Living in the American South has been pretty surreal. In the towns and cities, church premises abound, carrying the weathered weights of the architecture of a by-gone period, neatly tucked within more contemporary surroundings. The glasses are stained, as if to keep the sinful world outside and the holy world inside, and most striking are the demographically ordered patterns of attendance: maintaining the status of Sunday as America's most segregated day. Black believers file into their churches, and white believers into theirs. Mosques, for someone who grew up in a vibrant Muslim community, are nowhere to be seen. Apart from being a god who fails to whisper to his children a message that would reconcile them in the face of a horrible past of pain, segregation, racism and violence; he is also a god who is more remotely able to make a case for the humanity of the Muslim. But this is all within his approach: in his so-called holy books, he has enable confusions and contradictions for his failure to write clearly in a language every human being can understand, failed to stressed the equality of men and women, and the fiction of superior and inferior races.
In the South, I arrived an agnostic but was transformed overnight into an atheist because I saw a god who was profoundly uninterested in justice.
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Feel free to reply to any comment by clicking the "Reply" button.The racisim, hatred of diversity, and the hypocritical religious groups did an excellent job at turning me from Agnostic to Atheist within a few months of transfering from the east to the south. My ex is a republican, religious nutcase who believes in palm readings, ghosts and saints. I gag when I think of him and the religious crazies. They speak of saviours, god, and holy spirits but yet refuse to support children in need, the homeless, the aging, and those seeking refuge in our country. It is mind boggling to me.
sciteachmd
Level 6
Feb 17, 2018
0
I grew up in the rural south - there are churches everywhere! You seemingly can't go a half mile without passing one -- generally evangelical of some flavor, at least where I grew up.
The rural mind set is different -- I think the strong patriarchal biblical stories appeal - giving some sense of absolutism of right and wrong and never the twain shall meet.. My way is right, and everyone else is wrong.....
I think lack of travel and exposure to other cultures makes it easy to fall into the trap of 'other-ism' - whatever the problem, some 'other' group is responsible for it.
Many go to church every Sunday but have little knowledge of the bible, other than "knowing' what it supposed to correct. Preachers need no formal training, other than "feeling the call to preach".
The difference is now there are echo chambers of our social media where these folk can go be reinforced, get stirred up, and become even more certain in their view of the world - and facts don't really matter one whit to them.
Ohub
Level 7
Feb 13, 2018
2
Focus on the family is based in Colorado Springs CO. It is a conservative town but has a large LGBT population.
I think the main problem with the S. (I grew up in Texas) is the same problem they have had for centuries, agrarian in nature. Rural areas are more conservative than Urban ones and there is seemingly a attitude of self-sufficiency (with occasional help from an invisible deity). This often fosters poverty. They look to the wealthier citizens with scorn and feel alienated. It's funny how the idea of the "meek and poor" is a big part of the religious dogma there is a big emphasis on the Gospel of prosperity. Poverty usually means a lack of education and I see this as a root cause for their backwards culture.
A close friend attended Chapel Hill and said it was a liberal oasis in the South.
JackPedigo
Level 9
Feb 13, 2018
4
That's religion for ya. It is, at it's base core, a method for keeping people separate.
It does seem to strive down here. Some folks have their delusions so ingrained that they can't even conceive that they're wrong about anything. That's why I think it's so important for atheists and other non-believers to stay here and do what we can to demonstrate that there really is another way to live.
KKGator
Level 9
Feb 13, 2018
4
I find it odd that African Americans are so religious considering the whole pro slavery parts of the bible. And the fact that the bible was used as a tool to enslave their minds and bodies.
jayneonacobb
Level 7
Feb 13, 2018
5
@VictoriaNotes I know, it still strikes me funny though. Probably because I've never been an actual believer.
I've raised that question several times. Still haven't gotten any kind of reasonable answer.
@KKGator I suppose convert or die is a pretty powerful initial motivator. Tradition is just as powerful. I can see how it happened. I just don't get how it still continues. In the US the black community is far more religious on average than any other demographic. That's the part that blows my mind.
Varn:
@Traffique_Jaam “A lot of AA are beginning to embrace African spirituality.” ...had me goin there.. Why would American Atheists be embracing African spirituality 
Had to look up Malawi, wow - love this world-wide-web 
Varn:
@Traffique_Jaam Thorough answer, though my point (joke) had been, to me, “AA” stands for American Atheists
I’m finding ‘the south’ is still rebellious, seemingly eager to discard social norms for sport, or spite. Lots of churches, but since nobody pays property taxes on the damn things, they tend to pile up.. The ‘sincere ignorance’ appears to be generational, cuz the youth I meet have no intention of being left out or kept from all the stuff they’re finding on their phones. I’ve hope, and love the obits
Varn
Level 8
Feb 13, 2018
3
My experience says mostly spite. My husband was born and raised in VA. We are in NC now. He is generally a pretty passive and quiet person but when he gets his redneck on... man oh man the spite is palpable. The tax thing he doesn't mess around with because he doesn't like me worrying. One of my biggest worries has always been crossing the IRS. They are not kind when catching up to those who purposely tax dodge.
Not sure what you are talking about with the stuff they find on their phones or the obits comment...
Varn:
@AmyLF I’m up in SW VA… but still new & shinny.. The rebelliousness I feel from locals often reminds me of same thing I’ve felt from many Atheists. Ours is a healthy, targeted skepticism, and theirs seems a more wide-spectrum of doubt for all things ...which may include religion, though they can’t quite say it..
I’ve a deep sympathy and sadness over the abundance of former military suicides. I suspect, with all they witnessed, endured, and aspired to … they eventually admit to themselves that it’s pretty much been bullshit.. But with many living in these rural communities (I’m from OR, and we had/ have rural too), there’s no one they can talk to, and they know it.
The phone thing is that even rural southern kids appear tethered to their phones, it’s their link to the world; ‘so how we gonna keep em down on the farm now that they’ve seen’ ..Amazon Prime? The ‘obit’ reference is the continuing natural passing away of those whose lives centered around supporting, maintaining and enforcing church doctrine…
Varn:
@Traffique_Jaam I get it, see it, and feel it… I’m in a progressive little enclave of SW VA, but the network between churches is still strong. I’ve hired some very sharp young (er than me) guys who’d pick up quick that I’m not from around here, thus more tolerant and open. They seem to relax, realizing if a cuss word slips out -- half the town won’t hear about it next Sunday Maybe that’s why half the ‘youngsters’ I meet plan to get out..
@Varn Aaah, I see. I think I dodged that phone bullet with my son. Then again he was always a more reserved kind even as a kid.
I haven't really paid close attention to obits. I don't get a paper and generally get news off TV and news sites. Obits don't generally come upfront that often in either.
@Varn LOL well, don't know about that. I think there is an exuberance of youth that makes people in their teens and 20's want to do something, anything. Small towns don't seem to have much to do so bigger communities seem so attractive. I can still remember the 70s and 80s when most kids didn't have cell phones. Heck most parents didn't even have them yet. I remember hearing conversations from several circles in school how they were going to leave town as soon as they graduate and never look back. The big city was where "it" was at, not that anyone seemed sure what "it" was back then....
Varn:
@AmyLF It seems the key to rural living is developing a network of like minded friends. My daughters couldn’t wait to get out of hicksville, but then they’d been surrounded in school for 13 years by small-town small-brained ‘peers’ that made them sick.. Whereas, other than employment, I could pick & choose my adult network of friends.
I get our local paper, weekly, and their ‘obits’ are page 2, ‘big news!’ I’ll glance out of curiosity ..until I hit something describing their ‘love of god or religious beliefs,’ then move on. Occasionally, there’s obviously someone having had nothing to do with ‘a church,’ and I hope they know home much I appreciate reading about their productive lives
Well to be devil's advocate -- you saw a SPECIFIC god among thousands who is profoundly disinterested in justice, which doesn't even disprove that god, it simply renders it unworthy of worship. A better reason to be an atheist is because belief isn't justified and no religion's truth-claims are evidenced; they are all asserted with zero substantiation. But welcome to the Dark Side anyway, we're happy to have your company
mordant
Level 8
Feb 13, 2018
4
No such thing as The God. Every believer has their own version of Yahweh.
As an almost Canadian Western New Yorker I found moving to Covington, Georgia to be a "significant" change. I have found that while religion rules the South, there is a hell of a lot more "nonreligious" of various sorts down here than you could expect. A number are in the closet because they want to keep friends and family. Some of my acquaintances have noticed that I am a bit vocal, but I am not shunned by the community. They see this and are encouraged.
Reignmond
Level 7
Feb 13, 2018
7
@Traffique_Jaam , I keep many secrets of who is not really a Christian.
When I was in the Amercian South last Noivember I was surprised to see police cars outside churches. My friend tells me the churches hire the police to prevent non-members attending.
That just baout sums the state of society there. Folks seek safety with their own clan and do not extend the hand of friendship to others.
This behaviour is typical of a socitey where 80% of the population profess to beleive in god to the extent that they attned a church. Here in the UK more folks go to soccer matches on Sunday than attend church.
Forkbeard
Level 6
Feb 13, 2018
2
I have never seen such a thing. I have 5 churches within a mile of my house. They do hire Officers to control traffic. I know that every church desperately wants me to attend services, and I have been to several with friends on various occasions. That said, there definitely are Black and White churches, though it many.
There is one church in the South that has gotten the legislature to authorize it to have its OWN police force. But the impetus for police, however they come by them, is traffic control and anti-terrorism so some wingnut with guns doesn't shoot the place up. They would not be able to find new converts if they never let in non-members. Perhaps you heard about a particular inter-church kerfuffle or a situation where outside protesters were disrupting services? Or your friend was making an ironic joke?
Sad and sick.
My first wife had a similar reaction when she came to this country in 1963. One of her first observations was, "There are more churches than pubs."
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