attachment to a real church community.
Indeed, the only conservative Protestants
I knew who attended church regularly
were my dad and his family.^17 In the
middle of the Bible Belt, active church
attendance is actually quite low.^18
Despite its reputation, Appalachia—
especially northern Alabama and
Georgia to southern Ohio—has far
lower church attendance than the
Midwest, parts of the Mountain West,
and much of the space between Michigan
and Montana. Oddly enough, we think
we attend church more than we actually
do. In a recent Gallup poll, Southerners
and Midwesterners reported the highest
rates of church attendance in the country.