Holy Cities, Holistic Bodies: Men's Health Ranks Religious Hot Spots

The popular magazine Men's Health is best known for its glossy cover shots of guys with six-pack abs and features on diets and workouts so that you, too, can look like Mark Wahlberg (this month's pin-up), as well as advice on keeping your prostate healthy and your sex drive turbocharged.

So when the latest edition hit the newsstands this week with a piece called "Holy Hometowns," it made some readers sit up a little straighter in their office chairs, and not just to strengthen their abdominal core.

The unusual feature was part of the magazine's regular "Metrogrades" rankings of various aspects of life in urban America that are of greatest interest to men -- "Most Sexually Satisfied Cities," for example, (Go Indianapolis! Sorry, Lexington!) or "America's Drunkest Cities" (Whoa, Fresno! Attaboy, Boston!).

The December edition, on the other hand, is devoted to ranking the 100 American cities "with the most faith," down to those with the least.

Colorado Springs, Colo. came in at No. 1, which surprised the magazine's editors, but shouldn't have since that city is widely known as the "Evangelical Vatican." That was followed, also unsurprisingly, by various cities in the Bible Belt (Greensboro, N.C., and Birmingham, Ala.) and the Corn Belt (Oklahoma City and Wichita, Kan.).

But New England, home of the Puritans, didn't fare so well, with Burlington, Vt., coming in dead last and Boston (maybe they need to drink more?) at No. 98.

So why is Men's Health getting religion?

"When we do the Metrogrades rankings we like to deal with topics that play a significant role in people's lives," said deputy editor Matt Marion. "And we thought, 'Wow, certainly religion and faith and their presence in our lives is important.' So it was a ripe topic."

Marion noted that there has been a great deal of research on the link between spirituality and good health, which the magazine has covered before. So "Holy Hometowns" is in a sense a continuation of that discussion, and it is in keeping with the magazine's mission. Readers could say, "Hey, maybe this" -- religion -- "is another way to improve my well-being, something at least to consider," as Marion put it.

Marion also stressed that the magazine wasn't making any judgments on whether religion was good or bad, or which religions were best or worst.

"Our ultimate goal with all of these is to get people talking," he said.

They've done that.

The Daily News of New York was miffed that Gotham ranked No. 84, which is surprising since the Big Apple is big on religion, and lots of them. Moreover, Las Vegas came in 25 spots higher at No. 56. Huh?

Marion defended the list as "in the ballpark."

The magazine's researchers calculated the rankings by combining places of worship per capita with the number of different religious organizations in a city and the number of volunteers who support these groups. They also added in the amount of money donated to those organizations and the amount spent per capita on religious books. And bingo, the list . . .

"Someone could argue with us over a few places up or down," Marion said. "But I don't think any of these are significantly off."

Besides, Mark Wahlberg is a churchgoing Catholic, so that may cover the magazine, so to speak.