WalletHub has released its annual “Most Sinful Cities in America” report, which ranks American cities by their bad behavior, including lust, greed, laziness, vanity, excesses and vices, jealousy, anger and hatred.
Las Vegas, Nevada topped the list again this year, but WalletHub noted that sin infects the entire country.
“Las Vegas isn’t the only ‘Sin City’ in America. In other cities, bad things happen and stay there, too,” the site states. “From beer-loving Milwaukee to hedonistic New Orleans, the U.S. is filled with people behaving illicitly. No place is innocent. We all have demons.”
Cities were ranked based on various factors, such as adult entertainment establishments per capita, teen birth rate, casinos per capita, drug overdose deaths, DUI-related fatalities per capita, excessive drinking, share of obese adults, thefts per capita, violent crimes per capita, sex offenders per capita, disconnected youth and debt to income ratio.
182 cities, most of which are the largest in the nation, were analyzed according to these factors, with a score of 100 being the most sinful. Following Las Vegas, which obtained an overall score of 61.32, is Los Angeles, California, followed by New York City, Houston, Texas and St. Louis, Missouri.
Rounding out the top ten most sinful cities are Atlanta, Georgia; Miami, Florida; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Chicago, Illinois and Orlando, Florida—all of which obtained 50 percentage points or higher.
WalletHub also broke down its list to show the cities that were the most egregious violators of certain categories. St. Louis, Missouri had the most violent crimes per capita, followed by Detroit, Michigan; Baltimore, Maryland; Memphis, Tennessee and Kansas City, Missouri.
The most thefts took place in Springfield, Missouri; Salt Lake City, Utah; Albuquerque, New Mexico; Charleston, West Virginia and Spokane, Washington. Cities marked for the most excessive drinking are Madison, Wisconsin; Washington, D.C.; Missoula, Montana; Denver, Colorado and Boston, Massachusetts.
The most lustful cities with more adult entertainment establishments per capita are Las Vegas, Nevada; Portland, Oregon; Atlanta, Georgia; Tampa, Florida and Los Angeles, California.
In addition to compiling its annual report, the organization reached out to several college professors to find answers to various questions, such as what incites sin within mankind, and what they believe the solution should be. Luke Tse, a professor of psychology at Cedarville University, provided answers according to the gospel.
“In the eyes of God, ‘there is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one’ (Romans 3:10),” Tse wrote. “The stark reality is that there is no one anywhere who is more or less sinful than another. That’s why we cannot save ourselves and that we are all in need of God’s salvation, which He has given to us as a gift and which we should accept—Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:8-10; John 3:16).”
“Because we are innately sinful and are surrounded by more bad influences than good, it is not possible for us get ourselves out of our plights. We need God!” he proclaimed.
“Jesus said, ‘I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in Me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing’ (John 15:5). The growth and change necessary will be a lifelong process and it is a work of God: ‘And I am sure of this, that He (i.e., God) who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ’ (Phil. 1:6), ‘for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure’ (Phil. 2:13).”
“So, to the degree we disregard God in our lives or fail to humble ourselves before Him, we destroy ourselves,” Tse explained, pointing to Matthew 7:21, which states, ‘Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of Heaven, but the one who does the will of My Father who is in Heaven.'”
“A life of good starts with a true step of faith in Jesus Christ.”
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