Oh, so close, Vegas. You just missed cracking the top ten of "Least Bible-Minded." Better luck next year!


The recent results of seven years of phone and web interviews by the American Bible Society have revealed the most and least "Bible-minded" cities in America. The obvious and stereotyped cities didn't take top honors in either category. Instead, Chatanooga, TN was the "Most Bible-Minded" and Providence, RI/New Bedford, MA was the least. And yet, the American Bible Society managed to slip this little bit of condescension into its release:

Not surprisingly, many cities in the East Coast continued to rank as the least Bible-minded in 2013. Among them: Providence, R.I.; Albany and Buffalo, N.Y.; Boston; and Portland, Maine.


The study also observed that there was an "inverse relationship exists between population size and Bible friendliness." The top 25 most "friendly" only had three cities with more than 1 million residents. (If you're wondering: Charlotte, N.C.; Nashville, Tenn.; and Dallas). The recipe to seek/avoid here is apparently small cities not in the Northeast.

"Bible-minded" respondents were those who had read the Bible in the last week and strongly agree in the Bible's accuracy. Time wondered whether the Torah counted (and thus saved New York from a lower place), and was told that respondents were able to define the Bible however they wanted. The standard question was "How many times do you read the bible outside of church or a synagogue?"

See the full graphic below


via Time