The Most “Post-Christian” Cities in America

[Valjean]

I haven't seen any data on that assessment. Do you have such data? Overall, I know that culture plays a major part in homicide and suicide rates. Look at the various demographics of the US (or any country) and question why people kill themselves or others.

Christianity and the Murder Rate

What is your theory(theories)?

The religious have a pre-packaged set of do's and dont's. They don't have to think about ethics or moral principles. They have no real need to develop a strong, internalized set of moral principles. They have a set of external crutches -- easily lost or cast aside.
Atheists have nothing of the sort. They have to develop their own, internalized moral foundations. They have to think about the principles underlying their actions. They have to weigh their actions' results; their fairness, and not just their compliance with a list.

 

[Skwim]

Crime rates coincide with religiosity? I thought the highest crime rates were in the Bible Belt.

Kind of looks like it.

Top 10 states in America with the highest crime rates in 2018.
source

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[Skwim]

In the year 2015, the top 20 most highly ranked post-Christian cities as a group had a homicide rate of 6.5 murders per 100,000 persons, which compares unfavorable to the overall year 2015 national homicide rate of 4.9 murders per 100,000 inhabitants.

What's your evidence?

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[Salvador]

Crime rates coincide with religiosity? I thought the highest crime rates were in the Bible Belt.

Kind of looks like it.

Top 10 states in America with the highest crime rates in 2018.
source



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Except for Alaska, all those states have scorching hot sizzling summers, instead of the Bible, this could be why they have high crime rates.

 

[Salvador]

What's your evidence?

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Homicide stats of each city published on http://www.city-data.com/crime/

 

[Valjean]

I'm going to hypothesize the climate is a major factor as to why the Bible Belt is more prone to violence than other regions. Many of the Bible Belt cities are in the south where the heat there makes people loose their cool or more criminally active there than how they would act in a more mild climate.

Have you considered the fact that the South is more an honor/ shame society than the North?
Culture of honor (Southern United States) - Wikipedia
The 5 (Unwritten) Rules of Honor-Shame Cultures

 

[Salvador]

Have you considered the fact that the South is more an honor/ shame society than the North?
Culture of honor (Southern United States) - Wikipedia
The 5 (Unwritten) Rules of Honor-Shame Cultures

I suppose cultural differences, i.e. - American Mexican Hispanic culture, could partly explain why the southern states have higher violent crime rates than the northern states,

 

[Valjean]

I suppose cultural differences, i.e. - American Mexican Hispanic culture, could explain why the southern states have higher violent crime rates than the northern states,

Guilt-Shame-Fear spectrum of cultures - Wikipedia
Not ethnicity.

 

[Salvador]

Crime rates coincide with religiosity? I thought the highest crime rates were in the Bible Belt.

Kind of looks like it.

Top 10 states in America with the highest crime rates in 2018.
source

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Also, as I and Valjean were just discussing, ethnic differences i.e. Mexican American Hispanic ethnicity, could be a major factor as to why southern states where the Bible Belt happens to also be located has higher crime rates than the northern states outside of the Bible Belt.

 

[Valjean]

Ummm, only the stupid ones less intelligent people accept things without question. Smarter people investigate.

Hence the higher rates of atheism among the educated classes?

Disagreed. I know that upsets you but it's true. Atheists, like Theists, vary in their beliefs but in general they strongly believe their beliefs.

True. Atheists believe in relativity, the inverse square law, natural selection and the coming sunrise tomorrow morning -- because they have strong evidence supporting these beliefs/expectations, but unevidenced, unsupported beliefs -- not so much. These are the domain of the faithful.

 

[ChristineM]

I wonder how these would compare to tests comparing IQ, critical thinking, education or prosperity.

Add divorce, teenage pregnancy and prevalence of STIs

 

[ChristineM]

Excellent point. Also include, much to the consternation of atheists, the fact their beliefs are as much a religion as anything else.

Just like the hobby of not collecting stamps eh?

Atheism : disbelief or lack of belief in the existence of God or gods.
Anything else you add to that is down to your own propensity to misrepresent

 

[ChristineM]

The post I quoted is a start.

Like most Theists, most Atheists are quiet, unassuming people minding their own business. On forums, not so much. Here we see the worst of both. The most obnoxious and the most self-righteous. Of course, both are so self-righteous they deny it among their own and strongly condemn those they oppose.

Chuckling at the irony of the poster who has tried the "self righteous atheist" ploy several times in this thread

 

[Sapiens]

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1. Do not believe in God - Don't
2. Disagree that faith is important in their lives - Faith is irrelevant
3. Have not prayed to God (in the last week) - Have not ever
4. Have never made a commitment to Jesus - Never
5. Disagree the Bible is accurate - A collection of mythology
6. Have not donated money to a church (in the last year) - Damn food pantry.
7. Have not attended a Christian church (in the last 6 months) - Help out at the food pantry.
8. Agree that Jesus committed sins - Disagree, fictional characters can not, in fact, sin.
9. Do not feel a responsibility to “share their faith" - Nope
10. Have not read the Bible (in the last week) - but I have ... to show its errors.
11. Have not volunteered at church (in the last week) - Help out at the food pantry.
12. Have not attended Sunday school (in the last week) - Not since a preteen visiting my religious ma
13. Have not attended religious small group (in the last week) - Never
14. Bible engagement scale: low (have not read the Bible in the past week and disagree strongly or somewhat that the Bible is accurate) - Low
15. Not Born Again - Once is all that is needed

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I wonder how these would compare to tests comparing IQ, critical thinking, education or prosperity.

Not everyone with a high IQ is an atheist, but more than 90% of the members of the National Academy of Sciences are athiests.

Anyone else see the irony in self-righteous atheists clamoring about being free of self-righteous Christians?

Any one see the irony is self-righteous Trump Republicans clamoring about keeping the government's hands off of their Medicare?

Excellent point. Also include, much to the consternation of atheists, the fact their beliefs are as much a religion as anything else.

Kinda hard to agree since I have no faith (using the religious definition) of any sort.

 

[LuisDantas]

Anyone else see the irony in self-righteous atheists clamoring about being free of self-righteous Christians?

I for one do not see any irony, nor the existence of justification that you seem to be claiming to exist.

But I do acknowledge that there may be a weird feeling on seeing certain words and attitudes turned on their heads.

 

[LuisDantas]

Excellent point. Also include, much to the consternation of atheists, the fact their beliefs are as much a religion as anything else.

You may include that. But that would characterize dishonesty, which I would hope you would want to avoid.

 

[LuisDantas]

The post I quoted is a start.

Like most Theists, most Atheists are quiet, unassuming people minding their own business. On forums, not so much. Here we see the worst of both. The most obnoxious and the most self-righteous. Of course, both are so self-righteous they deny it among their own and strongly condemn those they oppose.

Wow. Way to undermine your own claims.

 

[blü 2]

Also include, much to the consternation of atheists, the fact their beliefs are as much a religion as anything else.

What a funny way to taunt non-believers ─ to say they've sunk to the level of believers.

 

[BilliardsBall]

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The Barna group, a Christian polling firm, has released its latest list of the most “post-Christian” cities in the country. It’s meant to serve as a warning, but it nicely doubles as a map of places you wouldn’t mind moving to one day. (Notice the lack of cities in the Deep South.)

To qualify as “post-Christian,” individuals must meet nine or more of our 16 criteria (listed below), which identify a lack of Christian identity, belief and practice. These factors include whether individuals identify as atheist, have never made a commitment to Jesus, have not attended church in the last year or have not read the Bible in the last week. These kinds of questions — compared to ticking the “Christian” box in a census — get beyond how people loosely identify themselves (affiliation) and to the core of what people actually believe and how they behave as a result of their belief (practice). These indicators give a much more accurate picture of belief and unbelief in America.​

In other words, these are the cities where religion is most likely to be considered an afterthought. 20 of them have a post-Christian “score” of 50% or greater — only 10 cities fit that description two years ago — and many are found in the Northeast and West Coast.

That list of criteria makes for a nice checklist, too. What’s your score?!

Do not believe in God
Disagree that faith is important in their lives
Have not prayed to God (in the last week)
Have never made a commitment to Jesus
Disagree the Bible is accurate
Have not donated money to a church (in the last year)
Have not attended a Christian church (in the last 6 months)
Agree that Jesus committed sins
Do not feel a responsibility to “share their faith”
Have not read the Bible (in the last week)
Have not volunteered at church (in the last week)
Have not attended Sunday school (in the last week)
Have not attended religious small group (in the last week)
Bible engagement scale: low (have not read the Bible in the past week and disagree strongly or somewhat that the Bible is accurate)
Not Born Again

But at least it gives Godless Americans a goal. The highest market on the list, Springfield-Holyoke, Massachusetts, only has a score of 66%. That includes 87% of people who haven’t read the Bible in the past week, 65% who haven’t attended a Christian church in the past six months, and 47% who haven’t prayed to God in the past week.
source​

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Why would I mind moving to these places? Sounds like extra amounts of godless sinners for me to evangelize off line! THANKS FOR THE HELP! I'll pray for these cities now, and for you, too, that you will stop trolling believers with every other post at RF.

 

[A Vestigial Mote]

What’s your score?.

86.6%

2 points that didn't necessarily reflect/represent me:

Disagree the Bible is accurate

I do believe The Bible to be ridiculously inaccurate on a great many things, but it may have some bits that are fact in there among those that aren't. I just don't know how much I actually know for certain is inaccurate to gauge it as "accurate" or "inaccurate" on the whole.

Agree that Jesus committed sins

The esoteric nature of "sin" notwithstanding - I'm not going to pretend to know what someone named "Jesus" did or did not do 2,000+ years ago, nor do I care to hear the ideas of those who do claim to know.