Religion in the South Text and photos copyright 1995 Michael A. Schwarz Nowhere in the United States is religious expression as omnipresent and diverse as in the Southern states. Like the ubiquitous kudzu vine that thrives in the region, religion flourishes in the South, reaching deep into Southern society, affecting politics, art and public discourse. Called The Bible Belt, this area is home to huge super-congregations and to small storefront churches that dot urban areas. It is an area where exotic religions such as Voodoo and Santeria can exist. It is also an area where Gospel music flourishes and traditions such as snake handling, faith healing and speaking in tongues persist.

From top: A woman is moved by the Gospel music of a Baptist church in Atlanta. Altar boys at a Catholic church in Atlanta. A man twirls deliriously, holding a poisonous snake, at a Pentecostal Holiness church in Kingston, Georgia. A man portrays the Orisha Babaluaye at a Santeria ritual in Miami. Inmates at the Cobb County, Georgia Detention Center during bible class.

Bottom left to right: Staring at the noon-day sun, a man hopes to see a vision of the Virgin mary at a farm in Conyers, Georgia. Hasidic Jews dance during a Purim celebration in Atlanta. Service at the Silver Bluff Missionary Baptist Church, in South Carolina, oldest African-American church in America.