Side comments on "Why do the scientist Christians here believe in God?"

[Tim]

@Michelle

I grew up and attended college in New England, where most of my friends were raised by families similar to mine, or had a nominal faith (with different faith backgrounds including Christian, Catholicism, Hinduism and Judaism).

I find it interesting that you list Catholicism separate from “Christian”.

@Michelle

The culture in New England is generally not very open to faith. So if I were to adhere to cultural norms here, I would have remained atheist or agnostic.

I find this curious. The religious demographics sections of Wikipedia’s articles on the six New England states, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont, list each state as being majority Christian, with non-religious ranging from 20% (Rhode Island) to 37% (Vermont). Why are the “cultural norms” there that of the minority viewpoint?