Hillbilly Elegy

Yet actual church attendance is much
lower in the South.
This pattern of deception has to do
with cultural pressure. In southwestern
Ohio, where I was born, both the
Cincinnati and Dayton metropolitan
regions have very low rates of church
attendance, about the same as ultra-
liberal San Francisco. No one I know in
San Francisco would feel ashamed to
admit that they don’t go to church. (In
fact, some of them might feel ashamed to
admit that they do.) Ohio is the polar
opposite. Even as a kid, I’d lie when
people asked if I attended church
regularly. According to Gallup, I wasn’t
alone in feeling that pressure.