I would like to apologize for 'bashing' the south

[fujiyama]

I made a thread asking if a newspaper mocking Jesus could possibly incur a violent reaction in th he South. I agree that such a reaction, if it were to occur, could happen anywhere...

I mainly used the South as an example of a Conservative region. That is all. It wasn't meant as a broad brush against any one region.

[Midlodemocrat]

1. Well, speaking as a transplanted northerner

now residing in the Old Dominion, I appreciate your apology.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

2. Apology accepted

if it counts coming from a transplanted Yankee living in Arkansas :)

FWIW, I have conservative Christian relatives in Michigan who have disowned me because of my faith. Don't know that they would violently react as you say, but I won't say they wouldn't, either.

[Behind the Aegis]

3. A Muslim in Arkansas?!?!

You must have as much fun as I do as a Jew in Oklahoma! :toast:

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

6. Mozeltof!

Oh yeah, there are a bunch of us in them thar hills! We've even been known to celebrate Shabboth and do Dances in Hebrew! (Hope I spelled the words right-I say 'em better than I spell 'em!)

[Behind the Aegis]

7. LOL!

Mazel Tov! (two words)

BTW...I wanted to say thank you (sorry to the OP for the little hi-jack) for your thoughts and information about the recent cartoon issue/debacle. You (and Psycho Dad) have provided valuable information and did it without being hostile, condescending, or nasty, despite some reactions to your posts! That is commendable!

Salaam and Shalom!

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

11. What a mitzfa

thank you for my spelling lesson and the kind words! (Now tell me how to spell-"mitzfa"? "mitzpha"???

[Behind the Aegis]

18. Transliteration

The problem with our languages (Arabic and Hebrew) is that there can be several 'Roman' spellings, think: Hanukkah, or is it...Channukah...or...Chanukkah?! :) Mitzvah is the usual spelling, although, I have also seen it without the "h."

[Clark2008]

9. Come next door to Tennessee.

We have a healthy population of Muslims and a lot of Arab influence.

Our speaker of the House forever was Jimmy Naifeh (and Arabic last name) and we have cities like Palestine and Lebanon.

I'd say some of the fundies over here would roll over if they realized how much Arabic influence was in Tennessee.

:hi:

[verse18]

14. Don't forget Danny Thomas, ALSAC

and St. Jude in Memphis.

[Clark2008]

16. That one, too!

:7

That's a good one.

[fujiyama]

26. Which part of MI are they in?

I have a friend whose parents converted back in the '70s I believe.

I once asked him what he thought of those that use violence in the name of Islam and he flatly said "Those people are not Muslim. I don't care what the hy say they are".

I would assume that would be the reaction of most moderate ts of any religion.

And I agree with Aegis, your posts have always been very patient and helpful in understanding your religion. I'll probably stop in and ask a few questions in the Muslim forum sometime.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

39. My Michigan cousins aren't Muslim

they are fundamentalist Christians, and I learned quite a bit from them at an early age-what intolerance is, that one must still try to find good qualities in people with whom one totally disagrees, and that it didn't make sense to me that only one tiny church in rural central Michigan had members who were going to heaven and everyone else was out of luck.

[Adelante]

37. I've been meaning to tell you, ayeshahaqqiqa

This is OT, but every time I see you post lately, I've wanted say something and never did. Your presence on DU has been a blessing throughout the uproar over the cartoons. You have been responsible, informative, sensitive and level-headed every time. You really are a credit to your faith and to democracy. I admire you very much.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

38. Wow-thank you!

Your tribute brought tears to my eyes. Please remember that whatever good qualities you have seen in me are a mere reflection of those same qualities within yourself.

[Skittles]

4. I have lived here 30 years and I'll bash 'em all I please

fair criticism is just fine

[Name removed]

5. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Clark2008]

10. How come it is that I've lived in Knoxville most of my life

and I don't know anyone as backwards as you allege.

Geesch. Get off your high horse.

[ingac70]

12. ROADKILL BILL.......

The last significant piece of legislation in Tennessee, and you don't see the backwardness.

You forget most of these people live in more places than just Knoxville, Memphis and Nashville.

My hometown for example......http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlotte,_Tennessee

[Clark2008]

20. I think Bredesen's SOTS speech will garner better

legislation than the "roadkill" one.

In fact, despite massive fraud and budgetary neglect, TennCare, for it's premise, was a wonderful idea to help the working poor. The very idea of TennCare wasn't backwards, at all.

I'm sure there are stupid people in your city and in mine, but there are stupid people everywhere. They're not just confined to the South was my point.

[ingac70]

21. A word on Tenncare....

The very fact private insurance companies were involved insured it was doomed from the start.

It will no longer be around in 10 years.

[Clark2008]

True. Heck, it won't be around another five.

The concept that helping the working poor by letting them pay what they could afford with a sliding scale fee, insuring all the state's children and the poor and elderly was a novel concept outside of Medicaid.

However, I do agree with you that once they let the private insurance companies in to start writing the finer details of the final legislation, it was doomed. Most of them have pulled their plugs, save Blue Cross and John Deere and doctors won't accept it almost universally now, leaving the poor to STILL seek treatment in ERs, wait years for the few doctors that accept to get an appointment and/or don't seek help at all.

[fiveleafclover]

32. You're right

That's the only crazy law in the entire U.S. :sarcasm:

[BooScout]

30. Apparently you need to get out of TN from time to time....

Your broad brush assumes a lot that's just not so....and that is from someone who spent over 40 years in the deep south as well.....including south Georgia, Birmingham and Atlanta.

Also, what the hell is it with you saying people in the ME are backwards? Backwards in comparison to what? Because their culture is different than yours you consider them backwards? :eyes:

[HeeBGBz]

8. S'ok, thank you

I admit to being overly sensitive on the subject. I live in the Midwest and my kids are in the south. I tend to overgeneralize the midwest rather than the south, because I'm pissed that the fundie mentality has taken over in southern Missouri where I live and grew up. I work in Branson and that is fundie central. I find myself overly protective of the south and southern coastal areas. Mainly because its like kicking someone when they're already down. I have lived in Biloxi and Gulfport and it's a lot more liberal than where I am now.

It is getting better though. Lots of disgruntled Bush voters here.

[fujiyama]

13. I made another post

in the other thread about that city in MO with the "Grease" play.

MO is technically in the midwest but the same Evangelical forces that have grown in power in the south have also emerged powerful in MO.

And I agreer that thee rural midwest West of IA have become extremely conservative (well IA as well turned red for the first time since Reagan in twenty years). I believe OK, NE, and KS had higher margins of victory for Bush than AL, MS, and GA. But it's funny, for someone like me from MI, we think of us as being thee midwest, and politically we (well the urbanized and suburban parts anyways) are quite different from those other states I mentioned.

But of course his two highest margin states were ID and UT, neither of which are in the 'south'.

[HeeBGBz]

33. The evangelical forces have certainly nested here

They have their power base and the breeding program of corporate political/evangelical fundamentalism. If one is not yet hypnotized by their influence you can sometimes catch a glimpse of the goings on in the shadowy underbelly of Faux-pious-patriotism. On quiet nights you can hear the corporate grunting and squealing of GOP vermin reproducing more of their ilk.

[Clark2008]

15. And also the fact is that the South is like any other place:

the rural people vote Republican and the cities, for the most part, are blue.

It's just that the South and mid-West have fewer cities, which is why the states turn red during elections. And, it really hasn't been all that long for that phemom, either. The South pretty much entirely voted for Clinton, both times.

[ingac70]

17. If he's got a southern accent, the south will vote for him......

That's all that matters to them.

[Nutmegger]

22. Well Edwards wasn't as successful

Granted, he's not from the "deep South" but he had a little accent going on there. Actually, I thought that would have helped him in the Red States.

Welcome to DU!!!

[Clark2008]

23. Which proves the other point isn't true.

It wasn't the accent.

Southerners didn't take to Edwards because he was a bit, well, "fluffy." Southerners like hardened men, for lack of a better term.

I like hard men, myself, but that's another thread. :rofl:

[ingac70]

24. If he'd been the only Southerner...

in the primary in Tennessee he would have won that one. Clark pulled votes since he was southern, too. I have no doubts.

http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2004/primaries/pages/states/TN/

[Clark2008]

36. OK - so why didn't EDWARDS drop out?

It works both ways.

[fujiyama]

19. Well said

This is more of an issue of rural vs urban.

That's ww hy when we see those county by county maps, the US looks very red.

[Behind the Aegis]

25. True.

However, in the Midwest (I still refuse to call Texas and Oklahoma the South), the large cities are still red or at least purple. OKC is very conservative, Tulsa is on occasion, liberal, but still very conservative. St. Louis is the same as Tulsa. Houston is pretty red, but Dallas is turning more blue. It seems the further one moves from the coast the redder the major cities become, at least in my opinion.

The OP (his response below) is also correct, it a rural/urban thing, but I also feel it is an educational thing. The higher the education, the more likely the person is to be a Democrat.

[fujiyama]

27. I especially agree with your last paragraph

It reminds me of when Clinton said "When people think Democrats win".

[Behind the Aegis]

31. It's pretty much true.

It's not to say there are not intelligent conservatives. However, I also think that is one of the 'problems' with our party, they don't know how to "dumb down" the message. The one thing we could really learn from the Repbulicans...KISS (Keep it simple, silly)! They talk in "sound-bytes," we speak in "nuance." Nuance is a difficult 'language' for many people. The other thing we could learn from them...don't attack your own in public! You have an opposing party to do that! :)

[HeeBGBz]

29. I saw Missouri turn blue briefly on election night

That was right before they flipped the switch.

That does seem to be the case as to rural vs urban. I know in this area people tend to fear what they don't have first hand experience in dealing with. They get their opinions from teevee and they turn to their churches to steer them in the "right" direction.

[gator_in_Ontario]

28. I won't go into

..the invasion of the south. We are not all Jerry Springer candidates.

[bluestateguy]

34. I've lived here for almost 8 years

and it could be longer. I live in a very liberal oasis of the south. The same broad brush could be painted against the mountain west or the Great Plains too.

[dogday]

35. I am a Southern Woman married to a Yankee Man

And we have both come to the conclusion that red necks are everywhere in this country. Both of us can agree upon at least this one point.....