Study: Northeast Cities Rate Most Secular

Residents of Portland and Auburn, Maine, aren't just living in the far Northeast. They're in the most “post-Christian” part of the country.

So says Barna Group, a California-based firm that conducts research for businesses and Christian institutions. Researchers opted for a different way of measuring the state of belief than asking people to say if they are “Christian.” Those meeting nine or more of 16 criteria were labeled “post-Christian,” or secular.