Coming from a largely poor, agricultural state and yet being a well-educated academic, I take offense when anyone assumes that I am ignorant simply on the grounds of being from the South and having an accent. Yet, they do. And, being a Progressive, Liberal, feminist, gun-owning, religious person (yes, my family tends to scare both sides of the aisle) who is nevertheless proud of where she comes from, I admit I tend to bristle whenever anyone seeks to oversimplify the situation of the South and its people.
In regards to your theory, the religious aspect is not nearly as much a factor as the economic and emotional factors in why people stay or leave. There are all sorts of influences that impact whether people leave or stay, most of which have little to do with one's religion.
For one, much of the South is poor. It has long been so, for various reasons that are too numerous to go into right now. In my state, much of the workforce is agricultural, poor, and/or under-educated. And for many in the South, it is prohibitively expensive to up and leave the place they live. And don't for a second think that they don't know how much of the rest of the world stereotypes them. Why would they *want* to leave when they know wherever they go, whatever they do, they'll be viewed as ignorant hicks?
Secondly, moving also means leaving your family, your family's history, and your support network behind, taking a chance on somewhere else. When one is poor, one often depends on one's neighbors and family to get by. Moving means leaving all that. And as Aspen said, people like staying where they've lived and worked and raised their families. People are proud of where they come from, however humble their origins. It's that pride that gives people the fortitude to take what nature throws at them, and rebuild, not their religion.
I do apologize if this comment is coming on strong, but this is a subject near and dear to my heart. I am not a Bible-thumper, and I think most Bible-thumpers give Christians a bad name. But that is not the point. I came back to Arkansas after getting my degrees not because I agree with the majority of people either in religion or in politics, but because it is home, to me. Tornadoes are just part of the landscape, though they terrify me. My home town was mostly destroyed on March 1st, 1997. I was eight. But I'm still here.
And, as Aspen said, everyone has something. Azy told me I need to move away from the place constantly under threat of being destroyed by an act of God. I pointed out to her that she willingly moved to Hawaii and lives on the side of a volcano. (We did, however, find a place where a person'd be safe from just about everything. Wales!)
Being earnest.
In regards to your theory, the religious aspect is not nearly as much a factor as the economic and emotional factors in why people stay or leave. There are all sorts of influences that impact whether people leave or stay, most of which have little to do with one's religion.
For one, much of the South is poor. It has long been so, for various reasons that are too numerous to go into right now. In my state, much of the workforce is agricultural, poor, and/or under-educated. And for many in the South, it is prohibitively expensive to up and leave the place they live. And don't for a second think that they don't know how much of the rest of the world stereotypes them. Why would they *want* to leave when they know wherever they go, whatever they do, they'll be viewed as ignorant hicks?
Secondly, moving also means leaving your family, your family's history, and your support network behind, taking a chance on somewhere else. When one is poor, one often depends on one's neighbors and family to get by. Moving means leaving all that. And as Aspen said, people like staying where they've lived and worked and raised their families. People are proud of where they come from, however humble their origins. It's that pride that gives people the fortitude to take what nature throws at them, and rebuild, not their religion.
I do apologize if this comment is coming on strong, but this is a subject near and dear to my heart. I am not a Bible-thumper, and I think most Bible-thumpers give Christians a bad name. But that is not the point. I came back to Arkansas after getting my degrees not because I agree with the majority of people either in religion or in politics, but because it is home, to me. Tornadoes are just part of the landscape, though they terrify me. My home town was mostly destroyed on March 1st, 1997. I was eight. But I'm still here.
And, as Aspen said, everyone has something. Azy told me I need to move away from the place constantly under threat of being destroyed by an act of God. I pointed out to her that she willingly moved to Hawaii and lives on the side of a volcano. (We did, however, find a place where a person'd be safe from just about everything. Wales!)