Discussion » Questions » Life and Society » If I moved to city within Bible Belt should I join a church, wear Jesus patches, a MAGA hat to make sure people won't know I am atheist?
Kittigate

If I moved to city within Bible Belt should I join a church, wear Jesus patches, a MAGA hat to make sure people won't know I am atheist?

And a non Trump supporter. It would be nice to live peacefully in a warm climate during my retirement years. 

Posted - October 23, 2019
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Responses


  • 16240
    Move to Australia. Aussies really don't care.
      October 24, 2019 12:33 AM MDT
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  • 13395
    I have given some thought but it's a long distance from home town. 
      October 24, 2019 12:59 AM MDT
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  • I refuse to live in a place where I'd have to pretend to be something I'm not just so I wouldn't "offend" people. I can be myself here and that's going to be a factor in wherever I end up living in the future. 
      October 24, 2019 12:35 AM MDT
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  • 13395
    I imagine I would get tired of pretending to be something that I am not.
      October 24, 2019 12:42 AM MDT
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  • 46117
    What are they gonna do to you?  Pray you to death? 
      October 24, 2019 1:20 AM MDT
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  • 13395
    That wouldn't be too bad but sometimes they can become 'unfriendly'.

    Maybe I could teach them how I think they should pray. This post was edited by Kittigate at October 25, 2019 3:28 PM MDT
      October 24, 2019 2:15 AM MDT
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  • 4631
    Unless it's an unusual area, most Christians don't wear signs of their faith.
    Most people will tend to assume that you have some kind of faith.
    If you simply say nothing, most of them will never guess that you're an atheist.
    I lived this way for fifty-eight years.
    It was only a few years ago that I came out of hiding and fear of being rejected as a human being for my non-belief.
      October 24, 2019 1:31 AM MDT
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  • 13395
    One person new in the neighborhood chatting with the next door person was asked 'what church do you go to? '
    Replied that 'we don't go to church'. Next door person turned unfriendly after that. 
    Snoopy people.  Might be better to just avoid bible belt territory altogether. 

    When I attended a Pentecostal church years ago a lot of the young people wore Jesus patches. 
      October 24, 2019 2:30 AM MDT
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  • 4631
    Sounds like you were religious at one time and then your beliefs shifted. Is that right?
    If so, what events or thoughts led to the change?

    Yes, I've also experienced Christians suddenly turn cold when I tell them I'm an atheist. I wonder greatly at it; what of the parable of the Good Samaritan; what of love thy neighbour as thyself? Do they imagine that someone else believing differently is in some way a personal threat to them and everything they stand for?
    How can that be when 'evangelistic' atheists, 'though publicly noisy, are extremely rare?
    Have experienced the same cold shoulder reaction with Wiccan believers, pantheists, Hari Krishnas, Vedantists, Muslims, and devout Jews.
    I mostly agree with what Spunky said above, about big-city people not minding what religion someone is. But for the orthodox and conservative types, I think it changes when it comes to their close personal lives.

    One of the few places I've ever experienced free, intelligent, in-depth discussion of faith and non-faith among people with different beliefs is in the philosophy department at Sydney University.

    I think it's sad that people get so defensive and angry about beliefs. In some places, the consequences are tragic, in others, horrific. This post was edited by inky at October 25, 2019 2:30 PM MDT
      October 25, 2019 2:22 PM MDT
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  • 17398
    Don't even think about it.
      October 24, 2019 3:18 AM MDT
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  • 5391

    No need to tumble down that rabbit hole, Kittigate.

    As an Atheist who lives in the South, I can tell you there are indeed moments of contention in some circles, but most people mind their own affairs.

    It would be worse to make them think you are one of them, only to unconsciously slip at some point and be revealed otherwise. Betrayal is worse than being an outsider. 

    A lighter moment:
    When I was attending Fla State back in the 90’s, the Alumni hosted an event for student/veterans where a number of local dignitaries and (interestingly) members of clergy were in attendance. During the proceedings, my wife and I were approached by a local Monsignor, who stated, rather out of the blue, that “I haven’t seen you in church”. 
    Without skipping a beat, I informed his holiness that I hadn’t been to the strip club or the nut house either, and for much the same reasons. 

    Talk about uncomfortable laughter...

    This post was edited by Don Barzini at October 26, 2019 7:23 AM MDT
      October 24, 2019 6:57 AM MDT
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  • 19942
    That is one of the pros of living in New York City.  No one asks what your religious beliefs are and, if they do, whatever you answer is fine with them.
      October 24, 2019 7:53 AM MDT
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  • 13395
    New York city would be a very interesting place to live I think but too far north and chill winters. Dunno if i'd like to live in such a huge big city. 
      October 24, 2019 8:33 AM MDT
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  • 19942
    It has to be big to hold all the wonderful sights and things to do that we have. :)
      October 24, 2019 12:46 PM MDT
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  • 13395
    Yes I think it is a fastinating city to visit or live in. I been to Boston several times when I was in the Canadian Navy,  closest I came to New York. 
      October 24, 2019 1:03 PM MDT
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  • 19942
    Never been to Boston, myself.  
      October 24, 2019 1:37 PM MDT
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  • 13395
    Our ships went to Boston and other us east coast cities in early December for us to do some Christmas shopping. Bigger selections and better prices than stores in Canada. 
    Was also a training exercise officially. 
      October 24, 2019 1:56 PM MDT
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  • 19942
    Too bad.  Christmas in New York is one of the best times of the year here.
      October 25, 2019 8:36 AM MDT
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  • 13395
    'Zat right?  I've heard New Year's in New York is quite an event too.
      October 25, 2019 12:01 PM MDT
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  • 19942
    Then, too, but the last thing I'd want to do is be crushed into a small space with a million people I don't know.
      October 28, 2019 7:41 AM MDT
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  • I'm gonna back up what Barzini said before me.  Yes, there are those in the South who are firmly entrenched in their beliefs so much so as to let it spew onto others in the form of judgement and discrimination but truthfully, regardless of how things are sometimes portrayed in the media or perceived online, that is not usually the norm.  I have traveled a lot in my life, yet my "home' and my "heart" have always been in the southeast of the U.S.  It's quite lovely here and most people, especially in the more metropolitan areas of the south, simply live their lives and get along with many different types of people.  Where I live I am surrounded by a huge entertainment industry,  A sizable and continually growing LGBTQ prescience, theologies of every kind...Muslims, Christians, Buddhists, Jews, Wiccans, and yes even Atheists.  I was standing in line at a store a few weeks ago and took note of the fact that every person waiting there with me was of a differing ethnicity...Hispanic, Asian, African-American, Indian and I smiled internally because I just thought that was really cool.  So, we aren't all Caucasians espousing white nationalism as some might fear. In the interest of being completely truthful though, that does change somewhat depending on how small or how rural the town where one resides might be, but that is true almost anywhere.  Whenever everyone knows everyone else and is acutely aware of others business, lol, that is always a recipe for disaster.  Narrow-mindedness, racism, zealots, and even blind support for Trump unfortunately exists in many places across this country.  If you ask me, I say come on down and help tip the scales in an alternate direction.  Trust me, if these people can handle a "Twinkle Dink" at large on a regular basis, then I am confident that they can more than welcome, or at least tolerate, you.
      October 24, 2019 1:21 PM MDT
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  • 4631
    I agree that small rural towns tend to be more racist than culturally mixed urban areas.

    But I'd like to point out that exceptions do exist.

    In my nearest town of Murwillumbah, (population 9,245), there are enough Sikhs to run a temple and a school, perhaps some several hundred. They work in all livelihoods in the area, banana farmers, horticulturalists, doctors, nurses, shopkeepers etc. They welcome non-Sikhs into their community at any time, and whites welcome them. They are hard-working, honest, reliable and friendly people. The only thing I regret is that very few of them intermarry with white Australians. The parents arrange marriages for their children, bringing the new young spouses from India.

    In far North Queensland, a family of refugees from Srilanka settled. The father found work at the local abattoir. The mother stayed mainly at home looking after the house and kids, but she also did heaps of voluntary work in the community. The townspeople grew to love them. When the government decided to deport them, because of some glitch in their immigration paperwork, the locals rose up unanimously to demand that the family be allowed to stay. The govt refused to listen and now it's become a national issue of protests.

    These are just two of a majority of instances where people of non-white backgrounds integrate very well into rural white populations. The key seems to be exposure. When we live and work with people we get to know them. We discover that they more like us than they are different. They too wish to live among friends and without enmity.

    In our rural areas, there are often higher percentages of Aborigines (3% of our total population). No Aboriginal nation ever ceded sovereignty. There has never been a treaty. Despite some changes for the better, there are still huge legal problems with insufficient acknowledgement of their position in our constitution and laws. No one has ever asked the Aborigines how they feel about continuing waves of immigration.

    There's no question that there is racism in Australia - among an estimated 15% of the population according to their answers to surveys and reflected in votes for minor right-wing parties. From my point of view, that's 15% too much bigotry - but at least it does mean that the majority of us stand strongly against racism, irrespective of what race or culture we come from.



    This post was edited by inky at October 25, 2019 2:08 PM MDT
      October 25, 2019 1:58 PM MDT
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