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Why so many churches in Las Vegas?
Robert, a loyal MR reader asks,
I lived there for four years and was always curious. I guess the more sin, the more churches???
For background, here is a 1997 look at the numbers. It seems the city has more churches than average in per capita terms. Among the cities claiming the highest number of churches per capita are Nashville, Grand Rapids, Mich., Waco, Texas, Wheaton, Ill., and Berkeley, Calif. (Berkeley?) Overall the South has more churches per capita than the rest of the country.
I would think that most of the churches in Las Vegas are for the residents, not the tourists, and thus the quantity of sin is not a major factor. Why should the residents be especially sinful? (Don't forget that lots of sinful activities seem to be produced at constant returns to scale, so there's not always free-riding upon the sin infrastructure for tourists plus parking is an issue.) In explaining the number of churches, I would expect three factors to play a role:
1. Perhaps migrants to Las Vegas are more likely to come from the South.
2. Most of the population growth is recent, so churches serve a valuable function of social networking.
3. Las Vegas has no dominant established religion so there is much religious competition and thus many different churches.
But surely Jacqueline (and others) can set us straight...
Posted by Tyler Cowen on September 5, 2008 at 07:43 AM in Religion | Permalink
Comments
It's not just for all the weddings?
Posted by: josh at Sep 5, 2008 8:28:05 AM
I can't speak for LA or any of the other cities you mentioned, but as someone who grew up a few miles from Wheaton, Illinois, I can add another factor into the equation. Wheaton is the long-time home of Wheaton College, which describes itself as "Christian liberal arts college." If I recall correctly, they have an active and respected seminary/theology program.
Despite the tendency of evangelicals to spread outward from their starting point, it seems likely that there might be a link between the high number of churches and a ready supply of trained theology graduates.
It's probably (at least in Wheaton's case) has little to do with sin, as Wheaton is perhaps the most unsinful place in Chicagoland. That said, it's also a fairly wealthy and pleasant place to live, so there might be a connection there as well.
Posted by: Nathan at Sep 5, 2008 8:37:06 AM
Larger than normal Hispanic and Asian populations. Also, poorer than average for the size of the city cause people to value religion.
Posted by: superdestroyer at Sep 5, 2008 9:07:50 AM
Las Vegas was first settled by Mormon pioneers, as were a lot of other smaller towns in the region. I don't know the exact population of LDS people in Las Vegas, but it is A Lot. Last I heard there were around 30 "stakes" here (a stake is a geographical unit composed of 5-10 congregations), each stake having somewhere between 2000-4000 members.
Additionally, with a relatively large Hispanic immigrant population, I think they tend to be Catholic, right?
But I'd agree that there are a lot of other protestant, Jewish, etc churches around. I even know where a few Buddhist and Baha'i temples (churches? not sure) are located.
Posted by: Brandon Robison at Sep 5, 2008 9:22:39 AM
... besides, what would Jacqueline know about religion? She's a heathen! ;)
Posted by: Brandon Robison at Sep 5, 2008 9:25:24 AM
It's true that while most of the people who engage in "sinful" activities in Vegas don't live there and wouldn't frequent the churches, there are still more than your average number of cocktail waitresses, dealers, bartenders, and other workers in these entertainment fields who spend most of their day dealing with less than kosher activities who may need a spiritual pick-me-up, so there still may be a "more sin, more churches" effect.
One interesting anecdote: There was (and maybe still is) a priest in Las Vegas who would consistently celebrate a 2am mass for all of the entertainers and casino workers getting off the late night shift.
Posted by: ninth at Sep 5, 2008 10:10:23 AM
Given the way Las Vegas has grown, statistics from 1997 are hopelessly obsolete.
Posted by: Peter at Sep 5, 2008 10:15:14 AM
There's an archetypal detergent commercial that goes like this: little Johnny runs around outdoors all day getting grass and mud stains all over his clothes. When he gets home, Mommy just smiles and laughs. She uses new Zingo detergent with stain-cleansing power, and the clothes come out looking brand new. The final shot shows Johnny running outside again and getting muddy all over again.
You'd think this kind of commercial would lose popularity, now that kids never venture outside anymore except for carefully prearranged indoor play dates. But I digress.
Anyways, for some people, going to church every Sunday is like using Zingo with sin-cleansing power. It means they've been given clearance to go forth and sin some more. What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas... but why not make it go away altogether?
Posted by: at Sep 5, 2008 10:19:52 AM
Maybe after you lose all your money in a casino, you become one of those bitter people who cling to religion that Obama told us about.
Posted by: at Sep 5, 2008 10:22:25 AM
Wedding chapels count as churches. That has a major effect.
Posted by: Mo at Sep 5, 2008 10:34:48 AM
the more sin, the more churches? Then Amsterdam would have the most churches in the world. As a matter of fact: There was, i believe some decades ago, a sexclub in Amsterdam, called the church of satan...Nowadays you are not allowed to smoke anymore in a bar... So bars are calling themselves churches of smokers...
Posted by: jmws at Sep 5, 2008 10:39:20 AM
I'm probably one of the few tourists who have gone to Las Vegas who attended church, but didn't gamble, drink, or watch showgirls. The impression i got from the church was that there are almost no native Las Vegans, they are all transplants who settled there in the last few years. The church was a social networking tool.
Also, most casino workers knew where the local Catholic church was when i needed directions, but couldn't tell me where the closest convenience store was.
Posted by: Wallace at Sep 5, 2008 10:40:58 AM
"Larger than normal Hispanic and Asian populations."
Dude, all Asians are not created equal, even if all look same. Koreans might be highly correlated with Presbyterianism, but the rest of us tend to be Buddhist.
Posted by: Anittah Patrick at Sep 5, 2008 11:05:41 AM
Perhaps some of those lucky enough to win at the casinos will give some of the winnings to a nearby church? The extra income would support more churches.
Posted by: Paul F. Dietz at Sep 5, 2008 11:10:53 AM
From talking to folks who grew up in Las Vegas the resident culture is actually very conservative. It is considered unusual to get married after 25 and church attendance is the norm. It is more tolerant of the sex, gambling, and drinking than its southern variety but still holds the more traditional values. Why this is I have no idea.
Posted by: JK at Sep 5, 2008 11:12:12 AM
Is it possible that laws that against gambling and prostitution make government a substitute for religion? (BTW maybe the same idea could be applicable to welfare, SS and Government supplied healthcare.
Posted by: floccina at Sep 5, 2008 11:20:01 AM
As mentioned before, lots of Mormons. Close proximity to Utah (100 miles?) always yields a lot of LDS members. Howard Hughs liked them.
Posted by: Mace at Sep 5, 2008 11:34:53 AM
Las Vegas has an extremely large Mormon population, and I suspect Mormons have far higher rates of church attendance than average.
Posted by: at Sep 5, 2008 11:35:03 AM
"Why should the residents be especially sinful?"
It's not that they're more sinful -- it's just that many things most people consider sins aren't taken that seriously in Nevada -- there's not the same public scorn, so it's very open. It is a very conservative population -- conservatives who don't take sex and drugs as seriously as the rest of the country (even though their laws are more strict and very selectively enforced), and conservatives who take violence and property crimes more seriously. A great place to live if you don't have any kids.
Posted by: SheetWise at Sep 5, 2008 11:36:10 AM
Floccina: I think you're probably taking it too far; Government and religion aren't really close substitutes as far as I can tell. I do think that Gov't provision of services that used to be provided by communities themselves (often through the local church or synagogue), such as schooling and healthcare, does a lot to break down local communities. That's only my hunch, though. I haven't seen any serious research on the topic. Has anyone else?
I've never spent much time in Vegas, but I think that there are plenty of jobs within the tourism and hospitality industries that a Christian could work in good conscience; you would mostly have to avoid working directly or indirectly in strip clubs and prostitution, which may be harder than it sounds, I don't know.
In any case, Catholics don't view gambling or alcohol as inherently sinful, though abuse of them is.
Is Vegas still trying to push a family-friendly image, or have they stopped that?
Posted by: d.cous. at Sep 5, 2008 11:43:48 AM
I don't believe it has anything to do with sin, nor gambling. A simple explanation will suffice.
Las Vegas has been a good job market for many years and the influx of people seeking those jobs has also increased church membership, thus more churches. If you are from a distant part of the country a move to a new place that is much different than your home town can be daunting and stressful. But if there is a church there that is like the one you are used to at home it makes it easier. And if there is no church of your denomination, you have every incentive to start one. With people coming to Las Vegas from all over the country of different religious backgrounds, the result is a lot of churches. One of the selling points that is used to attract people is that no matter your religious preference, you will find a church that you like. Counterintuitive at it may be, Las Vegas is reputed to be a great town to raise a family.
Wallace has it right that churches are centers of social networking for new arrivals.
Posted by: Flash Gordon at Sep 5, 2008 11:46:36 AM
Wait a minute... are they counting those wedding chapel thingies?
Posted by: Michael F. Martin at Sep 5, 2008 11:52:36 AM
+1 on the Mormon comments. I would guess that accounts for the difference entirely, although I'm sure southern transplants play a role.
Posted by: shachello at Sep 5, 2008 12:20:28 PM
Aren't churches exempt from property taxes? In Chicago, there's a church on every street corner.
Posted by: jorod at Sep 5, 2008 12:29:09 PM
Isn't density pretty low in LV? That would seem to agitate towards more churches? Who's going to drive 20 miles?
Posted by: Sam at Sep 5, 2008 12:53:46 PM
