Do you have any ideas about this?
Email me at
rbdavis@email.com
Ponder the state of affairs pictured in the information below:
A report issued on July 28, 1998, by the Children's Rights Council, a national family advocacy organization, ranked the 50 states on social/moral criteria such as highest public school graduation rate, lowest infant mortality rate, lowest child death rate, lowest children in poverty, lowest teenage pregnancy rate, lowest unwed births, lowest divorce rate, lowest single parent households, lowest drug induced deaths, and lowest alcohol induced deaths. Based on their studies of these statistics, they issued a list of The Best States to Raise Children. The top ten on the list were, in order, Iowa, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Nebraska, Massachusetts, North Dakota, South Dakota, Maine, Utah, and Vermont.
The list immediately raised a question in my mind. I wanted to know the significance of the fact that not one "Bible-belt" state made the top ten? And as I began to probe possible answers to that question, another fact came into view. The bottom twelve states on the list included Arkansas, North Carolina, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, Florida, Tennessee, Louisiana, and Mississippi. In other words, in the geographical areas where "conservative Christianity" claims to be strongest and to have had its greatest impact, moral and social issues related to family life could be judged to be poorest.
Bible-belt states faired better in the 1999 rankings, released July 28. Interestingly enough however, their rise seemed to be due in part to the fact that overall crime rates, drug-induced deaths, and alcohol-induced deaths were dropped as criteria for this year's report. Nevertheless, with the exception of North Carolina, Bible-belt states remained in the lower 50, comprising 9 of the bottom 16.
All of this raises the question of whether Bible-belt churches have had minimal, zero, or even a negative impact on family life in their culture . . . and why.
I would like very much to hear from folks who have thoughtful insights into this phenomenon, especially its theological aspects and implications.
A side issue, but one I would also like to explore, has to do with the common elements (if any) that have made the values of the people in the "best" states what they are.
And now, the week of November 14, 1999, Associated Press reports in a detailed story that the divorce rates in Bible-belt states exceed those of most other states, except Nevada. And this in a region of the country where support for "family values" is proclaimed the loudest! Only South Carolina, among Bible-belt states, ranks among the 25 states with the lowest divorce rates. The article includes speculation that, in addition to poverty, the teachings of fundamentalist churches themselves may contribute to the tragedy. Things have reached such a point that the governors of Oklahoma and Arkansas have made the divorce rate in their respective states a top agenda item in their administrations.
Do you have any ideas about this?
Email me at
rbdavis@email.com