When it comes to religion, many people in the South believe God is in control and his wrath is absolute.

A study by Baylor University of Americans' religious attitudes drew attention recently for its finding that Americans are less secular than previously suspected. Only 11 percent of Americans are not affiliated with a congregation, denomination or other religious group, the Baylor researchers found -- less than the 14 percent commonly cited. And most of them believe in God or some higher power.

What received less mention was the finding that Southerners, more than residents of any other region of the country, believe in a God the researchers describe as "authoritarian" -- one who is highly engaged in the world and very angry as well.

While 44 percent of Southerners see God in such terms, only 31 percent of all Americans have similar views.

"The revivalist mentality of the South starts with the bad news -- the need for repentance," said L. Gregory Jones, the dean of the Duke Divinity School. "The focus is on how you change to make God happier with you."

The survey split people's views of God into four types -- authoritarian, benevolent, critical and distant -- after asking respondents a series of questions about God's character and behavior.

Significantly, the Baylor researchers found that people's views of God can accurately predict their moral attitudes, political affiliations and stands on hot-button social issues.

"If I took two 40-year-old African-American women living in the South, one with a distant view of God and another with an authoritarian view of God, I can predict their views on all kinds of issues," said Paul Froese, a professor of sociology at Baylor University and one of the survey's lead researchers.

Those who believe in an authoritarian God were nearly twice as likely as those with other views of God to believe abortion is always wrong, for example. They also tended to oppose same-sex marriage and to approve of the death penalty.

The same goes for political affiliation. The survey found that 56 percent of people with an authoritarian view of God said they were Republicans, while 49 percent of people with a distant view of God were Democrats.

No surprise, the authoritarian God favored by many Southerners corresponds to a political conservatism the South is known for.

The closest fit

Bible study teacher and mother of two, Elizabeth Ficken, 40, fits the pattern. A member of Colonial Baptist Church in Cary, Ficken grew up in Alabama. She supported the war in Iraq and thinks President Bush is taking freedom to the region. She opposes abortion and same-sex marriage and thinks her role as a wife is to respect and submit to her husband.

In her view, God is authoritarian.

"It doesn't convey the fullness of who he is," Ficken said. "We don't see the goodness and tenderness. But that was the closest fit."

But the South is far from monolithic in its religious views.

Though the survey showed that many people in the South held the authoritarian view, people with a distant view of God -- about 22 percent of Southerners -- came in second. These people, some of whom may be among the steady flow of transplants to the region, believe God is not active or angry. To them God is a cosmic force that set the laws of nature in motion but does not hold clear opinions about world events.

Typically, those who view God as distant belong to the Democratic Party and tend to view morality in relative terms, said Froese, the Baylor researcher.

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