wombat_socho

I guess that depends on what you mean "privileged". Keep in mind that some states had established churches until the 1970s, and if some state government wanted to get really hardcore, they could make a case for doing it again. (Though given what's happened in Europe where this is actually done, they'd be fools to, but that's another debate.)

The real influence of the Christian churches, and to a lesser extent the Jewish congregations, is that they set moral guidelines for their people which are ultimately reflected in the laws passed by legislatures. For example, many Southern and prairie states have large populations of Southern Baptists and other evangelicals who don't hold with liquor. Not coincidentally, booze tends to be restricted in a lot of those places, and in some counties you can't buy so much as a can of 3.2 horse piss. More commonly, most Christian religions are against prostitution, and so in most states it's against the law to trade sex for money. Insofar as any religion is privileged in the US, that's how it works - it's privilege in the sense that the diversity wonks use the word, not privilege in the sense that bishops, rabbis and ministers are entitled to seats in various State Senates on account of being considered our Lords Spiritual.