Do I Stay Christian?: A Guide for the Doubters, the Disappointed, and the Disillusioned

by Brian D. McLaren

“Which states have the highest church attendance rates?” They would find the following as the top five: Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Louisiana, and Arkansas.4 They might expect that with so many of their citizens deriving so many benefits of Christian faith, these states would be national leaders in measures of well-being like longevity, education, financial prosperity, and happiness.5 But they would be disappointed to find (according to recent studies) the following: Alabama ranks 48th in longevity, 47th in education, 42nd in happiness, 46th in median household income. (It ranks 11th in teen pregnancies.) Mississippi ranks 50th in longevity, 43rd in education, 43rd in happiness, 50th in median household income. (It ranks 2nd in teen pregnancies.) Tennessee ranks 43rd in longevity, 33rd in education, 44th in happiness, and 42nd in median household income. (It ranks 9th in teen pregnancies.) Louisiana ranks 45th in longevity, 48th in education, 46th in happiness, and 47th in household income. (It ranks 6th in teen pregnancies.) Arkansas is tied with Louisiana at 45th in longevity and ranks 41st in education, 49th in happiness, and 49th in median household income. (It ranks first in teen pregnancies.) I share these statistics not to propose a simple cause-effect relationship, nor to shame these beautiful states or their good inhabitants, nor to oversimplify highly complex matters, but simply to illustrate that if we want to argue that Christianity has great power to tran...