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I used to be Mormon, I think Mormon culture is the main reason. This article seems to describe the reasons well: https://religionnews.com/2017/06/20/10-reasons-mormons-domin...

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Likewise. All negative or positive aspects of the religion aside, the geographical aspect to Mormon congregations build affinity networks quickly. This is both an asset (it can integrate you into a community quickly) while also being a liability (more MLM and Ponzi schemes).

I learned this weekend this geographic designation for local congregations is shared among the Amish, where congregation (to my understanding and happy to be corrected) are between 20-40 families.

Do the Amish, or Hasidic Jews or whoever, have lots of MLMs and Ponzi schemes?

Bernie Madoff is the classic example, his affinity fraud targeted wealthy Jewish individuals, foundations, and charities. In terms of relative frequency though, good question. Utah is an oddity where state-level stats are a decent estimate for Mormons, given the 70% membership. It would be harder to get equivalent stats for Jewish or Amish communities.

Somewhat OT, but that web site is quite a find: No clickbait, no discernible slant to the content, equal billing for "Unaffiliated / Atheist"

https://religionnews.com/category/faith/unaffiliated-atheism...

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