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65 °F Forecast | Road Cams Sunday, September 12, 2004 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Prime Times Wellness Connection Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Rogue Valley's Finest EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People MARKETPLACE Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Classifieds Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend August 8, 2004 Since You Asked Magazine says we’re ‘godless’ The September Atlantic Monthly calls Medford "America’s most godless locale." What’s up with that? — Several readers The factoid in question appeared in a demographics piece called "The God Vote," which asked if there is a "religion gap" in politics. The Atlantic printed a United States map with counties color-coded by the percentage of population claimed by churches. Oregon has the lowest percentage of church membership in the nation, 31 percent. Painting with a broad brush, Atlantic tagged our region "The Godless Northwest." Regions included "The Baptist Belt" (the Old South), "The Pious Dakotas" (70 percent church-goers in Bismarck, N.D.), "Catholicism’s Changing Face" (growth in the Southwest) and others. Advertisement Atlantic readers may be surprised that the upscale mag was scooped by the Mail Tribune, which ran a story based on the same data — a study by the Glenmary Research Center, a Catholic- affiliated center in Nashville — nearly two years ago. MT reporter JoNel Aleccia interviewed several religious leaders and a sociologist. Their conclusion was that the study failed to count adherents of two groups: the Christian fellowship movement, and alternative spiritual or New Age faiths. Still, Oregon’s church attendance rate in 1890 was even lower — 22 percent. And that preceded both modern movements. Send questions to "Since You Asked," Mail Tribune Newsroom, P.O. Box 1108, Medford, OR 97501; by fax to 541-776-4376; or by e-mail to [email protected] . We’re sorry, but the volume of questions received prevents us from answering all of them. Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2004 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback ADVERTISERS A D V E R T I S E R S SPECIAL SECTIONS Auto Finder Job Finder Home Finder Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? Volunteer Opportunities