Adapting to the bible belt ? (Chattanooga: home, neighborhood, wedding)

[shinestx]

Originally Posted by natguy

Not paranoid, just concerned and Hollywood has nothing to do with our perceptions, we have visited and seen churches nary on every street corner and also am well aware of evangelical Conservatives being the majority of folks that reside in the South. News media is more informative of this so called stereotype than any movie I have seen in the last decade

[Gasp!] "Oh no, churches!" [just before panic sinks in]

If you cannot accept the diversity of religious faiths in the South, then perhaps you should not move here. Just sayin'. I have a lot of liberal/leftist/progressive friends, and they are surprisingly tolerant of Christians.

[natguy]

Originally Posted by Last1Out

Ever been to rural Ireland? There's a church and 3 pubs at a lot of the crossroads. Does that mean most rural Irish are alcoholics? A simple rule of life is "when you visit another man's country, you bring your wife, not your laws". Come on down, spend some time, explore, relax, meet the people and enjoy the hospitality.

Will do .... but I still think my concern was a valid question

[natguy]

Originally Posted by shinestx

[Gasp!] "Oh no, churches!" [just before panic sinks in]

If you cannot accept the diversity of religious faiths in the South, then perhaps you should not move here. Just sayin'. I have a lot of liberal/leftist/progressive friends, and they are surprisingly tolerant of Christians.

As am I ...My mother is one . My only concern was whether or not people would treat us differently for choosing not to be religious . My mom doesn't

[keithps]

Originally Posted by natguy

As am I ...My mother is one . My only concern was whether or not people would treat us differently for choosing not to be religious . My mom doesn't

I've lived here all my life. I haven't stepped foot in a church in 16 years. No one bothers me about it. The worst scenario is someone asks what church I go to and I tell them I don't. Then they invite me to theirs. End of story. If that's too much for you, then perhaps you can't hack it here.

[Creekcat]

Do Southern religious people go to other forums and ask if they will be accepted in other regions of the country? I'm just wondering.

[RotseCherut]

The rabbi I talked to in Tennessee says when they ask him his church, he says he goes to the Jewish church. He says people there are pretty accepting and many others are intrigued.

[creeksitter]

I used to attend the Unitarian church and that was accepted as an answer when asked where I went to church. I'll suggest to the OP that he visit a couple times, that way your answer can be "I've been attending the Unitarian church" and it's grammatically correct even if you've only been twice.

The Unitarian church in the south tends to be pretty secular and politically liberal so you might want to attend regularly to meet people.

[DubbleT]

If there were nary churches on every street you'd be all set, lol.
Seriously, as an atheist I don't find it to be a problem. It's like sports, politics, money or any other subject, some people will want to talk about it whether you are interested or not, most people however will not.

[Chadly]

I agree about the Unitarian church, as a Unitarian myself. I've found that if you find somewhere that has a good size Unitarian church, or even a United Church of Christ church, then whether or not you choose to visit or attend, you have a good idea of the culture of the community you're moving to.

[Dhult]

Originally Posted by Creekcat

Do Southern religious people go to other forums and ask if they will be accepted in other regions of the country? I'm just wondering.

I don't believe I've ever seen a post like that.