Given how bitterly, often violently divided our province has been between Catholics and Protestants, most Newfoundlanders - whether
actually religious or not - still have a tribal affinity for one over the rest. Only 2.5% of us chose Atheist in the census, with the rest almost entirely Christian.
Within that, the big three are Roman Catholic (36.8%), Anglican (26%), and - since Confederation - United (17%; mostly Methodist in origin). These are the ones that are strongly associated with ethnic heritage (Irish, or English, etc.) and tend to be declared even by people who've never seen the inside of a church.
Outside of those three, you get denominations that are more about religious faith than cultural dogma. The biggest two among those are Salvation Army (7.8%) and Pentecostal (6.6%).
It's the latter that plays the role of a Bible Belt in Newfoundland. It's the faith mainstream society teases, uses in jokes, grows concerned about, etc (i.e. once heard an MHA dismiss another from that region by saying, "Don't you have to be at church?"). It's the faith with highway signs, stadium-filling religious concerts, religiously-motivated political opinions, etc. It's the one outsiders worry about.
In most of the province, they're a minority and don't impact the overall atmosphere of a place. But on the Eastport Peninsula, they are the dominant social force. There are Christian symbols engraved into the stucco of commercial and industrial buildings, Christian-themed hotels and tourist attractions, and a wealth of Christian bumper stickers and the like. The hairstyles are big, the LGBT youth from that region who end up in the city are traumatized. I've met quite a few of them and can't believe their horror stories even occurred in this province, but they did. Personally, I've always felt a little uncomfortable there. It's the type of place where, "What church do you belong to?" is a common second or third question upon making someone's acquaintance.
Glovertown is one of the main communities up there.
Nearer to the city, basically all the suburban communities around are called "God's country", derisively by townies, affectionately by baymen. The most notorious of these is Logy Bay-Middle Cove-Outer Cove, which even uses a Christian message as its official town motto (Three in Unity Become One, or something). The local church has a permanent statue in memory of all the aborted babies outside. But it's still pretty benign in comparison to Eastport, and the religious aspect isn't the dominant atmosphere of these more suburban places - just an obvious, notable one.
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