@gratefuldread blending science w faith is a microcosm of that whole metro area. (Newport News is one of the anchor points of “Hampton Roads” a city cluster that includes the extremes of Virginia Beach and NASA Langley.) Newport News itself is home to the particle accelerator at J-Lab while still widely considered part of the Bible Belt, albeit the northern seam. Then of course you add in a huge proportion of military bringing the backgrounds of everywhere.