In chp 6 of Greeley and Houk’s The Truth about Conservative Christians [CCs] we are given a social portrait of CCs. Here’s the stereotype: CCs are “rubes” — Southern, uneducated gun owners who live in trailer parks or far from the city (p. 91). What’s the truth? Or, what do the stats show?
Geography: only 51% of Cons Prots [CPs] live in the South; 57% of AfrAms Cons Prots.
AfrAm denominations have 59% women; CPs are about 50-50 (in spite of recent worries that males are dropping out of the church).
Stable marriages are ranked this way: Jews, Catholics and then CPs. But, CP women are more fertile than Mainline women.
CPs are less educated and less likely to be professionals and their income is less than most.
1/3d smoke; only 50% say they drink but more admit to drinking too much on occasion than most. CPs are more likely to watch PBS than others; they don’t enjoy operatic or classical music as much; they enjoy fishing and hunting and watching car races more than most; there is a higher percentage who own guns.
They cheer for the Cubs and not the Yankees — I just thought I’d kick it up a notch.