What is the Religious Climate in your Hometown?

[MSizer]

I'm curious. If someone asked me "how many folk around you are religious", I'd say something like (not bothering to check stats anywhere)

"oh, I'd say proably more than half the people who live near me believe in god. I don't really see any fundamentalism though, unless I specifically look for it. Most religious people in my area are Christian, followed by muslims. They seem to be moderate about thier beliefs. Lot's of people have a little cross hanging from their rear view mirror or a jesus fish on their bumper."

Other people have different experiences? I'm curious about countries that I much different. Places like Isreal, Indonesia, what would the description be for places like that?

 

[Draka]

I'd have to say much the same as yours Msizer. In fact, I have a church across the street from me, one one block one direction and another two blocks in another. In all, I could probably count up to ten churches all within just a few miles from me. I'd have to say most here are Christian. Not much discrimination or fundamentalism that I can see either. I am openly Pagan. I have a large pentacle on my front door. Have one hanging from my rear-view mirror and constantly wear mine around my neck. I've never experienced any discrimination from it. I've had the extremely rare odd question, and maybe a few weird glances, but never anything bad really. Most of the time I actually get friendly smiles and nods and even the occasional "I really like your pentacle".

 

[McBell]

I'm curious. If someone asked me "how many folk around you are religious", I'd say something like (not bothering to check stats anywhere)

"oh, I'd say proably more than half the people who live near me believe in god. I don't really see any fundamentalism though, unless I specifically look for it. Most religious people in my area are Christian, followed by muslims. They seem to be moderate about thier beliefs. Lot's of people have a little cross hanging from their rear view mirror or a jesus fish on their bumper."

Other people have different experiences? I'm curious about countries that I much different. Places like Isreal, Indonesia, what would the description be for places like that?

Based solely on my experiences in this town...
I would say most are religious, but I have yet to meet one who was pushy with it.

 

[TheKnight]

I can't really say. Most people around here don't really talk about religion outside of religious settings. I would say that in general people are either Christians or Christianized non-Christians. Most people, when they learn of my belief in Judaism, tend to have a negative response. But I don't really let it bother me. All in all, I'd say that American society in general is either Christian or Christianized non-Christian.

 

[tumbleweed41]

Colorado Springs...Evangelical Conservative Christian.
Home of Focus on the Family, New Life Church (Ted Haggard), Andrew Wommack Ministries, Association of Christian Schools International, Christian and Missionary Alliance, and the International Bible Society.
:help:

 

[Smoke]

My hometown is Pensacola, Florida, home of the infamous Brownsville Revival. It's a Navy town, where even the naval personnel -- not exactly known for being forward-thinking -- deride the backwardness of the locals.

Where I live now, near Columbia, South Carolina, is about the same. We had a drawing at our school for a gift basket. One girl "claimed" the gift basket in the name of Jesus. She won the drawing. Other students nodded approvingly. Of course she won; she was smart to get Jesus on her side.

I think it's that way pretty much everywhere in the South. Some locations have more or fewer educated people and more or fewer people whose religion is less superstitious, but fundamentalism and magical thinking are rampant throughout the region. It's probably less obvious in South Florida, Atlanta and Richmond than elsewhere.

 

[Lindsey-Loo]

Haha, what a great question. My hometown is literally run by a Southern Baptist mega-church. They infiltrate everything from football games to (supposedly) nonsecular town events. Everyone who is anyone attends this church, and if you do not attend this church, you are treated as a godless heathen, or just ignored altogether. If you question anything about their beliefs, or better yet, their behavior, they will promptly denounce you as a rabblerouser trying to breed discontent. You may think I'm exaggerating, and believe me, I wish I was.

 

[Bloomdido]

There are three churches within a 2 minute stroll of where I live. One is now a gym, the other a closed down carpet warehouse and the last still apears to be a church. I even stumbled across a weding taking place there while walking the dog.

It is a similar story where I used to live, but these three churches are still places of worship.There is the catholic church across the road from the 'proper' church which is built on the top of one of Sheffield's seven hills (like Rome) and has commanding views but falling attendances. Just down the road a 5 minute stroll away is the methodist church, home to boys brigade and other para-military based faith groups championing the minds of our young. The only religious activity I have seen in recent times was a man in a dress at the church on the hill, standing in fromt of a war dead memorial on the 11th and in the rain, talking to a group of people. They always put up three life-size crosses for easter at the front of this church on the main road and I have argued on other forums that perhaps if they had some volunteering parishioners tied to the cross, that really would raise the profile.

They seem to have no place in my community other than that they are there. Religion is still understated around here.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

My hometown is Scarborough; I got some odd impressions of religion there:

- most of the people I knew personally were apathetic or non-committal to religion. Only a few of my friends growing up went to church with any regularity (though since the advent of Facebook, I've found out that one of the guys who was a year ahead of me in high school is now an Orthodox priest).

- there was always plenty of religious "background noise": I think I mentioned that the "Miracle House"* was two doors down from me, and most weekends we'd have at minimum cars of the people who had come to see the "miracle" parked up and down the street. Occasionally, actual motor coaches would stop in front and let out busloads of people (many with walkers or wheelchairs). Apparently, the Miracle House was a very big deal in the local Filipino community.

- I had a part-time job in my high school theatre running lights for shows put on by community groups; about half of them were religious groups, mostly Tamil, about evenly split between Hindu and Evangelical Christian (I remember one of the big ones was the Miracle Tamil Assembly of God).

I guess my general impression of religion growing up was that it was out of the ordinary. Lots of people around me were religious, but religion almost seemed to me to be a cultural artifact that they'd bring over from the "old country" that was expected to slowly disappear from generation to generation like an accent or a mode of dress. It was very rare for me to meet anyone other than an immigrant or first-generation Canadian who was religious at all.

I took a few film arts courses in high school. One of our projects was to make a documentary; my group decided to do one on the end of the world. We'd go around the school interviewing students about how they thought the world would end... one person we asked gave us an account of Revelation. I asked him if he was serious; he said he was. This may sound odd, but up until that moment, it had honestly never occurred to me that the Bible was something that actual people took literally that way.

*They supposedly had a picture of the Virgin Mary that would sweat. I'm serious. Supposedly, it would talk to the little girl that lived there, too.

 

[cardero]

I live next to an unregistered spiritual rapist who is a baptist and my neighbors across the street (at least the wife) is now taking spiritual direction from Jehovah's Witnesses.

 

[Metalic Wings]

Almost entirely christian.

I remember the sad, sad day when there was a new girl on my elementary school bus. I asked her which church she went to (assuming it was one of the two Roman Catholic churches in town) and how surprised I was at her "Oh, we don't go to church. I'm not much for religion."

Thankfully, my perspective has changed by countless miles.

 

[enchanted_one1975]

What is the Religious Climate in your Hometown?

They think it is sunny and clear, but the forecast is for a lot of heat with no sunshine. The problem isn't their religion. The problem is their hypocrisy when it comes to that religion.

 

[MSizer]

I remember the sad, sad day when there was a new girl on my elementary school bus. I asked her which church she went to...quote]

I have a buddy whose mother moved to Louisianna, and he says that rather than greeting new people by saying "nice to meet you", they ask "what's your church" down there. A british friend of mine says that his brother who moved down there complains of the same thing. Apparently the right thing to do when visiting the area is find out which is the most popular sect of Christianity so that when people ask you "what's your church" you can give them "the correct" answer - lol. People in southern U.S., is that all true?

 

[gnomon]

I remember the sad, sad day when there was a new girl on my elementary school bus. I asked her which church she went to...quote]

I have a buddy whose mother moved to Louisianna, and he says that rather than greeting new people by saying "nice to meet you", they ask "what's your church" down there. A british friend of mine says that his brother who moved down there complains of the same thing. Apparently the right thing to do when visiting the area is find out which is the most popular sect of Christianity so that when people ask you "what's your church" you can give them "the correct" answer - lol. People in southern U.S., is that all true?

I've never been asked the question once in 36 years. However, I live in the metro Atlanta area which is hardly similar to other areas but even visiting relatives in the panhandle of Florida, Alabama from Mobil to Montgomery, trips along the East Coast and the occasional foray into Mississippi I have never been asked that question. But I also have a certain look about me.

 

[Zephyr]

There's a lot of churches here, but beyond that I don't know much, just that I can easily walk to 5 within just a few minutes.

 

[Smoke]

I have a buddy whose mother moved to Louisianna, and he says that rather than greeting new people by saying "nice to meet you", they ask "what's your church" down there. A british friend of mine says that his brother who moved down there complains of the same thing. Apparently the right thing to do when visiting the area is find out which is the most popular sect of Christianity so that when people ask you "what's your church" you can give them "the correct" answer - lol. People in southern U.S., is that all true?

I've been asked "What religion are you?", "Where do you go to church?", "Are you a Christian?", "Do you go to church anywhere?" and "Have you accepted Jesus?" both in the South and in the Midwest. Not routinely, though.

Actually, since it's widely known that being gay is an abomination unto the Lord, most straight folks assume, once they know I'm gay, that I don't go to church. I talk about John all the time, so even people who assume everybody's straight can usually pick up pretty quickly on the fact that I'm an exception to that rule.

 

[lockyfan]

I live next to an unregistered spiritual rapist who is a baptist and my neighbors across the street (at least the wife) is now taking spiritual direction from Jehovah's Witnesses.

Do you have an issue with any of that?

Most people around me either "have their own religion"or dont believe in God.

The guy next door says that his religion is the army

 

[cardero]

Do you have an issue with any of that?

Most people around me either "have their own religion"or dont believe in God.

The guy next door says that his religion is the army

I have an issue with the Baptist who needs to touch me everytime he wants to pray for/with me but the woman across the street who is taking a Bible study I have no concern with.
I also have a problem with the army religion. I live about 10 miles from West Point, that place is a cult!!

 

[Jackytar]

is that all true?

Nope. I live in Baton Rouge. We don't talk religion very much. Like anywhere else it's a charged subject that is best avoided.

However, there is no question that religion looms large beneath the social veneer. If you drive from New Orleans to Baton Rouge the first thing you'll see is three 100ft crosses alongside the interstate, placed there by a local church. The largest hospital, run by the Catholics, have "We Believe" as their slogan and placed on large roadside billboards. It's also the home of disgraced televangelist Jimmy Swaggart. They are building churches here that look like professional sports arenas.

My take is that the vast majority of folks are casual about their beliefs. They aren't as concerned about "how things are" (creationism vs evolution type stuff) as they are about "what things matter". Church is a place of fellowship and reflection, something even I can appreciate. Lots of good warm hearted folks in the south.

Jackytar

 

[Metalic Wings]

I have a buddy whose mother moved to Louisianna, and he says that rather than greeting new people by saying "nice to meet you", they ask "what's your church" down there. A british friend of mine says that his brother who moved down there complains of the same thing. Apparently the right thing to do when visiting the area is find out which is the most popular sect of Christianity so that when people ask you "what's your church" you can give them "the correct" answer - lol. People in southern U.S., is that all true?

Wow. That really sucks.

I've never been asked the question once in 36 years. However, I live in the metro Atlanta area which is hardly similar to other areas but even visiting relatives in the panhandle of Florida, Alabama from Mobil to Montgomery, trips along the East Coast and the occasional foray into Mississippi I have never been asked that question. But I also have a certain look about me.

You're very lucky then. xD And pray tell, what is this "certain look"? Is it learnable? Anything to stop the questions!