Collective term for the states that voted for George W. Bush in the 2004 U.S. Presidential Election.

This term became popularized in a famous map that circulated around the web after the election. The map had taken the states that had voted for John F. Kerry, colored them blue, combined them with Canada (also colored blue), and labeled the entire entity The United States of Canada.

The states that voted for Bush were colored red, and labeled Jesusland. There's another version with different colors, but the borders are the same.

The most interesting feature about this map was how well it worked. Except for Alaska, all the territory in both faux countries is contiguous, emphasizing the regional nature of the political division with the United States.

This map first appeared anonymously on many blogs and can, at the time of this posting, be found at http://politicalhumor.about.com/library/images/blpic-jesusland.htm. A parody web site, www.jesusland.com, has been created.

Since the map's first posting, the term Jesusland has started to become a meme regarding the whole "moral values" issue, which many pundits have regarded as the deciding issue of the campaign. The Republicans have successfully framed the idea of "moral values" as those held by the majority of the residents of Jesusland. These are things like (but not limited to) being pro-life, anti-stem cell research, anti-gay lifestyle (especially (gay marriage)), and a belief that The Rapture, tribulation, and Second Coming (as described in the popular Left Behind books) is imminent.

But the main idea is to take the New Testament of the Bible as unassailable fact, and derive all beliefs, laws, and future plans (heading towards the Second Coming as prophesied in Revelation) from that source. Since Jesus is the center of the New Testament, it only makes sense to name it Jesusland.


swankivy says the graphic has been attributed to Dave Ruderman.

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