Religious life in the South

Louisiana is distinct among southern states because of the large proportion of its population that is Catholic. Protestants are concentrated in the northern and central part of the State, while Catholics are dominant in the southern part of the State, largely as a result of the Cajun and French Creole influence. Some have suggested that Interstate 10 roughly separates the Protestant fraction (most dominant being Southern Baptist) from the Catholic fraction, but this is, of course, simplistic. A lady who recently moved to the Houma-Thibodaux area from the Florida panhandle told me that she was trying to put a finger on the essential difference between the two groups, and she finally came to the conclusion that the difference was that where she grew up, people tried to hide their sins, whereas, down here, people flaunt their sins. I thought that was pretty funny when she said it. This was shortly after Mardi Gras.

Our Tennessee "Friends of Sewanee" shared a rather humorous Ray Stevens video about religious life in the South, entitled "The Mississippi Squirrel Revival." Ray mentions Pascagoula, Mississippi in the video, which is not too far from Louisiana and a place some people around here can relate to. Hope you enjoy the video as much as I did. Thanks to our Friends for sharing it.