I live in the "Bible Belt" and i'm an idependent fundamental baptist. We don't throw Bibles at your car when you drive by nor do we force our religion down your throats, some overzealous churches probably do, but we don't. We offer it, if you don't want it we'll say "have a good day and thanks for your time" then we'll leave you be.

I love those old hymns, "Amazing Grace, Victory in Jesus" and some newer ones, "I Stand Redeemed", "We Preach Christ", etc. Just had to say that, lol!

Ok, back to the OP. If I met any of you here, i'd treat you like a brother/sister. No matter your religion.

Your in North Carolina come to South Carolina the difference is unreal.....

I live in the Bible belt. Probably its most famous state, since this one gets the Ignorance Museum.

My town is a small town for about 2600 people, and in it we have more churches than you can imagine. I think I'll count all the local ones... 8. Only one of them is a Catholic church, and most of those eight aren't small. My dad's friends with the pastor of one church (and gives them about $500 a month, or 10% of our monthly earnings), and just damn. The place has a full-sized basketball gym that is being converted into the main sanctuary, and the former sanctuary has an entire school below it (though not a literal school, mind you, just as big as an average school in this area) and the sanctuary right now has a gigantic grand piano... that no one can play.

They've also said they're going to build another gym.

We also see a ton of billboards advertising Jesus, God, or something to that effect. One that I see fairly often (or used to, anyway) would be one with a fetus in its mother's belly and it says something to the effect of "I knew you before you knew yourself" and it's got a picture of Jesus to the left, and more text that says "Father, forgive them..."

I actually repeated this prank recently just because the opportunity was there. There was a sign that said "God listens" and advertised a local church, so I put "to SLAYER" under it. Heh heh!

I feel like replicating that billboard that made everyone mad. You know, the one that had the tooth fairy and said "All religions are fairy tales"? It was all over the news around Easter for making people so offended that they didn't eat in the area. I'm not that anti-religion (and really, personal beliefs are fine with me), I'm just tired of all the manipulated billboards and want a laugh.

There's an air of superiority against anyone who is a non-believer. There is no one I know of that possesses a different religion, and two of my cousins are also atheists. Us three are the only I know of, aside from someone my other other cousin knows. People don't like us, and trash talk us. But we've never really done anything to warrant it that I can see (aside from making God listen to SLAYER!)... and everyone just looks at us differently. The ultimate evil of society, I suppose...

One of my atheistic cousins wants to move and complains often about the Bible belt, but really I love it. I make fun of the South a lot and make fun of people I know that are the epitome of "Southern", but I really can't think of a much better place to live with better people.

It would seem norwood is being honest in his perceptions regarding South Carolina. Maybe the battles there are much like the evolution-creation debate where only a minority of the population engage in them and for them it seems much larger than it is since the majority of people could care less or simply do not think about them in their daily lives. In South Carolina it would seem the pagans feel entrenched in fighting for their rights so that leads to the assumption that at least some Christians are embittered as well and battling Pagans to keep them down. Sad, sad, sad. Cannot wait for the day us and Pagans get along and see eye to eye but at least in my mind I can understand where norwood is coming from and have since he made his thread regarding the donation issue his group faces.

Here is a link to a blog type site that speaks about some of the issues in South Carolina but then branches out and mentions more national ones. The site is nicely titled 'The Wild Hunt'. hehe I love The Wild Hunt concept.

http://www.wildhunt.org/2008/05/aclu-south...-religious.html

I despise the small minority of Christians who give the rest a bad name. I met some self professed witches a while back, and as soon as I said my name and where I was from, they changed like you wouldn't believe. They cussed me out, they put a spell on me, and slammed the door in my face. Just an example of how Christians are treated sometimes. But maybe you should move up here.......JK.

It would seem both sides of any debate have their nasties that would like nothing better to do than to tear the other side down. So full of negativity and hatred. The faster those are ignored the ones in the middle like me and you could get along with anyone and them with us. Cheers.

Some witches, not the earth loving Pagan type, have tried on several occasions to attack the church I grew up in that I know of. I myself do not view all witches as guilty of their crimes. People should focus less on the rotten apples and more on the ones who just want to live and let live. It is as simple as refusing to be negative ourselves where change starts and the voices of negativity are quelled.

Well, that's the South for ya, a church on every corner, and out of all the churches there are only a handful that live in harmony with other religions in the community.

If you think that church is big, this is the biggest independent fundamental baptist church in the world
But they're very friendly and are very down to earth.

FBC
just go to the pictures section
Edit: bad link

I wholeheartedly agree.

I'd love to move to Asheville or Boone but my wifes family is here & so for right now we're staying...

Move man it is not worth the stress to stay. Or stay and try and change things. People have to learn to accept you guys and it is unfair some do not.

We almost moved a while back when we first got married. Her company wanted to move her to Asheville, now I am a huge fan of mountain biking & camping, etc. Her grandfather had just been told that he had Parkerson disease & I knew that her grandparents raised her. She asked me if I wanted to move she knew I wanted to but I felt that if anything would happen to him she might of blamed me. I wasn't going to take that chance. her grandfather dided last year she still cries. Her grandmother has alot of family here but none of them are as close as my wife is to her, so at this moment in time I am staying here for my wife because she's my Goddess.


South Carolina isn't too bad the heat here is terrible & I miss the change of season October doesn't feel like October if you know what I mean. We're 3 hours from the mountains & 3 hours from Mrytle beach. Things are looking up for our group oo we got one of the local pet Shelters to meet our needs & a local park is letting us have the park for free for our event.

Aww man nothing more honorable than the choice you are making. That is very deep and respectable.

Sounds like someone is making an attempt at being open minded. Just keep a level head, be respectful back, and hopefully it'll change a few peoples perceptions.

So were you doing some sort of door to door evangelism? Not that excuses outrageous behavior such as putting a spell on you but it would account for their general angst.

Let's try it and find out. Doug

It would be intresting to say the least.....if I had the money to blow I'd do it.....

In Oklahoma, I have never had any Bibles (or anything else) thrown at my car, which has several "radical" bumper stickers. But folks around here sure do try to force their religion on folks who don't want it. In most cases, I don't think they even realize they're doing it. An example: my wife was a member of Church Women United, an interdenominational women's group. A Muslim woman, who was also a vegan (strict vegetarian) attended several meetings. The other members "talked Jesus" nonstop, commented on her head scarf (not being mean, but neither would they drop the issue) and when lunch was provided, had no dishes suitable for a vegan. When she quit coming, they wondered why. I don't think most fundamentalists realize how the rest of the world sees them.

"Would some Power the gifty ge'e us to see ourselves as others see us." --Robert Burns, "To a Louse (on seeing one on a ladies' hat in church)."

I'm a bgapiper. "Amazing Grace" is generally one of the first two tunes pipers learn (The other is "Scots Wha Hae" [Words by Robert Burns].
"Bagpipers do it with Amazing Grace."
Doug

I don't think that they really care about how people see them which to a point I do understand but what they are doing makes other religions look bad. Perhaps to some point thats what they want.


On a personal note I've never understod the big push to convert others. Whats so wrong in letting people believe in what they want?

Like anywhere in the world most of the people are nice (I have met a quite a few from the region).

How many bars are there? The two seem to be correlated. I hypothesize that failures in one sphere of endeavor create successes in the other. Doug

Someone without selective sight will notice about one strip club sign for every church sign on the Interstate.

I guess you could call it that. I was trying to invite them to church, if they didn't want to come all they would've had to say was no thank you and i'd be on my way. I think people have preconceived ideas about us, that we're just like Benny Hinn, Jerry Falwell(who was very liberal), Pat Roberson, etc.

We like those old-fashioned preachers, John Bunyan, Jonathan Edwards, George Whitefield, The Wesley Brothers, Charles Spurgeon, D.L. Moody, Billy Sunday, Bob Jones Sr., R.G. Lee, Lester Roloff, Lee Roberson, John R. Rice, Jack Hyles, Curtis Hutson, etc. Sorry for the long list of preachers but I just needed to show what preachers we look up to. Of course most of them are dead I know, but they were great men of the faith.

Biographies


Tarheelsfan

Maybe a lot of it comes from regional hatred and contempt.
Same as racist, no matter how poor or ignorant they might be, at least they are not One Of Them.

I live close to the Southern Manitoba Bible Belt. Those Mennonites are crazy! I know personally, my husband's family is Southern Manitoba Menno! For the most part they are good people. Really they are. However, if you have a differing opinion! Look out!

For example, my brother in law married a Wiccan girl. My sister in law's mom is also a Menno. Anyway, the whole Menno side of the family refused to come to their "Satanic" wedding. The sister in law had a cousin who had been in jail and was into drugs who got all "holier than thou" on them. My husband's cousin thought they were sacraficing goats in the kitchen. Okay, that's an exaggeration but instead of asking my sister in law about it, they went to the net and thier pastor who of course told them horrible things. They even wanted to remove their children from the home! :roll: Well those who stayed away missed a very beautiful wedding.

I just wanted to show this to everyone cause its funny and mostly true

How odd, in some ways, I consider myself partly Mennonite. When I don't go to my Meeting (Friends) I do go to a Mennonite meeting. Must be a difference in the schism if Mennonite. The Menno meeting I go to is pretty laid back. Their sermons are a little fire and brimstone for me, but never have I faced closed mindedness with them, in fact, quite the opposite. I dunno, I've always thought Menno's are pretty darn groovy. LOL.

Maybe the are different to the outsiders than they are to insiders? I know my church used to have this problem before.

It's not just here but in the south in general Ga, Al, MS,Etc & in the smaller towns it's even worse. The deeper you get into the south the more it's in your face.

I am technicallly an outsider... trust me, there's nothing they'd like better than to dunk the Quaker.

But my experience is that they're awfully opened minded, IF they're Liberal Mennonites. There are several Menno schisms, Amish even being one. They range from as insular and communal as the Amish, to as liberal and free thinking as Quakers. So it might be the difference in schism. Not sure about the Mannitoba Menos, other than I do know they have a large community there.

And in Alabama the difference is ridiculous. I used to live in North Carolina. . I didn't have too much trouble there. . .but when I moved to Alabama. . .goodness. . .nearly every person that I have met down here, within the first five minutes of talking to them the question "So, what church do you go to?" comes up. Then when I answer, "Oh, I'm not Christian". . .I get "the look" which is usually followed by a sermon. I was at a bookstore a couple of weeks ago and I was buying a "pagan" book. . .and the woman that checked me out said "Oh my. . .You know, there's a big tent revival going on this weekend. . .Maybe you'd like to check it out. I'm sure you can still be saved." I just smiled and said "Oh really? Ok." and walked off. Then my boyfriends crazy stepmother will tell anyone who will listen that I'm a satanist raising my son to worship the devil. There's not really much you can do about it but laugh it off. A friend of mine actually did have a nasty message written on his car once that he was going to burn in hell and what not (too "graphic" too post on here). . .he had a couple of pagan bumper stickers on his car, and I'm guessing that was why. . . they had been badly torn off.

Which, alot of Christians that I've met are really nice and understanding. They understand what I believe, and while they may not agree with it, they leave me and my beliefs to myself. But, there will always be the few that act like jerks. . .but every religion has "those types". People in the south are usually raised in church, so you can't really blame them for having the opinions that they have.

As for the Pagan billboards. . .I was seriously thinking about trying to put up a Pagan billboard. . .I'm pretty sure it would cause an uproar.

Jerry Falwell was liberal? That's not how I think of him.


Re: D.L. Moody: On December 29, 1876, Phillip Bliss, author of "Let the Lower Lights Be Burning" was enroute by train to preach at D.L.Moody's Tabernacle in Chicago. The temperatures were below zero as the train approached the Howe truss bridge over the Ashtabula River. Unknown to train crew or passengers, the extreme cold had caused the bridge's steel span to contract, pulling the support members off the foundation. The bridge was supported only by the steel rails of the track. When the train passed over the bridge, it collapsed, spilling the wooden passenger coaches with their hot pot-belly stoves and oil-filled lamps into the gorge. 92 people were killed, including Phillip Bliss, whose body was so badly burned it could not be identified. His is one of nine unidentified bodies buried at the Chestnut Grove Cemetary.

Moody preached a memorial sermon about his lost friend.

Phillip Bliss based his song on one of Moody's sermons about a ship that was lost because the port lights had been allowed to go out. Historians have hunted in vain for the identity of that ship and have concluded that it never existed. It's a nice story that never happened. However, Bliss's song has served as inspiration for countless sailors on the Great Lakes.

I am from Ashtabula. As I kid I walked across the fill where the old bridge stood and have seen the obelisk that marks Bliss's grave. Say a prayer for those who never made it to Chicago that wintry night.
Doug

These Christians keep telling me there is only one god, then they get upset when someone worships that god, but not in their church. Maybe it's because they're not getting a cut.
Doug

Jerry Falwell used to be a very good preacher, but got of on a rabbit trail, i.e. moral majority, Link and got away from the main thing, i.e. winning souls to Christ. Just like Jack Van Impe, who got off the main thing and focused on prophecy.

Liberty University used to be a very good school, but alas it's no different now than a secular university.

That's a very interesting story btw!

Looking at it is a far cry from any secular university.

The Manitoba Mennos aren't all that liberal. A common joke in these parts is how do you keep a Menno from drinking your beer on a fishing trip? Invite another Menno! Mennos aren't supposed to drink but they all do. Back in the day I dated a Menno guy. His parents weren't all that thrilled with me. I was the devil since I wasn't a church goer! Well, I went to school, had a job etc, etc. Their 16 year old daughter was pregnant, their son (my boyfriend) was an alcoholic and the other sister was a tramp! But "I" was a bad influence!

This what those who do not live here do not understand what we deal with. No, you can not blame the people who were raised to believe this way, afterall thats what they were taught to believe. But there are massive amounts of overkill in the south I wonder if it will ever change.

It is unlikely to change with the areas economic climate and poor education standards.

I live in the bible belt as well. Yes these signs are everywhere, especially in rural communties where churches
run rampant, and there are almost two on every block.

People are very nice down here though, (Southern hospitality). There are those few though that carry their
bible everywhere they go preaching to anyone thats in their path, these are the one's that I have no respect for.

Do you count PennslyTucky as part of the belt?(Everything east of pittburgh and west of Lancaster)
Because it is pretty bad out there. In fact, I've seen a whole lot worse out in the nether-regions of my own state then down South...

Fortunately, I live outside of Philly, where we are all more normal. The Amish divde us and the fanatics out west.


Yeah; I've seen this in NJ a few times.
What about:
"Try our Sundays they are better then Basken-Robbins?"

Cheers,
SQLserver

I can't agree with that there are some people here who have buttloads of money who feel the same as those who live in the middle of no where. The edcuation here sucks just because....well it sucks! Hopefully when we have kids & they are old enough to go to school we won't live in South Carolina anymore...


I think that its just expected that everyone is a Christian thats they way they were raised & it's all they really know.

I find it fascinating that 'progressive' and/or 'free-thinkers' are so concerned with what others believe. "Smile, your Mother chose life" Oh my...oh dear...no mention of God whatsoever, but THEY are pushing their beliefs on me with their awful billboard.

It sounds to me like the majority of non-Christians on this board would be more oppressive than Christians if the numbers were reversed. We should be able to show ours but we don't want to see yours type of thing, ya know?

It's a bit of a double standard I would think no one is saying that they can not have billboards up. But when you can count 10 of them just by tunring your head it does become a bit much. I hope those who believe as I do never come into that type of power that the Christians here have because it has truly gone to thier heads.



I'd like to see prove of another religion going around placing Ads for thier religion as much as those of the Judeo-Christian faith does.
Sorry I guess people of other faith are supposed to either conform or go back into hiding what was I thinking?

And Michele hits the nail on the head once again. She's just a little more ballsy than I am. LOL.

The point is that no one is STOPPING them. You exaggerate to the point of the ridiculous. You are persecuting yourself with what you THINK they are thinking more than they are persecuting you. And it's not just you. I've seen it over and over where people have said that they "could tell by the way people were looking at them what they thought". I've been accused of looking down on a Pagan or whatever when I was only admiring a particular piece of jewelry or something else they were wearing. I've learned real quick to speak before they have a chance to or they piss me off accusing me of doing something that I'm not.

BINGO!

I ran into this once. LOL. I was captivated by a muslim woman's head scarf, it was this GORGEOUS orange and gold silk, quite breathtaking. I guess I was admiring a little harder than I should have been, and I got a rather terse "what are you looking at?" from her when we were in the elevator together. When I told her I thought her head scarf was one of the prettiest silks I'd ever seen, all she said was "Yeah, ok" No thank you, no apology for being so terse, nothing. She was in a sense persecuting herself by judging what she thought I was looking at and thinking when she couldn't have been more wrong.

Like Michele, I've learned to be quick with a compliment before someone has a chance to judge.

I see I'm not the only person to experience this.

It's sad really because it's how they choose to live. If I see someone looking at me I smile and say hi leaving them an opening to say something if it's on their mind. 98 times out of a hundred I get a nice reply in return.

[I've been accused of looking down on a Pagan or whatever when I was only admiring a particular piece of jewelry or something else they were wearing. I've learned real quick to speak before they have a chance to or they piss me off accusing me of doing something that I'm not.
[/quote]


When 8 out of 10 run around doing this what do you expect? You don't live here & so you don't know so assume away. No one saying it's wrong but I would rather be able to look at the scenery then a sign telling me how God loves me, & when the signs outnumber the veiws it's a bit much.

One a side note you stare at me no mattter what I am wearing I am going to ask what you are looking at. Perhaps you should not be starting at people, people do not like that regardless of religion.

If must be so terribly different than Georgia, where I was born and Tennessee, were I live.

We had a beef with billboards, in general, cluttering up the view and went to the County Commissioner and had the laws changed. Maybe it would help if you did something like that for your community.

A look of three or four seconds is not staring. I never said anything about staring...that was your assumption.

Edit: You ooze hostility even over a forum...it's no wonder you have so much trouble.

Umm, how do you know what that she doesn't know? Because actually... she does. Who's assuming now?

You have to be very careful when making assumptions. Why do you think Michele, an atheist, who was raised So. Baptist, in the south, and still lives there, has such a different outlook and experience than you do? It's worth considering.

(sorry Michele, I honestly didnt' mean to speak for you :/ )

Mostly it's because she refuses to feel persecuted. When you feel persecuted, you are just opening the door to being persecuted.

You can bet that the terse muslim woman I spoke to in the elevator walked off that lift thinking to herself "Ya, right, quick explanation out of that woman"... she ran around telling her friends how hard it is to live around people who hate muslims and stare at them. When nothing of the sort happened. I liked her frickin' scarf.