Wondering how it is where you all live (extreme religiosity)

[cilla4progress]

It seems everywhere I turn there are people wearing T-shirts for Liberty University; posting pictures of fishes on motel doors; talking about their bible study; even NFL players thanking god for a good pass and catch.

I live in red almost bible-belt eastern Washington state, so perhaps my exposure is skewed. But I am wondering if there is not only a more overt display of religiosity in this decade, or if people aren't turning more to faith?

My theory on this is that we are in an environmental, economic "end times" - I am an atheist / agnostic / Unitarian / pagan. That our animal sense is telling us that resources are becoming limited in a dire way, we have overpopulated the earth, and dire scenes are around the corner. This is what is causing many to turn to faith - by definition, a belief in the unseen, unprovable by scientific method. A desperate response to these times we now live in.

[JEFF9K]

1. Here in Ohio, Rapture Republicans seem to be losing their grip.

[gopiscrap]

3. Rapture Republican have never had a grip to begin with

[dimbear]

2. Don't see any of it here in NorCal. And that's a big part of why I live here.

Having spent many years in Salt Lake City, I've become choosy.

[cilla4progress]

5. Yah...a change is in order

[Proud Public Servant]

4. I've never lived anyplace like that

Have lived in 5 American cities (Chicago, NYC, Providence, Pittsburgh, and DC) and one college town (Iowa City), and have never encountered anything other than mainstream Catholicism, Protestantism, and Judaism. I think it's very place-specific, and there are a lot of places not like that (and, not coincidentally, they vote Dem).

[spin]

6. I currently live in North Florida and I meet a lot of extremely religious people here. ...

Most are fundamentalist Christians. I lived in the Tampa Bay Area of Florida for 37 years before I retired and moved here. I feel I higher percentage of people here attend church on a regular basis and that may be because most people here know each other and church is more of a social gathering than in Tampa. The people here are more willing to push their faith on others than in Tampa. Unfortunately this often alienates others who are less "religious."

Not to be critical but it seems that only a few Christians have actually read the entire Bible which is the user manual for their religion. Perhaps that is why I often say, "The only problem with Christianity is Christians."

Admittedly the Bible is a difficult book to read and comprehend. I feel a person could spend a lifetime studying the Bible and still have questions. Still I feel that if more people would try to follow the guidelines set out in the Bible we would have a better society.

[sharp_stick]

7. Central Connecticut

It's generally pretty cool around here. We have a few fundie churches but they aren't anywhere near as bothersome as they were when I was living in South Alabama.

[busterbrown]

8. We’re doing fine in So.Ca....No Raptures on the Malibu Sunset yet... Over and out.. n/t

[LibDemAlways]

9. I live in a So Calif. suburb where no one cares

what religion anyone is. A Jewish family from this area moved to South Carolina a few years ago and were stunned when a steady stream of new neighbors inquired as to their church affiliation. They were back within a year.

[blkmusclmachine]

10. Suburbs of Dallas, TX here. There's more churches than Starbucks in this hellhole.

[blkmusclmachine]

11. Oh, yeah. I still see an occasional W'04 bumper sticker here...

[cilla4progress]

12. I feel ya bro'

So any thoughts on my premise - people clinging to their guns and religion, as Obama said, due to a heightened awareness of cataclysm, or just more of the same same?

[TBF]

14. Here in Houston they make them the size of football stadiums -

mega-churches.

Houston Second Baptist:

Lakewood:

[polichick]

18. Holy shit - there's THAT many of them?!

[TBF]

25. We moved here 10 years ago from the east coast

To me it really feels like it could be another country. Maybe at some point they will declare their independence.

There are some awfully nice people down here but I really try to keep away from politics/religion because so many are loons. Of course we are in the suburbs where it's probably the worst.

More than anything I wish they'd tax the mega-churches. They make money hand over fist - Joel Osteen for example has a net worth of at least 40 million.

http://www.celebritynetworth.com/richest-celebrities/joel-osteen-net-worth/

[polichick]

28. I so hope Texas goes blue soon - if only to balance the crazy!

[Manifestor_of_Light]

23. Lakewood used to be The Summit-The basketball arena.

I have many fond memories of going there for rock concerts back in the 70s and 80s.
The Who, Frank Zappa, The Police, Bruce....


They spent $35 million building MegaBaptist Two, as I call it. Could have fed a lot of hungry people with that money, or sheltered the homeless.......there I go thinking again!!!

[TBF]

26. "Could have fed a lot of hungry people with that money, or sheltered the homeless" -

No kidding. And it's all tax-free income for them ...

[janlyn]

31. We have our own version of the mega-churches

in Little Rock. I always called them "six flags over jesus north and south"

[Marrah_G]

13. I live in New England- It's not bad here at all

[DFW]

15. Nordrhein-Westfalen for now

They observe religious holidays, but except for getting a mosque built (looks VERY weird here, considering the history of the place), very few people take religion seriously at all in these parts.

[RebelOne]

16. I live North Georgia, which is part of the bible belt.

Religiosity is rampant here.

[HeiressofBickworth]

17. Not very visible

Last edited Sat Nov 16, 2013, 09:57 PM - Edit history (1)

My little town has a population of 20,090 (2012 estimate) near Seattle. There are 21 churches with a mailing address in our town. There is also one mosque. The town has an ordinance prohibiting church bells or calls (mosque) or other noises emanating from a religious location. I occasionally get something in the mail from one of the local churches, but it is in the recycling bin before it even comes in the house. I rarely get door-to-door religious salespeople. My house is close enough to the LSD church that I've always believed I'm within their "zone" and over the past 35 years, I've had fewer than 5 such calls. Much to my surprise, last week I had a Jehovah Witness pair knock on the door to offer me literature (all the while claiming they were not trying to change anyone's religion to which I said, well, of course you are otherwise you wouldn't be here). The man asked why I wasn't interested in reading their pamphlet. I told him that I've read the beliefs of many different religions but I am an atheist and their message is meaningless to me. He asked me if I always felt this way. We had a nice chat about the belief in god being similar to the belief in Santa Claus -- a mythology that originated in childhood but for many disappears over time due to the lack of relevance, plausibility and evidence. It was a pleasant chat -- he was very curious about my beliefs. At the end, he even shook my hand and thanked me for being willing to share. It was the first such call in many years.

P.S. Oops. Make that LDS church. Fingers not working in proper order.

[cilla4progress]

19. Awesome post!

You know whereof I speak then...eastern Washington. Fish out of water politically here...

[HeiressofBickworth]

20. Way back in the 1970's or so

there was a small, short-lived movement to split the state of Washington down the back of the Cascade Mountains. Reasons given were the economic, business vs. agriculture, population, political and social divisions already in place between the east and west portions of the state. Nothing came of it officially, however, the differences still exist as a matter of fact. I appreciate my parents moving us from Indiana to western Washington (father Boeing engineer) in 1955. So much of life on this side is comfortable for me.

[cilla4progress]

21. I hear you

I moved here from various parts, including liberal northeast, in 1978. Got stuck here!

I for one am glad our politics are leveled out by the west side!

[cilla4progress]

34. Ha! I thought it ("LSD")

was intentional!

[Blue_In_AK]

49. I like the LSD church better.

I used to attend quite often in my younger days.

[Enthusiast]

52. I knew it.

[Brigid]

55. Well . . .

I always suspected that Joseph Smith must have been ingesting something.

[Agschmid]

22. I live in Mass...

I'm not even sure where a church is...?

[cali]

38. I live in Vermont, the least religious state, and there are churches in almost every vista

I love them. they're beautiful.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

24. Must be a serious vampire problem here.

Some people have big lighted crosses in their yards.

Purses with crosses on the flap in big ugly rhinestones.

Bumper stickers that say "Real Men Love Jesus".

I'm sick of looking at it.


Axial Tilt is the Reason for the Season, but they don't know that and don't want to know that.

Ignorant and proud of it.

We definitely have people who want to make this part of the state a no-fun zone.
Our county only went wet about five years ago. You have to drive to the next county to buy distilled spirits. We have beer and wine off premises consumption only, I think.

[TBF]

27. Congrats on 17,000 posts -

I have been in Texas 10 years. Moved down here for a good job but man are there trade-offs ... keep hoping for a transfer out.

I have met some very nice folks but overall the crazy is a bit overwhelming.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

41. The cities are OK. It's the country where the crazy is overwhelming.

Thanks, I didn't even notice 17,000 posts!!



I just wonder about women with big cross earrings, big cross necklace, multiple cross charm bracelet, purse with cross....what is it about the advertising??



I live here because I inherited the family house. I miss the culture in Houston, but not the crazy traffic and drivers.

Oh, BTW, DALLAS SUCKS!!!

[TBF]

42. Agree about Dallas -

I've been up there and the style over substance culture sucks. Houston has a great museum area and Montrose (along with a lot of working class folks which helps). The suburbs can be bad but I can imagine rural areas might be even worse.

They do like their crosses ... there are amazingly huge ones in front of the mega churches. Bizarre to worship an object of torture but that's what they do.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

56. Somebody on DU argued with me over that one.

Insisted a cross was not an instrument of torture.....forgot who.

[LongTomH]

40. Actually, Rhode Island is supposed to be America's vampire capital

Apparently, it's all about Rhode Island's history of religious tolerance.

There was Sarah Tillinghast and Mercy Brown. Apparently, a lot of the vampires were young girls.

[whathehell]

29. I live in the Chicago suburbs and

although I occasionally see the stuff you mention, I'm not surrounded by it and

I'd bet it's not as bad as eastern Washington and certain other particularly "red" areas.

What I do see, I just ignore, as I'm not a part of that fundamentalist Christian

belief system.

When it comes to the "end times" stuff, historians tell us that the phenomenon

this anxiety comes about at the turn of every century, but with particular strength

at the end of a millennium, and as we are only 13 years into this new millennium, it's to be expected.

It was interesting to learn that, at end of 1000 A.D., most of Europe was quaking in their boots expecting

"the end of the world"...As you can see, it didn't work out that way.

[brewens]

30. I'm in Lewiston, ID but travel your part of the state and spend a lot of time

in the Moses Lake area. I've had some of the crew I work with speak about religion but not too extensively. I do wonder of I screwed up by joking that I was a "Godless Heathen"? I've now had a couple of them evidently decide they have a personal problem with me and even lie about me a couple of times. That brings into play our company "secret witness" program. One of them messed up and gave away who it was though. Leave it to religious people to pull something like that. I never rat on anyone and wouldn't unless it was something serious that might be blamed on me.

I think people are becoming less religious overall but the real fundies are ramping things up in desperation.

[cilla4progress]

33. Good point..I think surveys say

you are correct that people are becoming less religious over, but the fundies are ramping up.

I've often wished for "don't ask don't tell" about religion!

[tabbycat31]

32. I've lived in 5 states over the last 3 years

And the level of religiousity depends on the state I've been in (and I've lived in some pretty red districts).

Last year, when I lived in SW VA, our printing shop was next to a giant cross. When I was given directions to it (I had to pick up a yard sign order there), I thought the guy giving me them was kidding me, but it was a giant cross that you could easily see from the highway (on the plus side, it made the printing shop very easy to find).

Now I am living in NC, and I've for the most part only lived in the more progressive parts of the state. Since moving from Greensboro to Raleigh and now Durham, I've noticed it's less religious in the Triangle. Sundays are my only days off so it was very frustrating to do errands in Greensboro only to see most places closed then.

[sakabatou]

35. Not very

[demwing]

36. Religion forum?

isn't that where this thread should be?

[cilla4progress]

37. Good idea - I considered that initially.

Can you tell me how to cross-post? Thanks.

[demwing]

39. There's no trick, just copy and paste the content

to the desired forum

[renie408]

43. South Carolina...so, yeah

[Myrina]

44. Indiana ... fucking nuts.

Just ... everywhere. Newscasts interviewing 'the average citizen' "Well, we should pray for x ... thank Jesus for x ... faith faith faith blah blah" State sponsored license plates "In God We Trust" ... even crazy Jesus-ladies in the whirlpool at the gym I go to, talking about how "God created the Universe for his own amusement" (talking about meteors etc) ...

[Iceberg Louie]

45. When I lived in Vancouver, WA, I saw much of the same

Even though it lies in the SW corner of the state, there is still a very red-meat flavor to the culture of that city. I always suspected it was a knee-jerk reactionary response to that progressive bastion across the Columbia, Portland, OR. It was as though everyone was bitter about the notion of being perceived as a suburb of the Rose City that they collectively chose a culturally oppositional stance. Definitely a hearty helping of "The 2nd Amendment is the Providence of Our Lord" zeitgeist.

Today I live in North Dakota. I'm sure you can imagine what it's like here. "Pray and Fast to End Abortion" everywhere. The only synagogue in my city posts a sign in front proclaiming that all Jews must accept Jesus as our one true savior. One now-defunct gun retailer actually asked customers about their church affiliation before deciding whether to invoke his right to refuse service. Bradlee Dean's You Can Run But You Can't Hide "ministry" is welcomed routinely at schools around the state. It is definitely not regionally exclusive.

[SharonAnn]

46. Here in East TN, it's Rapture Ready country. It still shocks me after 13 years.

And some of the serious "believers" I've talked to about their church and its beliefs have been pretty uninformed about the Bible. Especially uninformed about the New Testament but over-informed about Revelation.

They known all sorts of factoids about the Rapture, pre-millenial vs post-millenial, etc.

I can hardly keep a straight face when they "explain" it to me.

[Warren DeMontague]

47. Most secular city and state in the country, by many accounts.

Didn't plan it that way, but it works fucking AWESOME for me.

[Blue_In_AK]

48. We have a couple of mega churches here

and something called Alaska Family Council that wants to get all up in everybody's business, but for the most part, I don't think Alaskans are terribly religious. We are almost always towards the bottom of those lists of most religious states.

A lot of these religious types are Texans who came up with the oil boom.

[jmowreader]

50. I live a few miles east of you

No one ever dies here. They meet their beloved Savior, or go home, or some other construction of that nature.

[valerief]

51. America has gone crazy. I'm not leaving the northeast. I'm afraid to. nt

[treestar]

53. Not very visible here

Though there are some fundies. That's why it's a bit weird whenever I drive into those hinterlands of PA or Ohio or West VA and see those crosses up on hills and signs referring to the end times.

[loli phabay]

54. here in rural va, religions is everywhere, i just dont notice it

Or really mind it, you get prayers before eating at bbqs etc, but each to their own.

[PassingFancy]

57. Western Washington Here

I live about 35 or so miles south of Seattle, and I don't think my city of around 50,000-60,000 has an over-abundance of churches. I don't see a whole lot of people wearing or displaying overly-religious items either; but, I'm not out and about as much as I used to be since I've got some health issues that prevent me from being in crowds where people wear stinky perfumes and colognes.

I know in Tacoma, there's some mega-churches; but, I don't spend a whole lot of time in Tacoma either.

We used to get tons of LDS and JW's knocking on our door, as well as salesmen. So, years ago, I started putting notes on both of the front doors telling salesmen and religious people to not knock on the door nor ring the doorbell (the doorbell sticks and makes a horrible continuous buzzing noise). Well, one day that note didn't stop the JW's from going up on the porch and leaving their information (I also tell them not to leave their literature on the note I post). I happened to be pulling up into the driveway and saw them and got out of the car and asked them something like "don't you read?" To which they replied, "yes, but we thought you'd like to read our information." I then told them to leave which they didn't. I pulled into the garage and closed the garage door. I got in the house and went to the front door and peeped out of the blind and there they were, a woman of maybe 60, a woman of maybe 30, and a child of about 8 years of age standing on my porch. I opened the door and told them they were trespassing and if they didn't leave in the next 10 seconds, I was going to go out into my car and get something out of the trunk of the car (NO I WOULD NOT HAVE DONE THAT, BUT IT WAS TO MAKE THEM LEAVE I SAID THAT). They left.

These days, I have a more stern note on my door that tells all salesmen, religious groups, and political groups to not ring the bell, not knock on the door, and not leave their literature as we have our religious choice and we have our political choice and we don't buy anything from door to door salesmen. The other day, someone left an envelope with fundie literature and high-tailed it away before I could even see what it was and yell at them to come back and take their trash. I threw the stuff in the garbage can in the kitchen (I was cooking at the time and didn't need to be bothered with junk).