# Monoreligious Towns **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 4, 2007, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monoreligious-towns/410532 "2007-07-04T22:24:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Captain\_Socks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a8b319/32.png) [@Captain\_Socks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Socks)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2007, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monoreligious-towns/410532/41 "2007-07-05T23:13:44Z")
[QUOTE=Bosda Di’Chi of Tricor] Zion Illinois was once monoreligious. And…_creepy_. [/QUOTE] Of what religion? ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2007, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monoreligious-towns/410532/42 "2007-07-06T00:55:22Z")
[QUOTE=mks57] My Aunt told me that there were many small towns in Wisconsin that were either 100% Catholic or 100% Lutheran back when many Germans were emigrating to the state. She also said that church services were usually done in German. [/QUOTE] There are also a few Hollander communities in Wisconsin, Michigan, and Iowa which are close to 100% Calvinist in one flavor or another (Reformed, Christian reformed, Orthodox Presbyterian). ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2007, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monoreligious-towns/410532/43 "2007-07-06T04:18:42Z")
[QUOTE=Cartooniverse] \*\*As for percentages, Kiryas Joel as a religious community and incorporated village has always been by design 100 % Satmar Sect Hasidim. No outsiders are permitted to reside there. \*\* It’s interesting. I don’t know why someone who is NOT a Satmar Hasid would actively try to rent an apartment there, and I know not how it would be handled legally. Cartooniverse [/QUOTE] Okay…how can this be legal? Not that I’d want to co-mingle, mind you…but if I did, how could they refuse to rent to me under current laws? ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2007, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monoreligious-towns/410532/44 "2007-07-06T04:41:00Z")
[QUOTE=Captain Socks] Of what religion? [/QUOTE] Why, the [Flat Earth Faith Healers, Inc.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_Catholic_Apostolic_Church) of course! 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2007, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monoreligious-towns/410532/45 "2007-07-06T11:37:57Z")
[QUOTE=Kalhoun] Okay…how can this be legal? Not that I’d want to co-mingle, mind you…but if I did, how could they refuse to rent to me under current laws? [/QUOTE] Good question. I will call several local real estate brokers today, including some inside of K.J. and ask to rent an apartment. I suspect I will be told the same thing by all of them. " Sorry, none available". I used wording that was incorrect. I would guess that it is not legal to publicly bar someone from living somewhere in the United States, right? However, as many of us know, there are ways… ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2007, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monoreligious-towns/410532/46 "2007-07-06T11:44:30Z")
[QUOTE=Argent Towers] Yeah, but there’s the Middle East, South/Central America, and Eastern and Southern Europe, plus Africa - I imagine that most small towns in these regions are one religion. [/QUOTE] My hometown in Spain was monoreligion (you could be practicing or non, but by God you were Catholic) from the XVI century until the mid-80’s; that’s the time when the gypsies first made an attempt at an Evangelic temple (don’t ask me why but in Spain most Evangelics are Gypsies). Nowadays there’s a Muslim prayer group (they don’t have a proper mosque), the third attempt at Evangelic temple, the JW’s, and a Christian church (don’t ask me the specific denomination) that’s 100% black and very much into fire, brimstone and music - these meet at the big meeting hall of the Capuchinos parish. ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2007, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monoreligious-towns/410532/47 "2007-07-06T15:03:55Z")
[QUOTE=Kalhoun] Okay…how can this be legal? Not that I’d want to co-mingle, mind you…but if I did, how could they refuse to rent to me under current laws? [/QUOTE] And what happens if a homeowner renounces their religion? ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2007, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monoreligious-towns/410532/48 "2007-07-06T15:33:21Z")
[QUOTE=vetbridge] And what happens if a homeowner renounces their religion? [/QUOTE] Nothing like a good shunning! ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2007, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monoreligious-towns/410532/49 "2007-07-06T15:49:17Z")
[QUOTE=Cartooniverse] Good question. I will call several local real estate brokers today, including some inside of K.J. and ask to rent an apartment. I suspect I will be told the same thing by all of them. " Sorry, none available". I used wording that was incorrect. I would guess that it is not legal to publicly bar someone from living somewhere in the United States, right? However, as many of us know, there are ways… [/QUOTE] Redlining. Or is that _god_lining? Yeah…they sound like a nice bunch, huh? ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2007, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monoreligious-towns/410532/50 "2007-07-06T15:52:09Z")
[QUOTE=Captain Socks] Of what religion? [/QUOTE] These blokes– > **[Christ Community Church](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_Catholic_Apostolic_Church)** > > Christ Community Church in Zion, Illinois, formerly the Christian Catholic Church or Christian Catholic Apostolic Church, is an evangelical non-denominational church founded in 1896 by John Alexander Dowie. The city of Zion was founded by Dowie as a religious community to establish a society on the principles of the Kingdom of God. Members are sometimes called Zionites (not to be confused with the German Zionites). Over the years there have been many changes to the church founded by John Alexande... > [@](#): > > Voliva gained a lot of nationwide notoriety by his vigorous advocacy of flat earth doctrine. He offered a widely publicized $5000 challenge for anyone to disprove flat earth theory, but on terms of his own choosing. The church schools in Zion taught the flat earth doctrine. His 100,000 watt radio station broadcast his diatribes against round earth astronomy, and the evils of evolution. Colorization by **Bosda** ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2007, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monoreligious-towns/410532/51 "2007-07-06T15:52:14Z")
[QUOTE=Cartooniverse] Good question. I will call several local real estate brokers today, including some inside of K.J. and ask to rent an apartment. I suspect I will be told the same thing by all of them. " Sorry, none available". I used wording that was incorrect. I would guess that it is not legal to publicly bar someone from living somewhere in the United States, right? However, as many of us know, there are ways… [/QUOTE] One more question. How would they know? Do they not allow like-believers to enter the community? In other words, are they just shuffling residences amongst the existing community or can a like-believer from say, Chicago call up and say, “Yeah, I believe, blah, blah, blah” and get a place? ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2007, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monoreligious-towns/410532/52 "2007-07-06T16:24:18Z")
Oh. Simple. This is not the United Methodist Church. This is an extremely small ( relatively speaking… ) religious sect. They are the Satmar Sect of Hasidim. They are in Brooklyn. They are in K.J. They are in one or two other places in between. And… that’s about it. Even a member of another ultra-Orthodox sect couldn’t fake their way in, IMHO. ( The IMHO is a big disclaimer- I would beg **cmkeller** to opine. ) And yeah… redlining. Whateverlining… ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2007, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monoreligious-towns/410532/53 "2007-07-06T16:28:06Z")
[QUOTE=Kalhoun] One more question. How would they know? Do they not allow like-believers to enter the community? In other words, are they just shuffling residences amongst the existing community or can a like-believer from say, Chicago call up and say, “Yeah, I believe, blah, blah, blah” and get a place? [/QUOTE] In the case of Kiryas Joel, which is a [Satmar Hasidic](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satmar_%28Hasidic_dynasty%29) Jewish community, most of them already either live there or live in Williamsburg in Brooklyn. Someone wanting to move into Kiryas Joel from somewhere other than Williamsburg would probably be suspicious. Remember, religious Jews, and Hasidim in particular, tend to live in communities that have a fair number of people of the same religion. That’s probably even more true for Satmar Hasidim- they tend to isolate themselves from the overall secular culture. AIUI, they don’t do a lot of outreach to outsiders, even to non-Satmar Jews- Chabad is unusual among Hasidim for doing that sort of thing. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2007, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monoreligious-towns/410532/54 "2007-07-06T22:11:04Z")
[QUOTE=Anne Neville] In the case of Kiryas Joel, which is a [Satmar Hasidic](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satmar_%28Hasidic_dynasty%29) Jewish community, most of them already either live there or live in Williamsburg in Brooklyn. Someone wanting to move into Kiryas Joel from somewhere other than Williamsburg would probably be suspicious. Remember, religious Jews, and Hasidim in particular, tend to live in communities that have a fair number of people of the same religion. That’s probably even more true for Satmar Hasidim- they tend to isolate themselves from the overall secular culture. AIUI, they don’t do a lot of outreach to outsiders, even to non-Satmar Jews- Chabad is unusual among Hasidim for doing that sort of thing. [/QUOTE] Thanks for the clarification. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Socks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a8b319/32.png) [@Captain\_Socks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Socks)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2007, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monoreligious-towns/410532/55 "2007-07-07T20:24:24Z")
Are there any 100% Roman Catholic towns in the United States? ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2007, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monoreligious-towns/410532/56 "2007-07-07T21:23:06Z")
[QUOTE=Kalhoun] Thanks for the clarification. [/QUOTE] You’re welcome from both of us !! 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monoreligious-towns/410532.md?page=2)