Religiosity in America has a greater geographical dimension. It's so called divine belt, or the Bible Belt stretches across southern regions and defines the other side of our belief system. But what is the bible belt? Why is it called the bible belt? And what states make up the bible belt? Let's find out.
Bible Belt is the term primarily used by outsiders referring to particular regions of the Southern US. Christianity is most prevalent in those areas.
The term is basically an informal one used for the region that forms mostly the South East and South Central parts of the US. Precisely it's that land area where strict Christian fundamentalist Protestant dominate the life of people. Someone who isn't a true/ real Christian is unwelcomed and is burnt in hell. By hell, they mean the one that's made up on earth by physically attacking and assaulting the person and their family.
The phrase was coined by H. L. Mencken, an American writer in the year 1925, who used it in a derogatory manner. Bible belt in his texts was used for designating those areas in the country where the Bible's literal accuracy is credited. Areas that were powerfully influenced by evangelical campaigns was termed as the Bible Belt. He never mentioned any particular states then. But the south was entirely fundamentalist, which led to the term "Bible Belt". However, by now, we have vaguely come up to define the boundaries.
The standards of living, a greater focus on honor, rural lifestyle, religious influences and other such differentiating things between the Nothern and Southern areas help divide the lines.
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The term Bible Belt usually refers to the following states/ areas: Mississippi, Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina, Tennessee, Arkansas, Kentucky, Oklahoma and North Carolina.
The buckle of the bible belt are areas of the southern Ohio, Tennessee, Georgia, Florida and the exception (in today's time) being Utah. The term buckle too was coined by H. L. Mencken referring to places where a majority of Christian fundamentalist reside.
Today, the Bible Belt is synonymous with Southern parts of the US. A majority of the people dwelling there brag about their God fearing attitude along with their religious systems. But doing so is just a result of being blissfully ignorant of the disparities of living in a socially backward region. The region is quite conservative and even has an unstable political system.
Why do we say so? According to The Moral Hypocrisy of the Bible Belt, the bible belt has the highest number of divorces, teen pregnancies, AIDS/ HIV/ STD, infant mortality rate, obesity, and murders along with the lowest rate of graduation literacy. People in the Bible Belt are more lustful, furious and envious than the rest of the US. The bible belt is also called as The Swinger Belt, The Divorce Belt, and The Poor Health Belt.
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