WASHINGTON - Mississippi is the America’s most religious state, according to a Pew Forum study on the levels of devotion in America, which asked respondents whether religion is important in their lives. Eighty-two percent of Mississipians said ‘yes’ compared to 47% of Wisconsinites. The combined populations of New Hampshire/Vermont ranked last in the survey.

“That is not too surprising,” said William F. Lawhead, chairman of the religion and philosophy department at the University of Mississippi. “This is the Bible Belt. We are primarily made up of small towns . . . so most of the people are homegrown.”

The state is overwhelmingly Christian, he added, although an influx of Vietnamese immigrants who are involved in the state’s coastal fishing industry has brought in Buddhist adherents.

Alabama and Arkansas (both at 74 percent), Louisiana (72 percent), Tennessee (71 percent) and South Carolina (70 percent) follow. Noted among the least-religious with New Hampshire and Vermont are Alaska (37 percent) and Massachusetts (40 percent), which confirms other recent surveys that say New England is the “new Northwest” in terms of unchurched multitudes.

The Pacific Northwest used to be the country’s least-churched sector, but Oregon (seventh from the bottom at 46 percent) and Washington (11th from the bottom at 48 percent), have risen in the rankings.

The poll was released Monday (Dec 21, 2009) with data drawn from the Forum’s 2007 U.S. Religious Landscape Survey of 35,556 U.S. residents. It has an error margin of 0.6 percent.

The Survey

Respondents were asked four questions about:

1.  the importance of religion in their lives
2. their frequency of attendance at worship services
3. frequency of daily prayer
4. and absolute certainty of belief in God.

Mississippi polled highest on all four questions.  On the attendance question, 33% of Wisconsinites stated that they attend religious services weekly.   Mississippians polled at 60 percent.  Heavily Mormon Utah (57 percent) placed second with South Carolina (54 percent) rounding the top three.

Alaska is at the bottom of this list, with only 22 percent of respondents saying they attend weekly. New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine polled next highest at 23 percent.

Ed Vatagliano, research director for the American Family Association in Tupelo, pointed out that Mississippi’s 3 million residents are more likely to have been raised in church.  “Part of it is tradition,” he said. “My kids and all their friends are in church on Sunday. That’s the expectation. If you are a politician down here, you’re expected to have a church track record.”

On the question about frequency of daily prayer, Wisconsin ranked 38th with 49% indicating tha they pray at least once daily.  Mississippi occupied the top spot at 77 percent, followed by Louisiana at 76 percent and Alabama at 73 percent. Maine, at 40 percent, occupied the lowest rung, followed by Massachusetts and Alaska, each at 41 percent.

The fourth question, measuring percentage of those who believe in God, had Wisconsin at 34 with 68% answering ‘yes’ when asked whether they had absolute certainty in their beliefe in God.  Mississipians again ranked at the top at 91 percent, followed by South Carolina and Alabama at 86 percent. States with the lowest belief in God are New Hampshire and Vermont at 54 percent and Connecticut and Rhode Island at 57 percent.

For more details and information on this survey and the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life, visit http://pewforum.org/docs/?DocID=504.

(Soource: Pew Reserach Center)