Thoughts on the Broader American Views of Religion in

the South
In the long run I certainly hope information is the cure for fanaticism, but I
am afraid information is more the cause than the cure. Daniel C. Dennett
Religion in the South is actually indicative of religion more broadly in
America. Many view the church as much or more of a social hub than
anything else. I think the same holds true of the more conservative &
religious parts of the North. With wealth and education comes a tendency to
be apathetic towards religion, but less so the church often employing the
mentality of "I don't believe in God any more than Santa Clause...but I still go
to church, and I still celebrate Christmas. It can also be likened to
Thanksgiving: we all know that the story we were told about "Pilgrims and
Indians happily sitting down to a huge turkey feast" is (like the Bible) 95%
bullshit but even so, we celebrate the holiday every year. It's tradition, and
it brings families together if only for a night or a weekend.
Keeping that in mind, there are two distinct types of church-goers:
First are the truly fanatical/evangelical/bible-beaters who cling to the idea of
an after-life that's better than their current reality and/or hold onto the
conviction of faith to ease the cognitive dissonance that results in a worldview that couldn't otherwise be justified; these people mistake the stories in
the Bible to be a literal and factual account of history.
Second are those who are generally more interested in the tradition
associated with religion; these people read the Bible as it was intended a
collection of historically based fables meant to inspire the better nature in us
all and to help provide a framework for society as it was envisioned at the
time* by those who wrote or edited the stories contained therein.
(*Note: multiple versions of the Bible reflecting more relevant
understandings of society during different times in our history. Personally, I
think we're past due for another re-write.)
Going further, the majority of each group is made up of a different class of
people, with the first group being comprised primarily from the poorer of
America's population in terms of physical wealth and/or education. But then
there are those who are NOT in the majority class structure of their
respective group and that's where things get interesting.
Among the second group are its "have-nots" those who are most certainly
not among the "1%" who (despite their lack of off-shore bank accounts and
Harvard education) understand that there were no Johns, Matts, or Peters in
the middle-East 2000 years ago and can extrapolate a simple fact from that
namely that the Bible is NOT the literal word of God. (Similarly, that Jesus

was NOT a white guy and he did NOT have supernatural powers.)
The problem lands squarely on the shoulders of those who are rich, well
educated, and powerful who use the Bible as a tool for gaining or holding
onto their wealth/power. "Yes, I'm looking at you Ted Cruz." That works out
**great** for them. Unfortunately for the more feeble-minded among us (who
are already more prone to be Bible literalists), it also results in the false
cause/effect rational that a belief in God is responsible for success and/or
good fortune. Conveniently (and quite ironically) for those "Judah"s like Cruz,
it also screws up any chance for a reasoned conversation on religion in our
country more broadly. This, in turn, puts religion as a whole in a terrible light
for so many non-believers and is indeed a powerful rational for ascribing to
an anti-theist mindset.
What can you say to a man who tells you he prefers obeying God rather
than men, and that as a result he's certain he'll go to heaven if he cuts your
throat?
Voltaire