FAITH SEEKING UNDERSTANDING
Are belief in God and education mutually exclusive?
ST. THOMAS AQUINAS (Summa Contra Gentiles, Book I, Chapter 7)
"The natural dictates of reason must certainly be quite true: it is impossible to think of their being otherwise. Nor again is it permissible to believe that the tenets of faith are false, being so evidently confirmed by God. Since therefore falsehood alone is contrary to truth, it is impossible for the truth of faith to be contrary to principles known by natural reason."
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
For a different project, I produced a story map which explored the relationship between faith and reason, and specifically asked the question - Is an increase in education commensurate with a decrease in the belief in God? That is, are faith and reason incompatible?
This map should be viewed as a small addendum to that earlier project. I have elected to enhance the visual exploration of the faith-reason relationship in one particular state (West Virginia) using a small subset of attributes (religious congregation membership, college degree attainment, population density, income, and age). Congregation membership and education are the primary foci, but I have admitted a few other attributes to allow for a broader comparison of county characteristics.
The user can also elect to turn on/off point locations for colleges and worship sites within the state in order to get an idea of how these sites are distributed. Zoom/Panning is also enabled on the map.