates.svg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7d/US_Obesity_Rates.svg/300px-US_Obesity_Rates.svg.png" decoding="async" width="300" height="186" class="thumbimage" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7d/US_Obesity_Rates.svg/450px-US_Obesity_Rates.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7d/US_Obesity_Rates.svg/600px-US_Obesity_Rates.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="959" data-file-height="593" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:US_Obesity_Rates.svg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div><a href="/wiki/Mississippi" class="mw-redirect" title="Mississippi">Mississippi</a>: the buckle barely fastening on the obesity belt.</div></div></div> <p>Many Bible Belters have poor diets largely from systemic issues tied to poverty including poor quality healthcare, income inequality, and the propagation of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_desert" class="extiw" title="wp:Food desert" rel="nofollow"><span style="color:#477979 !important;" title="Wikipedia: Food desert">food deserts</span></a>;<sup><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/12px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png" decoding="async" width="12" height="12" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/18px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/24px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="128" data-file-height="128" /></sup> food deserts are concentrated largely in the Bible Belt. The result is to be expected: This area of the U.S. has the highest <a href="/wiki/Obesity" title="Obesity">obesity</a> rate in the country.<sup id="cite_ref-11" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-11">[7]</a></sup> Or, as a doctor conducting a mobile free clinic in New Orleans put it, "What used to be called the Bible belt — the Southern states — is now called the stroke belt, the <a href="/wiki/HIV" class="mw-redirect" title="HIV">HIV</a> belt, the hypertension belt. We have a high rate of hypertension, probably the highest rates in the world."<sup id="cite_ref-12" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-12">[8]</a></sup> </p><p>The South Pacific Islands (other than <a href="/wiki/Papua_New_Guinea" title="Papua New Guinea">Papua New Guinea</a>), which are often considered the "world's Bible belt" because of their high evangelical Protestant membership, happen to have the highest obesity rate in the world as well, though there are factors unique to the South Pacific Islands, including the people living there having a bigger natural frame. As with the Bible Belt, low income and poor access drives these people to eat less healthy, where fishermen reportedly sell their catches to buy more substantial canned tuna and a bottle of soda is cheaper than a bottle of water.<sup id="cite_ref-13" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-13">[9]</a></sup> Additionally, in the wake of urban development, these people also have adapted to a lifestyle change where outside busy-work is replaced with sedentary offices. </p> <div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:302px;"><a href="/wiki/File:US_death_rate_for_lung_cancer-2013.svg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1e/US_death_rate_for_lung_cancer-2013.svg/300px-US_death_rate_for_lung_cancer-2013.svg.png" decoding="async" width="300" height="200" class="thumbimage" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1e/US_death_rate_for_lung_cancer-2013.svg/450px-US_death_rate_for_lung_cancer-2013.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1e/US_death_rate_for_lung_cancer-2013.svg/600px-US_death_rate_for_lung_cancer-2013.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="600" data-file-height="400" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:US_death_rate_for_lung_cancer-2013.svg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>US death rates for lung cancer</div></div></div> <p>Some of the highest rates of <a href="/wiki/Smoking" class="mw-redirect" title="Smoking">smoking</a>-related deaths are found in the Bible Belt. This is at least partly due to tobacco being grown here and the influence of the tobacco industry on local politics.<sup id="cite_ref-14" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-14">[10]</a></sup> </p> <h3><span class="mw-headline" id="The_Divorce_Belt">The Divorce Belt</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Bible_Belt&action=edit&section=7" title="Edit section: The Divorce Belt">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h3> <p>The Bible Belt leads the nation in <a href="/wiki/Divorce" title="Divorce">divorce</a>,<sup id="cite_ref-15" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-15">[11]</a></sup> as you might expect among people who <a href="/wiki/Hypocrisy" title="Hypocrisy">go on and on about the "sanctity of marriage"</a>. Meanwhile, those liberal heathens in <a href="/wiki/New_England" title="New England">New England</a> tend to have the lowest divorce rates.<sup id="cite_ref-16" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-16">[note 5]</a></sup> </p> <h3><span class="mw-headline" id="The_Swinger_Belt">The Swinger Belt</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Bible_Belt&action=edit&section=8" title="Edit section: The Swinger Belt">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h3> <p>You would think that <a href="/wiki/Fundy" class="mw-redirect" title="Fundy">fundy</a> parents would have realized by now that <a href="/wiki/Backfire_effect" title="Backfire effect">enforcing sexual repression on their kids just makes them hornier</a>. Maybe that explains why the Bible Belt is one of the nation's hotbeds for swingers (**cough cough <a href="/wiki/Florida" class="mw-redirect" title="Florida">Florida</a>**).<sup id="cite_ref-17" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-17">[12]</a></sup> </p> <h3><span class="mw-headline" id="Belt_of_Four_Deadly_Sins_and_only_One_Heavenly_Virtue">Belt of Four Deadly Sins and only One Heavenly Virtue</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Bible_Belt&action=edit&section=9" title="Edit section: Belt of Four Deadly Sins and only One Heavenly Virtue">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h3> <p>Geographers from Kansas once tried to plot the seven deadly sins on a map. All combined, it turns out that people are the most sinful in Washington, the south-east coast, and the Bible Belt. Meanwhile, those in the Midwest and Rust Belt are the least sinful. People from the Bible Belt tend to be more charitable, given that it has less income inequality than the rest of the United States outside of the Midwest, but they are more envious, wrathful, and lustful than the rest of the United States, due to the higher amount of crime and sexually transmitted disease per capita. Due to how sinful they were, they ended up being one of the regions in the United States with the highest amount of pride.<sup id="cite_ref-18" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-18">[13]</a></sup> </p> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="External_links">External links</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Bible_Belt&action=edit&section=10" title="Edit section: External links">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <ul><li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://vizhub.healthdata.org/subnational/usa">US Health Map: Mortality rates</a> <i>Viz Hub</i> — 2014 mortality rates also show a correspondence with the Bible Belt</li></ul> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="See_also">See also</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Bible_Belt&action=edit&section=11" title="Edit section: See also">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Chastity_belt" title="Chastity belt">Chastity belt</a> — Ok, not a geographical area, but still...</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Reformed_Political_Party" title="Reformed Political Party">Reformed Political Party</a> — the part of the <a href="/wiki/Netherlands" title="Netherlands">Netherlands</a> that they win most of their votes from is called the Bible Belt in Dutch discourse</li></ul> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="Notes">Notes</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Bible_Belt&action=edit&section=12" title="Edit section: Notes">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <div class="references-small" style="font-size:90%;"> <div class="mw-references-wrap"><ol class="references"> <li id="cite_note-4"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-4">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">Residents of <a href="/wiki/California" class="mw-redirect" title="California">California</a> say it's the Southeast, we are not one of them! Wait, <a href="/wiki/California_Proposition_8" title="California Proposition 8">are we</a>?</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-6"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-6">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">Or at least Americans can see that there <i>are</i> other countries.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-7"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-7">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">Why us? We're not responsible for what <a href="/wiki/Alberta" class="mw-redirect" title="Alberta">Alberta</a> does.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-8"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-8">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">Fill people's heads with stupid ideas and they're bound to make stupid decisions.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-16"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-16">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">The liberal tendency to see women as <i>people</i> who are <i>actually worthy of respect and consideration</i> (rather than merely "<a href="/wiki/Misogyny#Christianity" title="Misogyny">penis homes</a>" and <a href="/wiki/Quiverfull" title="Quiverfull">baby factories</a>) probably has something to do with this.</span> </li> </ol></div></div> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="References">References</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Bible_Belt&action=edit&section=13" title="Edit section: References">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <div class="references-small" style="-moz-column-count:2; -webkit-column-count:2; column-count:2; font-size:80%;"> <div class="mw-references-wrap mw-references-columns"><ol class="references"> <li id="cite_note-1"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-1">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">William W. Zellner. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.tueursenserie.org/enplus/DeepBibleBelt.htm">Deep In The Bible Belt — One Atheist Professor's Experience</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-2"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-2">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">Mark Mardell. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-16663098">Candidates need saving in Bible Belt</a>. <i>BBC News</i>. 2012 January 21.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-3"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-3">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">Bernadette C. Barton. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.alternet.org/story/136610/">Young and Gay in the Bible Belt: 'My Mom Came at Me With a Butcher Knife!'</a> <i>Alternet</i>. 2009 April 14.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-5"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-5">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/26228980">The Bible Belt in a Changing South</a>, Stanley D. Brunn et al., University of North Carolina Press</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-9"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-9">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20160413035009/http://www.stopthereligiousright.org/biblebelt.htm">Stop The Religious Right.org</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-10"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-10">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">Junior Walters, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.facingsouth.org/2018/07/southern-poverty-gets-united-nations-attention">Southern poverty gets the United Nations' attention</a>, Facing South 11 Jul. 2018</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-11"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-11">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.ethicsdaily.com/bible-belt-needs-a-bigger-belt-9-of-10-obese-states-in-south-cms-18182">Bible Belt Needs a Bigger Belt: 9 of 10 Obese States in South</a>. Ethics Daily. 2011 July 11.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-12"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-12">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38994982/ns/msnbc-countdown_with_keith_olbermann/t/countdown-keith-olbermann-wednesday-september-st/">Transcript for "Countdown with Keith Olbermann" for Wednesday, September 1st, 2010</a>. MSNBC. 2010 September 1.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-13"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-13">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">Senthilingam, M. (May 1, 2015). "<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.cnn.com/2015/05/01/health/pacific-islands-obesity/index.html">How paradise became the fattest place in the world</a>". <i>CNN</i>. Accessed June 27, 2021.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-14"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-14">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.nbcnews.com/health/cancer/smoking-kills-more-southerners-study-finds-n671921">Smoking Kills More Southerners, Study Finds</a> (Oct 24 2016, 2:30 pm ET) <i>NBC Nerws</i>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-15"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-15">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">Pam Belluck. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/14/weekinreview/14pamb.html">To Avoid Divorce, Move to Massachusetts</a>. <i>New York Times</i>. 2004 November 14.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-17"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-17">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">Forrest Wilder. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.texasobserver.org/dateline/he-who-casts-the-first-stone">He Who Casts the First Stone</a>. <i>Texas Observer</i>. 2010 February 24.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-18"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-18">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.wired.com/2009/08/st-sinmaps/">American Vice: Mapping the 7 Deadly Sins</a> by Wired Staff, August, 24, 2009, <i>Wired</i></span> </li> </ol></div></div> <div role="navigation" aria-labelledby="States_of_the_United_States-navbox" style="clear:both;"> <table class="toccolours collapsible collapsed autocollapse innercollapse outercollapse navbox nowraplinks" style="width:100%;"> <tbody><tr> <th colspan="4" style="background:#1E90FF; color:white; text-align:center;"><div style="float:left;" class="navbar"><div class="vte plainlinks" style="font-size:smaller; text-align:center;"><a href="/wiki/Template:Usstates" title="Template:Usstates"><span style="color:white">v</span></a> - <a href="/wiki/Template_talk:Usstates" title="Template talk:Usstates"><span style="color:white">t</span></a> - <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://rationalwiki.org/w/index.php?title=Template:Usstates&action=edit"><span style="color:white">e</span></a></div></div><span style="color:white; font-size:120%"><a href="/wiki/Category:United_States_states" title="Category:United States states"><span style="color:white">Articles</span></a> about <a href="/wiki/United_States" title="United States"><span id="States_of_the_United_States-navbox" style="color:white">States of the United States</span></a></span> </th></tr> <tr> <td colspan="3" style="background:#1E90FF; width:25%; text-align:right;"><b><a href="/wiki/Category:Northeastern_United_States_states" title="Category:Northeastern United States states"><span style="color:white; font-size:125%">Northeastern United States states:</span></a></b> </td> <td style="background:#97DEFF;"> <a href="/wiki/Fun:Connecticut" title="Fun:Connecticut">Connecticut</a> • <a href="/wiki/Fun:Maine" title="Fun:Maine">Maine</a> • <a href="/wiki/Fun:Massachusetts" title="Fun:Massachusetts">Massachusetts</a> • <a href="/wiki/Fun:New_Hampshire" title="Fun:New Hampshire">New Hampshire</a> • <a href="/wiki/Fun:New_York" title="Fun:New York">New York</a> • <a href="/wiki/Fun:Pennsylvania" title="Fun:Pennsylvania">Pennsylvania</a> • <a href="/wiki/Fun:Rhode_Island" title="Fun:Rhode Island">Rhode Island</a> • <a href="/wiki/Fun:Vermont" title="Fun:Vermont">Vermont</a> • <a href="/wiki/Fun:Delaware" title="Fun:Delaware">Delaware</a> • <a href="/wiki/Fun:Maryland" title="Fun:Maryland">Maryland</a> • <a href="/wiki/Fun:New_Jersey" title="Fun:New Jersey">New Jersey</a> • </td></tr> <tr> <td colspan="3" style="background:#1E90FF; width:25%; text-align:right;"><b><a href="/wiki/Category:Southern_United_States_states" title="Category:Southern United States states"><span style="color:white; font-size:125%">Southern United States states:</span></a></b> </td> <td style="background:#97DEFF;"> <a href="/wiki/Fun:Alabama" title="Fun:Alabama">Alabama</a> • <a href="/wiki/Fun:Mississippi" title="Fun:Mississippi">Mississippi</a> • <a href="/wiki/Fun:Louisiana" title="Fun:Louisiana">Louisiana</a> • <a href="/wiki/Fun:Kentucky" title="Fun:Kentucky">Kentucky</a> • <a href="/wiki/Fun:Georgia_(U.S._state)" title="Fun:Georgia (U.S. state)">Georgia (U.S. state)</a> • <a href="/wiki/Fun:West_Virginia" title="Fun:West Virginia">West Virginia</a> • <a href="/wiki/Fun:Texas" title="Fun:Texas">Texas</a> • <a href="/wiki/Fun:Tennessee" title="Fun:Tennessee">Tennessee</a> • <a href="/wiki/Fun:South_Carolina" title="Fun:South Carolina">South Carolina</a> • <a href="/wiki/Fun:Oklahoma" title="Fun:Oklahoma">Oklahoma</a> • <a href="/wiki/Fun:North_Carolina" title="Fun:North Carolina">North Carolina</a> • <a href="/wiki/Fun:Arkansas" title="Fun:Arkansas">Arkansas</a> • <a href="/wiki/Fun:Virginia" title="Fun:Virginia">Virginia</a> • <a href="/wiki/Fun:Florida" title="Fun:Florida">Florida</a> • </td></tr> <tr> <td colspan="3" style="background:#1E90FF; width:25%; text-align:right;"><b><a href="/wiki/Category:Midwestern_United_States_states" title="Category:Midwestern United States states"><span style="color:white; font-size:125%">Midwestern United States states:</span></a></b> </td> <td style="background:#97DEFF;"> <a href="/wiki/Fun:Missouri" title="Fun:Missouri">Missouri</a> • <a href="/wiki/Fun:Kansas" title="Fun:Kansas">Kansas</a> • <a href="/wiki/Fun:Illinois" title="Fun:Illinois">Illinois</a> • <a href="/wiki/Fun:Indiana" title="Fun:Indiana">Indiana</a> • <a href="/wiki/Fun:Iowa" title="Fun:Iowa">Iowa</a> • <a href="/wiki/Fun:Michigan" title="Fun:Michigan">Michigan</a> • <a href="/wiki/Fun:Minnesota" title="Fun:Minnesota">Minnesota</a> • <a href="/wiki/Fun:Nebraska" title="Fun:Nebraska">Nebraska</a> • <a href="/wiki/Fun:North_Dakota" title="Fun:North Dakota">North Dakota</a> • <a href="/wiki/Fun:Ohio" title="Fun:Ohio">Ohio</a> • <a href="/wiki/Fun:South_Dakota" title="Fun:South Dakota">South Dakota</a> • <a href="/wiki/Fun:Wisconsin" title="Fun:Wisconsin">Wisconsin</a> • </td></tr> <tr> <td colspan="3" style="background:#1E90FF; width:25%; text-align:right;"><b><a href="/wiki/Category:Western_United_States_states" title="Category:Western United States states"><span style="color:white; font-size:125%">Western United States states:</span></a></b> </td> <td style="background:#97DEFF;"> <a href="/wiki/Fun:Alaska" title="Fun:Alaska">Alaska</a> • <a href="/wiki/Fun:Arizona" title="Fun:Arizona">Arizona</a> • <a href="/wiki/Fun:Colorado" title="Fun:Colorado">Colorado</a> • <a href="/wiki/Fun:Hawaii" title="Fun:Hawaii">Hawaii</a> • <a href="/wiki/Fun:Idaho" title="Fun:Idaho">Idaho</a> • <a href="/wiki/Fun:Montana" title="Fun:Montana">Montana</a> • <a href="/wiki/Fun:Nevada" title="Fun:Nevada">Nevada</a> • <a href="/wiki/Fun:New_Mexico" title="Fun:New Mexico">New Mexico</a> • <a href="/wiki/Fun:Oregon" title="Fun:Oregon">Oregon</a> • <a href="/wiki/Fun:Utah" title="Fun:Utah">Utah</a> • <a href="/wiki/Fun:Wyoming" title="Fun:Wyoming">Wyoming</a> • <a href="/wiki/Fun:Washington" title="Fun:Washington">Washington</a> • <a href="/wiki/Fun:California" title="Fun:California">California</a> • </td></tr> <tr> <td colspan="3" style="background:#1E90FF; width:25%; text-align:right;"><b><a href="/wiki/Category:United_States_territories" title="Category:United States territories"><span style="color:white; font-size:125%">United States territories:</span></a></b> </td> <td style="background:#97DEFF;"> <a href="/wiki/Fun:Washington,_D.C." title="Fun:Washington, D.C.">Washington, D.C.</a> • <a href="/wiki/Fun:Puerto_Rico" title="Fun:Puerto Rico">Puerto Rico</a> • <a href="/wiki/Fun:Guam" title="Fun:Guam">Guam</a> • <a href="/wiki/Fun:U.S._Virgin_Islands" title="Fun:U.S. Virgin Islands">U.S. Virgin Islands</a> • <a href="/wiki/Fun:American_Samoa" title="Fun:American Samoa">American Samoa</a> • <a href="/wiki/Fun:Northern_Mariana_Islands" title="Fun:Northern Mariana Islands">Northern Mariana Islands</a> • <a href="/wiki/Fun:United_States_Minor_Outlying_Islands" title="Fun:United States Minor Outlying Islands">United States Minor Outlying Islands</a> • </td></tr> <tr> <td colspan="3" style="background:#1E90FF; width:25%; text-align:right;"><b><a href="/wiki/Category:United_States_states" title="Category:United States states"><span style="color:white; font-size:125%">Other:</span></a></b> </td> <td style="background:#97DEFF;"> <a href="/wiki/Fun:Weird_states" title="Fun:Weird states">Weird states</a> • <a href="/wiki/Fun:Jesusland" title="Fun:Jesusland">Jesusland</a> • </td></tr> </tbody></table> </div>    </div></div><div class="printfooter">Retrieved from "<a dir="ltr" href="https://rationalwiki.org/w/index.php?title=Bible_Belt&oldid=2603100">https://rationalwiki.org/w/index.php?title=Bible_Belt&oldid=2603100</a>"</div> <div id="catlinks" class="catlinks" data-mw="interface"><div id="mw-normal-catlinks" class="mw-normal-catlinks"><a href="/wiki/Special:Categories" title="Special:Categories">Categories</a>: <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Bronze-level_articles" title="Category:Bronze-level articles">Bronze-level articles</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:United_States_politics" title="Category:United States politics">United States politics</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Articles_with_funspace_counterparts" title="Category:Articles with funspace counterparts">Articles with funspace counterparts</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:United_States_states" title="Category:United States states">United States states</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Christianity" title="Category:Christianity">Christianity</a></li></ul></div><div id="mw-hidden-catlinks" class="mw-hidden-catlinks mw-hidden-cats-hidden">Hidden category: <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Pages_using_DynamicPageList_parser_function" title="Category:Pages using DynamicPageList parser function">Pages using DynamicPageList parser function</a></li></ul></div></div> </div> </div> <div id="mw-navigation"> <h2>Navigation menu</h2> <div id="mw-head">  <nav id="p-personal" class="vector-menu" aria-labelledby="p-personal-label" role="navigation" > <h3 id="p-personal-label"> <span>Personal tools</span> </h3>  <div class="body vector-menu-content">  <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"><li id="pt-anonuserpage">Not logged in</li><li id="pt-anontalk"><a href="/wiki/Special:MyTalk" title="Discussion about edits from this IP address [n]" accesskey="n">Talk</a></li><li id="pt-anoncontribs"><a href="/wiki/Special:MyContributions" title="A list of edits made from this IP address [y]" accesskey="y">Contributions</a></li><li id="pt-createaccount"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Special:CreateAccount&returnto=Bible+Belt" title="You are encouraged to create an account and log in; however, it is not mandatory">Create account</a></li><li id="pt-login"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Special:UserLogin&returnto=Bible+Belt" title="You are encouraged to log in; however, it is not mandatory [o]" accesskey="o">Log in</a></li></ul> </div> </nav> <div id="left-navigation">  <nav id="p-namespaces" class="vector-menu vector-menu-tabs vectorTabs" aria-labelledby="p-namespaces-label" role="navigation" > <h3 id="p-namespaces-label"> <span>Namespaces</span> </h3>  <div class="body vector-menu-content">  <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"><li id="ca-nstab-main" class="selected"><a href="/wiki/Bible_Belt" title="View the content page [c]" accesskey="c">Page</a></li><li id="ca-talk"><a href="/wiki/Talk:Bible_Belt" rel="discussion" title="Discussion about the content page [t]" accesskey="t">Talk</a></li></ul> </div> </nav>  <nav id="p-variants" class="vector-menu-empty emptyPortlet vector-menu vector-menu-dropdown vectorMenu" aria-labelledby="p-variants-label" role="navigation" > <input type="checkbox" class="vector-menu-checkbox vectorMenuCheckbox" aria-labelledby="p-variants-label" /> <h3 id="p-variants-label"> <span>Variants</span> </h3>  <div class="body vector-menu-content">  <ul class="menu vector-menu-content-list"></ul> </div> </nav> </div> <div id="right-navigation">  <nav id="p-views" class="vector-menu vector-menu-tabs vectorTabs" aria-labelledby="p-views-label" role="navigation" > <h3 id="p-views-label"> <span>Views</span> </h3>  <div class="body vector-menu-content">  <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"><li id="ca-view" class="collapsible selected"><a href="/wiki/Bible_Belt">Read</a></li><li id="ca-edit" class="collapsible"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Bible_Belt&action=edit" title="Edit this page [e]" accesskey="e">Edit</a></li><li id="ca-history" class="collapsible"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Bible_Belt&action=history" title="Past revisions of this page [h]" accesskey="h">Fossil record</a></li></ul> </div> </nav>  <nav id="p-cactions" class="vector-menu-empty emptyPortlet vector-menu vector-menu-dropdown vectorMenu" aria-labelledby="p-cactions-label" role="navigation" > <input type="checkbox" class="vector-menu-checkbox vectorMenuCheckbox" aria-labelledby="p-cactions-label" /> <h3 id="p-cactions-label"> <span>More</span> </h3>  <div class="body vector-menu-content">  <ul class="menu vector-menu-content-list"></ul> </div> </nav> <div id="p-search" role="search"> <h3 > <label for="searchInput">Search</label> </h3> <form action="/w/index.php" id="searchform"> <div id="simpleSearch"> <input type="search" name="search" placeholder="Search RationalWiki" title="Search RationalWiki [f]" accesskey="f" id="searchInput"/> <input type="hidden" name="title" value="Special:Search"> <input type="submit" name="fulltext" value="Search" title="Search the pages for this text" id="mw-searchButton" class="searchButton mw-fallbackSearchButton"/> <input type="submit" name="go" value="Go" title="Go to a page with this exact name if it exists" id="searchButton" class="searchButton"/> </div> </form> </div> </div> </div> <div id="mw-panel"> <div id="p-logo" role="banner"> <a title="Visit the main page" class="mw-wiki-logo" href="/wiki/Main_Page"></a> </div>  <nav id="p-navigation" class="vector-menu vector-menu-portal portal portal-first" aria-labelledby="p-navigation-label" role="navigation" > <h3 id="p-navigation-label"> <span>Navigation</span> </h3>  <div class="body vector-menu-content">  <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"><li id="n-mainpage-description"><a href="/wiki/Main_Page" title="Visit the main page [z]" accesskey="z">Main page</a></li><li id="n-recentchanges"><a href="/wiki/Special:RecentChanges" title="A list of recent changes in the wiki [r]" accesskey="r">Recent changes</a></li><li id="n-randompage"><a href="/wiki/Special:Random" title="Load a random mainspace article [x]" accesskey="x">Random page</a></li><li id="n-New-pages"><a href="/wiki/Special:NewPages">New pages</a></li><li id="n-All-logs"><a href="/wiki/Special:Log">All logs</a></li><li id="n-help"><a href="/wiki/Help:Contents" title="RTFM">Help</a></li></ul> </div> </nav>  <nav id="p-support" class="vector-menu vector-menu-portal portal" aria-labelledby="p-support-label" role="navigation" > <h3 id="p-support-label"> <span>Support</span> </h3>  <div class="body vector-menu-content">  <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"><li id="n-Donate"><a href="/wiki/RationalWiki:Site_support">Donate</a></li></ul> </div> </nav>  <nav id="p-community" class="vector-menu vector-menu-portal portal" aria-labelledby="p-community-label" role="navigation" > <h3 id="p-community-label"> <span>Community</span> </h3>  <div class="body vector-menu-content">  <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"><li id="n-Saloon-bar"><a href="/wiki/RationalWiki:Saloon_bar">Saloon bar</a></li><li id="n-To-do-list"><a href="/wiki/RationalWiki:To_do_list">To do list</a></li><li id="n-What-is-going-on.3F"><a href="/wiki/WIGO">What is going on?</a></li><li id="n-Best-of-RationalWiki"><a href="/wiki/RationalWiki:Contents">Best of RationalWiki</a></li><li id="n-About-RationalWiki"><a href="/wiki/RationalWiki">About RationalWiki</a></li><li id="n-Technical-support"><a href="/wiki/RationalWiki:Technical_support">Technical support</a></li><li id="n-Mod-noticeboard"><a href="/wiki/RationalWiki_talk:All_things_in_moderation">Mod noticeboard</a></li><li id="n-RMF-noticeboard"><a href="/wiki/RationalWiki_talk:RationalMedia_Foundation">RMF noticeboard</a></li></ul> </div> </nav>  <nav id="p-Social media" class="vector-menu vector-menu-portal portal" aria-labelledby="p-Social media-label" role="navigation" > <h3 id="p-Social media-label"> <span>Social media</span> </h3>  <div class="body vector-menu-content">  <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"><li id="n-Twitter"><a href="https://twitter.com/RationalWiki" rel="nofollow">Twitter</a></li><li id="n-Mastodon"><a href="https://mstdn.social/@rationalwiki" rel="nofollow">Mastodon</a></li><li id="n-Facebook"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Rationalwiki/226614404019306" rel="nofollow">Facebook</a></li><li id="n-Discord"><a href="/wiki/RationalWiki:Discord">Discord</a></li><li id="n-Reddit"><a href="/wiki/RationalWiki:Reddit">Reddit</a></li></ul> </div> </nav>  <nav id="p-tb" class="vector-menu vector-menu-portal portal" aria-labelledby="p-tb-label" role="navigation" > <h3 id="p-tb-label"> <span>Tools</span> </h3>  <div class="body vector-menu-content">  <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"><li id="t-whatlinkshere"><a href="/wiki/Special:WhatLinksHere/Bible_Belt" title="A list of all wiki pages that link here [j]" accesskey="j">What links here</a></li><li id="t-recentchangeslinked"><a href="/wiki/Special:RecentChangesLinked/Bible_Belt" rel="nofollow" title="Recent changes in pages linked from this page [k]" accesskey="k">Related changes</a></li><li id="t-specialpages"><a href="/wiki/Special:SpecialPages" title="A list of all special pages [q]" accesskey="q">Special pages</a></li><li id="t-print"><a href="javascript:print();" rel="alternate" title="Printable version of this page [p]" accesskey="p">Printable version</a></li><li id="t-permalink"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Bible_Belt&oldid=2603100" title="Permanent link to this revision of the page">Permanent link</a></li><li id="t-info"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Bible_Belt&action=info" title="More information about this page">Page information</a></li></ul> </div> </nav> </div> </div> <footer id="footer" class="mw-footer" role="contentinfo" > <ul id="footer-info" > <li id="footer-info-lastmod"> This page was last edited on 27 November 2023, at 20:12.</li> <li id="footer-info-copyright">Unless explicitly noted otherwise, all content licensed as indicated by <a name="Copyright" href="//rationalwiki.org/wiki/RationalWiki:Copyrights">RationalWiki:Copyrights</a>. <br> For concerns on copyright infringement please see: <a name="Copyright infringement" href="//rationalwiki.org/wiki/RationalWiki:Copyright_violations">RationalWiki:Copyright violations</a></li> </ul> <ul id="footer-places" > <li id="footer-places-privacy"><a href="/wiki/RationalWiki:Privacy_policy" title="RationalWiki:Privacy policy">Privacy policy</a></li> <li id="footer-places-about"><a href="/wiki/RationalWiki:About" class="mw-redirect" title="RationalWiki:About">About RationalWiki</a></li> <li id="footer-places-disclaimer"><a href="/wiki/RationalWiki:General_disclaimer" title="RationalWiki:General disclaimer">Disclaimers</a></li> </ul> <ul id="footer-icons" class="noprint"> <li id="footer-copyrightico"><a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"><img src="/w/88x31.png" alt="CC-BY-SA 3.0, or any later version" width="88" height="31" loading="lazy"/></a></li> <li id="footer-poweredbyico"><a href="https://www.mediawiki.org/"><img src="/w/resources/assets/poweredby_mediawiki_88x31.png" alt="Powered by MediaWiki" srcset="/w/resources/assets/poweredby_mediawiki_132x47.png 1.5x, /w/resources/assets/poweredby_mediawiki_176x62.png 2x" width="88" height="31" loading="lazy"/></a></li> </ul> <div style="clear: both;"></div> </footer> <script>(RLQ=window.RLQ||[]).push(function(){mw.config.set({"wgPageParseReport":{"limitreport":{"cputime":"0.182","walltime":"1.402","ppvisitednodes":{"value":1641,"limit":1000000},"postexpandincludesize":{"value":23239,"limit":2097152},"templateargumentsize":{"value":3344,"limit":2097152},"expansiondepth":{"value":10,"limit":40},"expensivefunctioncount":{"value":0,"limit":100},"unstrip-depth":{"value":0,"limit":20},"unstrip-size":{"value":7383,"limit":5000000},"timingprofile":["100.00% 1090.432 1 -total"," 47.09% 513.535 1 Template:Usstates"," 46.70% 509.183 1 Template:Navbox"," 20.09% 219.088 1 Template:Uspolitics"," 18.15% 197.871 1 Template:Navsidebar"," 13.70% 149.342 2 Template:Randomarticles"," 12.84% 139.976 1 Template:Quotebox"," 6.48% 70.642 8 Template:Bible"," 4.44% 48.451 1 Template:Fun"," 3.50% 38.145 4 Template:Wpl"]},"cachereport":{"origin":"apache5","timestamp":"20250402030841","ttl":86400,"transientcontent":false}}});mw.config.set({"wgBackendResponseTime":1641,"wgHostname":"apache5"});});</script></body></html>