A Facebook friend posted a survey which attempted to rank American cities on the basis of how "Bible-Minded" they are. It probably won't come as a surprise to readers to learn that the survey concluded that a number of towns in what used to be called the "Bible Belt" were considered to be most "Bible-Minded." Conversely, the least "Bible-Minded" cities were in the northeast, and on the west coast.
Looking at the results, I wondered what criteria were used to make these determinations. I'd be willing to guess they estimated percentages of the local populations that said they attended church regularly, went to Bible study classes, could quote passages of Scripture, and claimed they said daily prayers.
I'm not against any of those things, mind you, in fact am in favor of them, but doubt that's all it takes to be "Bible-Minded." (Actually, I stridently deny that's all it takes to be "Bible-Minded.")
People who engage in the activities I just mentioned, and who don't follow up with what my parochial school nuns called the "corporal works of mercy" seem to me to be like the object lesson in Jesus' parable of the Pharisee and the Publican. I hope you remember the story. The Pharisee stands at the front of the temple and brags to God about how holy he is, while the Publican - a despised tax collector - lingers in back and begs for mercy as a sinful man. The lesson was that the Publican will find a merciful God and the Pharisee will not.
So, I wonder, was the amount of money given to worthy charities part of the survey-takers' calculations? I don't know.
I do know that the states that are allegedly most "Bible-Minded" have the highest rates of homicide and assaults with intent to kill in the United States. That's right, the very places identified as most "Bible-Minded" seem to pay the least attention to the commandment, "Thou shalt not kill." We hear in the news about the terrible murder rate in big cities like Chicago, but the statistical evidence clearly shows that Americans are most prone to kill each other in the states that were once part of the Confederacy. (Years ago, when I was a park ranger, I saw the FBI statistics that indicated more law enforcement officers were killed by gunfire in wildlife enforcement than in any other activity, and more of those officer deaths were in the south than anyplace else. And that persisted year after year.)
Another method of weighing "Bible-Mindedness" might lie in looking at the percentage of marriages that end in divorce. Once again, the places where divorce is most common are the same places the survey alleges are most "Bible-Minded." (I was divorced myself once, so I'm living in a glass house as I mention this.) The Bible, as we know, is ambivalent about divorce. The Jews of the Hebrew Bible were permitted divorce under some narrow circumstances, and the Talmud comments extensively on the matter, but the Christian Bible seems to prohibit it. "What God has joined together let no man put asunder." Catholic teaching through the centuries is that divorce is anathema, but other Christians take a somewhat more lenient approach. The fact still is that divorce is most common in those "Bible-Minded" places.
Shall I even talk about race relations? Jim Crow, legal segregation and lynch mobs are things from the past, and it's wrong to condemn the children for the sins of their fathers - or grandfathers. These horrors, by the way, happened throughout the country, but there's no denying they were worst in the south. No part of the country can claim to be free of residual racism, but de facto segregation remains more entrenched in the south than elsewhere.
And what of persistent poverty? Over and over, Jesus tells his followers that they must give of all they possess to the poor. It's a central message of the Christian faith. Where does poverty linger most in the United States? I think we all know.
I'm feeling Pharasitical myself as I write this, so will end here, except to reiterate that trying to determine where people are most "Bible-Minded" is much more complicated than the survey might lead us to think it would be, and that this survey allows people living in the areas spotlighted as "Bible-Minded" to become complacent and smug.
It might surprise you, Pete, but I sadly agree with most of what you've written here. Now, I still maintain that learning and memorizing Scripture is very important. However, it's true that while people in the Bible-belt tend to KNOW and MEMORIZE God's Word; many times they are sadly lacking when it comes to LIVING it. And, it is true that in a very secular/humanistic environment like metro-Boston, one will definitely meet some very fine people who LIVE many of the principles of the Bible while not even knowing what the Bible says and even professing to be agnostic, etc. The husband of a woman who attended the church I pastored for many years was like that...the woman said of her husband, "He has all the fruit of the Holy Spirit WITHOUT the Holy Spirit!" Now, no evangelical theologian would agree literally with what she said, but I KNEW what she meant. Her husband was one of the nicest, kindest, and finest human beings you'd ever want to meet, albeit a "scientific minded" and not particularly "religious" guy. In fact, the Book of James has very strong things to say to people who PROFESS to be "religious", Godly, etc. but who LIVE very differently. I suspect you've GOT to like the Book of James, and in fact, it's one of my favorite books of the Bible!
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