Communities with beautiful scenery, weather have lower rates of religious affiliation

[rug]

August 5, 2015
Provided by: Baylor University

Counties in the United States with more beautiful weather and scenery have lower rates of membership and affiliation with religious organizations, according to a Baylor University study.

"Beautiful weather, mountains and waterfronts can serve as conduits to the sacred, just like traditional religious congregations," said lead author Todd W. Ferguson, a doctoral candidate in sociology in Baylor's College of Arts & Sciences.

But the research is not necessarily a measure of whether enjoying the great outdoors tempts people away from going to a place of worship on a lovely weekend, Ferguson said. And "we're not claiming that residents in areas richer with natural amenities are more likely to create a 'Church of nature,'" he said.

The study—"The Natural Environment as a Spiritual Resource: A Theory of Regional Variation in Religious Adherence"—is published in the journal Sociology of Religion.

http://phys.org/news/2015-08-beautiful-scenery-weather-religious-affiliation.html

Abstract: http://socrel.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2015/07/21/socrel.srv029.abstract?sid=bb0a4f1a-5f10-4f81-b4cf-56385a9e9c4b

Eden.

[Dark n Stormy Knight]

1. That was a very interesting article.

Thanks for posting.

[rug]

2. You're welcome.

[edhopper]

3. I didn't see anywhere

where they accounted for other factors: income, part of the country etc... And the whole "beautiful location" seems a bit arbitrary.
Too many variable for me to give it much credence.
(one factor is many of the areas they describe are simple more expensive; higher income = less religious affiliation.)

[rug]

4. I agree. The beautiful parts of the country, especially near cities, are expensive.

Those beautiful parts of the country that are remote tend to be much less affluent. See upstate New York and Central Pennsylvania.

[edhopper]

5. But those place don't meet their

"warm winters" criteria.

I accept their data about the people they studied being less religious. i just think their conclusions are forced.
Causation and correlation and all.

[rug]

6. Well, there's always the Ozarks.

[edhopper]

7. True

We'd have to look at which places exactly they decided were naturally beautiful, and even then I doubt it would support that living there made people less religious.

[Skinner]

8. That was my first thought, too.

Waterfront property is expensive.

[edhopper]

9. They also don't give perce3nts in the article

is it just a 5%-10% difference or something more significant.

I am not surprised by this result, just question their conclusion. It can easily be other factors that lead people to both live in these places AND be less religious.