The state of Utah falls within an area of the U.S. commonly referred to as the “Suicide Belt,” given the higher than average rate of suicide. Even though explanations for this above-average rate have been discussed colloquially and presented in suicide research, these explanations either fail to be supported by empirical data or they only minimally predict suicidal-related thoughts and behaviors, respectively. Religiousness tends to be one of these factors discussed both within and outside the academic realm as a contributing factor to suicide. However, the role of religiousness in suicidality tends to yield rather mixed results. We predicted that religious strain, one’s feelings associated with identifying with a religion, rather than actual religiousness would predict suicidal risk. Across two self-report, survey studies, we tested and found support for this hypothesis. More specifically, two factors of religious strain, religious discomfort and fear/guilt of God, most consistently predicted this risk. Furthermore, individuals identifying as a sexual-orientation minority (i.e., gay, lesbian, etc.) had significantly higher levels of reported religious strain and suicidal risk than heterosexual individuals.