“…Baptists in the South are the best documented example of a religious group as regional institution (Hill, 1967;Torbet, 1963); but similar cases can be made for Mormons in the Great Basin, Lutherans in parts of the rural Upper Midwest (Ostergren, 1981), and Catholics in New England, southern Louisiana, and much of the rural Southwest. Smaller denominations may perform analogous roles on a smaller scale, for subcultures within larger regions (for example, see Bjorklund, 1964, on the Dutch Reformed in Michigan). Again, because regional institutional status has contributed to Baptist, Lutheran, Mormon and Catholic growth, the regional prominence of these groups has been self-perpetuating, and has thus preserved regional differences in religious affiliation.…”
The regional convergence hypothesis asserts that regional differences in the United States have declined over the past century. Convergence has been documented for many demographic and socioeconomic variables; but it is less clear that regional cultural differences have declined. This paper examines the convergence hypothesis through the variable of religious affiliation. Three hypotheses are tested: that regional differences have declined in white Protestant proportions, in denominational proportions within white Protestantism, and in Catholic proportions. Results for all three tests reveal that, contrary to the predictions of the convergence hypothesis, regional differences in religious affiliation in the United States have grown considerably stronger during the twentieth century. The observed patterns of divergence were brought about by spatiaI variations in denominational growth, which tended to reinforce earIier regional differences. These results suggest that regional prominence has been an important factor in denominational growth this centuu.It has often been asserted that regional cultural differences within American society have been weakened over the past century, by a variety of homogenizing forces: interregional migration, urbanization, the mass media, a nationally integrated economy, and advances in communication and transportation technology. Many studies have demonstrated that the various regions of the United States have converged since the mid-nineteenth century with respect to socioeconomic and demographic variables such as fertility, education, income, voting behavior, sex ratio and racial composition (Easterlin, 1960;Labovitz, 1962Labovitz, , 1965McKinney and Bourque, 1971;Sharpless, 1980). It is less clear, however, that cultural differences have declined; the hypothesis that cultural convergence would accompany economic and demographic convergence (Labovitz and Purdy, 1970) has not been convincingly confirmed or refuted by empirical studies. Glenn and Simmons (1967), for example, did not find a general decrease in regional differences in their analysis of opinion survey data pertaining to religion, race relations, work, morals and politics. On the contrary, regional differences were increasing for many of the attitudes examined. Reed (1972) also found no indication of convergence between the South and the rest of the country using similar data on three themes associated with Southern distinctiveness: religion, violence and localism. While convincing for the period of time they cover, the 1950s and 1960s, the results of these studies are limited by their narrow temporal scope. Analyses of the convergence ofeconomic and demographic variables indicate that the process has involved long-term changes extending over at least a century, and is characterized by considerable short-term variation (Labovitz and Purdy, 1970;Sharpless, 1980). Analysis of trends over one or two decades could easily reveal stability in regional differences, of even an increase, while a more extended analysis would not. ...
“…Baptists in the South are the best documented example of a religious group as regional institution (Hill, 1967;Torbet, 1963); but similar cases can be made for Mormons in the Great Basin, Lutherans in parts of the rural Upper Midwest (Ostergren, 1981), and Catholics in New England, southern Louisiana, and much of the rural Southwest. Smaller denominations may perform analogous roles on a smaller scale, for subcultures within larger regions (for example, see Bjorklund, 1964, on the Dutch Reformed in Michigan). Again, because regional institutional status has contributed to Baptist, Lutheran, Mormon and Catholic growth, the regional prominence of these groups has been self-perpetuating, and has thus preserved regional differences in religious affiliation.…”
The regional convergence hypothesis asserts that regional differences in the United States have declined over the past century. Convergence has been documented for many demographic and socioeconomic variables; but it is less clear that regional cultural differences have declined. This paper examines the convergence hypothesis through the variable of religious affiliation. Three hypotheses are tested: that regional differences have declined in white Protestant proportions, in denominational proportions within white Protestantism, and in Catholic proportions. Results for all three tests reveal that, contrary to the predictions of the convergence hypothesis, regional differences in religious affiliation in the United States have grown considerably stronger during the twentieth century. The observed patterns of divergence were brought about by spatiaI variations in denominational growth, which tended to reinforce earIier regional differences. These results suggest that regional prominence has been an important factor in denominational growth this centuu.It has often been asserted that regional cultural differences within American society have been weakened over the past century, by a variety of homogenizing forces: interregional migration, urbanization, the mass media, a nationally integrated economy, and advances in communication and transportation technology. Many studies have demonstrated that the various regions of the United States have converged since the mid-nineteenth century with respect to socioeconomic and demographic variables such as fertility, education, income, voting behavior, sex ratio and racial composition (Easterlin, 1960;Labovitz, 1962Labovitz, , 1965McKinney and Bourque, 1971;Sharpless, 1980). It is less clear, however, that cultural differences have declined; the hypothesis that cultural convergence would accompany economic and demographic convergence (Labovitz and Purdy, 1970) has not been convincingly confirmed or refuted by empirical studies. Glenn and Simmons (1967), for example, did not find a general decrease in regional differences in their analysis of opinion survey data pertaining to religion, race relations, work, morals and politics. On the contrary, regional differences were increasing for many of the attitudes examined. Reed (1972) also found no indication of convergence between the South and the rest of the country using similar data on three themes associated with Southern distinctiveness: religion, violence and localism. While convincing for the period of time they cover, the 1950s and 1960s, the results of these studies are limited by their narrow temporal scope. Analyses of the convergence ofeconomic and demographic variables indicate that the process has involved long-term changes extending over at least a century, and is characterized by considerable short-term variation (Labovitz and Purdy, 1970;Sharpless, 1980). Analysis of trends over one or two decades could easily reveal stability in regional differences, of even an increase, while a more extended analysis would not. ...
“…The basic principles followed by the adherents to Dutch‐Reformed ideology can be stated simply as follows: (1) there are particular rules governing the conduct of life which must be obeyed literally; (2) man is obliged by these rules to perform both physical and spiritual work; and (3) opposition or intrusion of conflicting rules of conduct cannot be tolerated, because life after death depends upon the literal conduct of life on earth on a principled basis and is not subject to individual interpretation. (Bjorklund 1964, 228)…”
Cultural geography might benefit from consideration of radical behaviourism and from interpretation and application of the concepts of behaviour analysis. The basic concept is that of operant conditioning, referring to the environment reinforcing behaviours that are most adaptive and effective in achieving reinforcers and avoiding aversive stimuli. The concept of rule-governed behaviour facilitates incorporation of cognition into behaviour analyses, accommodating the fact that many consequences are delayed. These concepts are applied in an analysis of nineteenth-century Mormon settlement in the American West. This argument for an objectivist approach is laden with social scientific baggage not favoured in contemporary cultural geography.
“…Such estimable texts as those issuing from David Sopher (1967), John Gay ( i y i ) , Chris Park (i994), Gisbert Rinschede (i999), and Edwin Scott Gaustad and Philip L. Barlow (2001) adopt a macroscopic approach to religious phenomena, with scant attention to their role in the landscape. The handful of publications that do focus on sacred landscapes are concerned with the essentially rural or nonmetropolitan scene (Bjorklund 1964;Jordan 1976Jordan ,1980Milbauer 1988 I realize, of course, that there is no shortage of volumes, usually of the coffeetable genre, that address and celebrate the more aesthetically and/or historically interesting of our houses of worship, often in full color (for example, Kennedy 1975; Lane 1988; Johnson 1999). Some cover the entire country, others a single metropolis, state, or denomination; but they all have one thing in common: They systematically ignore the vast majority of churches and church-related facilities, the"ordinary" vernacular variety.…”
The assemblage of objects that constitute the publicly visible religious landscape of the United States-houses of worship and a variety of church-related enterprises-deviates so markedly from its counterparts in other lands that we can regard its uniqueness as a significant argument for American exceptionalism. The diagnostic features in question include the extraordinary number and variety of churches and denominations, their special physical attributes, the near-random microgeography of churches in urban areas, and, most especially, their nomenclature and the widely distributed signage promoting godliness and religiosity. Such landscape phenomena suggest connections with much-deeper issues concerning the origin and evolution of American society and culture.
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