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Old 10-26-2011, 01:46 PM
 
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If one hangs around Boonsboro Rd and a block or so over, things seem to be not that religious.

But to the large majority in Lynchburg, religion (read American style evangelical protestantism) is extremely important. This spills over to other aspects of their life too and if one (such as me) is not used to this, things can quickly get wierd/strange/uncomfortable. This is teh Bible Belt after all and just comes with teh teritory, I guess...
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Old 10-28-2011, 12:22 PM
 
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Why live anywhere else but Boonsboro/Peakland?? If I move to Chicago I'm not living on the south side. I'm either in Lincoln Park or the North Shore. Every city has better and worse areas. If you are not into hardcore religion choose accordingly.
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Old 10-28-2011, 07:01 PM
 
506 posts, read 1,403,409 times
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Originally Posted by badger74 View Post
Why live anywhere else but Boonsboro/Peakland?? If I move to Chicago I'm not living on the south side. I'm either in Lincoln Park or the North Shore. Every city has better and worse areas. If you are not into hardcore religion choose accordingly.
Never been to Chicago (sadly) so I personally cannot answer that.

However, Boonsboro is just a fraction of this town. Sure it is much nicer then the rest of "The Burg" but if people here are to make an appropriate choice, it probably needs to be explained to them.

Or at least I think so.

No one explained this to me, all I ever heard was how snotty, snobby and all around horrible the Boosboro folks were.

The few people I know around that area are quite all right in my book. (Some are overly religious too, but at least they have manners)

But this is not about me, right? I just think that if this forum is to do its job, this needs to be explained. Lynchburg is a VERY religious place, much more so that Roanoke and this is important to hear if one plans to move to central Virginia, right? To a lot of people this will be a huge plus, so they need to hear this as well.
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Old 11-12-2011, 07:29 AM
 
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I have not posted here in years, (could not remember my password, so I had to re-register)but the discussion about Lynchburg continues!!

It is hard to comment on statistics, since I do not what source you site. I lived in Lynchburg for many years. TOO MANY!

A lot of people around there belong to churches that I had never heard of, this could cause some issues with the numbers if one looks too much at Southern Baptist. That might just be me not being familiar with some denominations.

The average person in Lynchburg is either radical right wing and/or so-called Christian conservative, and usually really likes to point this out. Sure there are some more mainstream attitudes too, but they are the minority.

Cheers
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Old 11-12-2011, 05:52 PM
 
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Originally Posted by ckeely View Post
My husband and I are traveling around the US by RV looking for a place to buy a house and settle down. We really like the climate and terrain of the south-east, but we aren’t religious, and I realize that in the Bible belt, we’ll be the odd people out. Lynchburg is on our list of cities to check out, but we’re currently in Roanoke, and when I asked residents here about Lynchburg, the responses indicated that Lynchburg is VERY overtly religious. Our waiter at a restaurant (college-age) described Lynchburg as “the most religious city in the US,” and the owner of our RV park (in her 60’s) said: “It’s not that there are so many churches; it’s just that people are very in your face about it and they don’t back off.” I’ve also been told that Roanoke is “liberal” to Lynchburg’s “conservative.”

It there truth to these assertions, or is Lynchburg no more religious than any other Bible Belt city? I’ve compared the number of churches, and while Lynchburg has many, it has fewer than Raleigh NC, Greenville SC, and Springfield MO. I’ve gathered statistics for the cities we’re visiting, and in Lynchburg, 49% of people identify as religious and only 13.5% are Baptist. No disrespect meant, but Southern Baptists are most known for being persistent about sharing their faith (“in your face”), and the percentage in Lynchburg is lower Greenville, Ashville, Roanoke, and many other cities in this region.

So what am I missing? We realize that many people in the south will be religious, and most will be Protestant Christians. But I would prefer not to be in an environment where Christians are heavy handed about proselytizing, and I am not comfortable with a community where religion crops up in civic and city events, such as prayers in schools, overtly religious city Christmas decorations, prayers to start civic events like festivals, and so on. I realize that people will talk about their religion – I just don’t want to be beaten over the head with it.

Can anyone familiar with Lynchburg clarify? Is it that much more religious than Roanoke, Greenville, and other southern cities of comparable size? Thanks in advance for any feedback!

Given what you have said, I really don't think you will like Lynchburg.

The reason that so many people are telling you that it is religious, yet you aren't finding more churches there than in any other place can be explained as follows:
Liberty University is a HUGE presence in Lynchburg. We're talking thousands of young "champions for Christ." Most of those students all go to one huge mega-church, Thomas Road Baptist Church, which was started by Jerry Falwell. It's only one church, but there are TONS of members. These students' church memberships are probably still officially listed as their churches back home, so the numbers might not all point to Lynchburg.
When people come up to you unsolicited and start talking about their religion, they call that "witnessing." The school pushes it, and with so many American-acculturated-Protestant-evangelicals there, the social hierarchy at the school is unofficially determined by who is the most "spiritual," i.e., who adheres the most strictly to the subculture.
I am actually a 2002 graduate of Liberty University. Since I went there, the school has grown tremendously and now makes up and even bigger portion of town.
Now I live about 30 miles south of Roanoke. I really like it better. If it is too big for you, you could try Salem. I think for the most part, religion makes people nicer in this part of VA, but in Lynchburg, not so much. The LU kids can sometimes get annoying...and a lot of them grow up and stay in Lynchburg. The sad part is that they really are good-intentioned and basically have no idea how they are perceived by people outside of their "bubble."
I wonder if you would like Charlottesville? It has a pretty cool, artsy vibe, but is MUCH more liberal. It is home to UVA, so there is a much more intellectual, "scholarly" vibe. There are wineries nearby, and the downtown mall has theaters, places you can eat outside, and usually there is a street musician playing on the weekends in the warmer months.
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Old 11-13-2011, 12:02 PM
j1n
 
Location: Southeast of the Northwest Territories
1,245 posts, read 4,663,241 times
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Just curious why, if you are currently in Roanoke, you don't just consider staying here?
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Old 11-14-2011, 02:14 PM
 
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Ladies & Gentlemen (drum roll), Jerry Williams! International man of mystery!
Good to see you here. Missing Lynchburg much?
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Old 11-15-2011, 01:53 AM
 
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Lynchburg is considered a religious town, and I as well have been hit with "testimonies" from a few Liberty students. It seems like it could be seen as a conflict of interest when you talk about the super-religious and the not-so-religious groups. I have lived in Lynchburg most of my life and my family is mainly southern baptist. A large majority of my friends have grown up in the church like the generations before them. With that being said, daily I run into more people who are NOT religious at all than the super-religious testimony givers. I guess its about the people you associate with, how you carry yourself, and what your expectations are...
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Old 11-16-2011, 03:44 PM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr_Jonas View Post
Ladies & Gentlemen (drum roll), Jerry Williams! International man of mystery!
Good to see you here. Missing Lynchburg much?
Missing Lynchburg!
You are a one funny dude, ever considered a career in stand up.
I still have nightmares actually. Sort of. I dream often that I am in Lynchburg, driving through all the dingy neighbor hoods feeling all down and sad. Then I wake up and realize that I did leave. It is very strange, scarred for life, ha, ha. My wife's family still live there so I have been back twice to visit. I am so glad I could leave all the Bible crazies, hillbillies and right-wing conspiracy freaks behind. Now I have a great career, good friends, live just outside a beautiful city (and the outdoors is close too, way better then central Virginia) have access to world class sporting events (we just hosted the Rugby World Cup down here) and some cool indie-rock concerts on top of that. Now I can be a good dad, husband and enjoy my life.

Last edited by JerryWilliams; 11-16-2011 at 04:01 PM..
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Old 11-17-2011, 10:09 AM
 
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Feel free to take a little tour of my dingy neighborhood. Mostly highly educated people with many advanced degrees. Not a hillbilly around except maybe for some of the lawncare guys. This area covers at least one-third of the city plus much of the western/southwestern suburbs--but their houses are mostly newer.

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