I grew up/lived in TN until 1976. It was racist and backwards then. We visited until 2014 and noted that it became more “conservative” but thought it was just our relatives who were always bigoted. Now, it’s 60% bigots and 40% non-voting. They still sit their asses in church every Sunday (and Wed)
I'm sure you're right. Most of the people I knew in TN were transplants from blue states. Quite a few of them have aged into more conservative views, some of which I believe has to do with finding "Jesus" in their local churches. (More then a few of them have retired and moved even further south.)
Churches with preachers who have no education