[shiroiuma]

I think it should be fairly easy to determine if atheists really are outsiders in parts of the US or if it's just perception: just look at voting results, and church attendance for any given area. I don't think it's merely perception at all; visit any rural area and you'll likely see a surprising number of churches relative to the population.

Also, seeing people walking around in public doesn't tell you anything about their religious beliefs unless they're in some sect where they make it obvious with their clothing or hairstyle.

[xpe]

> just look at voting results

"Just"? How would you build a predictive model that inferred aggregate individual qualities such as "% atheists" based on voting results? That would be a rather indirect and distorted path for estimation. There are better ways.

[shiroiuma]

It's not a great way, admittedly, but there is a very high correlation between Republican voters and religiosity. Very high turnout for Republican candidates plus lots of active churches in an economically-poor area I think is a reliable indication that atheism in that area is low.