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Ask An Atheist: Why is the Pacific Northwest such an unchurched area?

By: Jim Downard

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By Jim Downard 

Why do you think the Pacific Northwest is such an ‘unchurched’ area?

SPO_House-ad_Ask-an-atheist_0425133It doesn’t seem on account of any shortage of churches.  In fact, Seattle has the most churches per capita in the country, and its hard to walk too many blocks in this town without bumping into some tabernacle or other.

Nonetheless, Washington and Oregon certainly rank among the least church-attending of states.  One cannot help but suspect that their very availability means people have more than enough opportunity to discover on their own whether such institutions meet with their philosophy and interests, and overall the answer would seem to be No.

Jim Downard
Jim Downard
Jim Downard is a Spokane native (with a sojourn in Southern California back in the early 1960s) who was raised in a secular family, so says had no personal faith to lose. He's always been a history and science buff (getting a bachelor's in the former area at what was then Eastern Washington University in the early 1970s).

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PNW
PNW
7 years ago

Some of us worship the beauty of our environment and our planet and our multi-verses!

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