Northwest no longer least religious region

  HARTFORD, Conn. — A recently released study on American religious life by Trinity College in Hartford reports that New England has surpassed the Pacific Northwest as the nation’s least religious region.
   The study noted that people claiming no religious affiliation have historically been concentrated in the West, and particularly in Oregon and Washington, where they now account for about a fourth of the population.
  “However, this pattern has now changed and the Northeast emerged in 2008 as the new stronghold of the religiously unidentified,” the study stated.
   The Southwest reported the highest religious growth.
   For more on the study, go to http://b27.cc.trincoll.edu/weblogs/AmericanReligionSurvey-ARIS/reports/ARIS_Report_2008.pdf