• Church attendance in Alaska was among the lowest in the nation, at 22 percent.
• "Unaffiliated" was the most common description of religious ties. There were slightly more unaffiliated people in Alaska than evangelical Protestants, who made up the single largest religious group.
• Twice as many Alaskans (32 percent) said they seldom or never prayed, compared to 18 percent Outside.
• One in four Alaskans weren't affiliated with a religious tradition, compared to one in 10 in the United States.
• Seventy-seven percent of respondents said many religions can lead to eternal life.
I often talk about my distaste for organized religions. Especially when those religions feel called to push their moral agenda on our schools, our government, our entertainment, etc.
I actually do not have a complaint about somebody who has a strong personal faith, so long as they do not feel they need to convert me to their way of thinking. Sure I disagree with them, but that has not stopped me from having some really close friendships with people who are on the opposite side of the ideological fence from me.
So it is very nice to see that I am not alone in my disconnect with organized religion in the state of my birth.
In other words Alaska rocks!
Increasingly, this is how I'm feeling about New York state, too.
ReplyDeleteSo few people attend church here that many are closing.
Seven Catholic churches closed in the metro area just last week!
The mayor of Rochester is a Democrat, both US senators are Democrats -- well one is and the other is a DINO, and we have the splendid Rep. Louise Slaughter, who hates Bush and Cheney.
I wold think that New York would be a great place for a progressive, non-religious point of view to thrive.
ReplyDeleteYou are lucky.
I have always known that Alaskans are very hard to categorize since there are so many here who like being left alone and who have opinions that are eclectic to say the least.
In the 1980's we had a sort of religious resurgence with the moral majority gaining a foothold here and religion being foisted upon our school district and politics. It looks like those days may be over.