Vermont & New Hampshire listed as least religious states in America

Yahoo News put out an short essay today called "The Most Religious State is ..." and I just had to see what this one would read like. My thoughful Twitter follower - La Culinary Composer, pointed this one out to me figuring that it would capture my attention.

The essay summarizes its findings and offers a brief definition of the term - "very religious":

"Mississippi holds onto its title as most religious U.S. state, with 58 percent of its residents saying they are very religious, according to a Gallup poll released Wednesday (Feb. 13).

The least religious state? Vermont.

About 40 percent of Americans said they were "very religious," meaning religion is an important part of their daily life and that they attend religious services every week or nearly every week. Some 31 percent indicated they were nonreligious, or that religion wasn't an important part of their daily life and they seldom or never attend such services."

And, here were the rankings for Top-10 "most religious" and Top-10 "least religious" states:

Top 10 most religious states

• Mississippi: 58 percent are very religious
• Utah: 56 percent
• Alabama: 56 percent
• Louisiana: 53 percent
• Arkansas: 52 percent
• South Carolina: 52 percent
• Tennessee: 50 percent
• North Carolina: 50 percent
• Georgia: 48 percent
• Oklahoma: 48 percent

Bottom 10 (least religious states)

• Vermont: 19 percent are very religious
• New Hampshire: 23 percent
• Maine: 24 percent
• Massachusetts: 27 percent
• Oregon: 29 percent
• Rhode Island: 29 percent
• District of Columbia: 30 percent
• Washington (tie): 31 percent
• Connecticut (tie): 31 percent
• Alaska (tie): 31 percent
• Hawaii (tie): 31 percent
• Nevada (tie): 31 percent

Of these findings, I found the Top-10 "most religious" states to be as expected. However, the Top-10 "least religious" states tossed a curve confirming some of my previous suspicions, which I've held for a long time. And that is, Vermont and New Hampshire are considered to be the "least religious" states in the entire United States!


I fully understand that being "religious" is not a full indicator of spiritual maturity, and as my grandmother used to say, "We can all be religious about going to the bathroom!" True spirituality delves beyond the bounds of "religion" alone, and I fully understand that point. 


On the other hand, I know that states like Vermont and New Hampshire have a higher percentage of Libertarians, and those who "love freedom." After all, New Hampshire has had its motto - "Live free or die!" since 1945. New Hampshire is also known for its "Free State Project" which encourages like-minded "freedom lovers" to move there and to enjoy lower taxes and other benefits. All of this sounds great.


However, for all of the good coming out of states like Vermont and New Hampshire, I also know that Libertarianism is more than just a philosophy, it has likely also become a "god" for some. There are a fair number of those in the Liberty movement that could care less about God, as some of them are atheists or agnostics. They believe the Bible is full of useless nonsense. 


Two months ago, I wrote a blog entry called - "Why Libertarian Philosophy & Psychology cannot save you!" In this piece, I give a detailed exegesis of the pros/cons of Libertarian philosophy, and just why Libertarianism (alone) cannot save you. I further emphasis the critical importance of fearing God and acting in accordance to His Word. That blog entry serves as a critical tangent to the one you are now reading. Please read it. 


In summary, Vermont and New Hampshire may be a "freedom lover's" paradise, but the fact that religion is sneered upon, is at the very least, a strong indicator that God and His Word - The Holy Bible, are also not regarded or respected. Now I do know there are exceptions to what the statistics indicate, and there are a smaller number of those (in VT & NH) that do accept God's Word. But these people are in the minority. Seek "freedom" in this world, but my admonition is that you put infinitely more energy into your efforts to seek "freedom in Christ!" My previous blog entry (one paragraph above) offers suggestions on how to go about that task. My published book does the same, but in even greater detail.