the southern image

a nice article recently in The State Newspaper of South Carolina about what it means to be "southern." They ask if the southern image is blurring and consider some statistics about religion and military..interesting read..

"Church attendance figures compiled by David Olson, director of the American Church Research Project, show Southerners are much more likely than the average American to go to church — though, as a region, their Midwestern brethren have a slight edge. The Arbitron broadcast rating service finds Southern dwellers are 48 percent more likely than others to listen to religious radio programming.

And what of the closeness of extended families associated with the South?

Six of the states in the top 10 for highest divorce rates are in the South. And the Census Bureau recently reported the South is home to seven of the top 10 states with the highest percentages of out-of-wedlock births. (The Census counts Delaware and Maryland as Southern states.)"