When it comes to attitudes toward religion in the US, one should also bear in mind the differences between more and less densely populated areas, and between what H. L Mencken scornfully dubbed the "Bible Belt," roughly coextensive with the South, and the rest of the country. There has been what the title of a book by Michael Lind--seven years old and now out of print, but still topical--terms a
Southern takeover of US politics.