A curious study of where I lived for six of my formative years.
Iowa defines the American heartland, with its staunch Midwestern values and rural American virtues. Though its prairie populism sometimes elects Democrats, today its elected officials are most Republican. The candidate favored by Christian conservatives usually wins the Iowa caucuses.
A recent study ranked Iowa as the 19th most religious state in the union. Except for one mysterious outlier: Cedar Rapids.
The second largest city in the state, with a population of only 130,000, is an island of secularism in an ocean of religion. By virtually ever standard–Bible reading, Bible believing, church attendance–Cedar Rapids scores closer to the big coastal cities than any of its midwestern neighbors. Nearly half (47%) of its adults are “nones,” holding to no particular religion at all. That’s the same percentage as Los Angeles county.
You can read the rest.
HT: Gene Veith and Sarah Zylstra
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