alabama liberals? (Birmingham, Huntsville, Tuscaloosa: university, assessment, diverse)

[snowghost]

Is there such a thing? Thinking about Huntsville...saw there was a unitarian church there. Is that an active community, or are they completely fringe for the area?

[fishmonger]

I'm pretty liberal (at least by Alabama standards). The most liberal part of Alabama that I know of is Southside Birmingham (mostly due to the presence of UAB and the "bohemian" nature that a lot of the less blighted inner-city areas around America take on)... as for examples of "liberalism," that area voted the first lesbian representative to the Alabama Legislature in the state's history and has head shops and dance clubs and stuff, plus lots of assorted weirdos.

[jetjockey75]

Originally Posted by snowghost

Is there such a thing? Thinking about Huntsville...saw there was a unitarian church there. Is that an active community, or are they completely fringe for the area?

I can't tell you about the Unitarian church, but there are liberals in Huntsville. I am slightly liberal myself, and had no trouble meeting like-minded people while I lived in the Huntsville area. I met quite a few interesting people during one of the annual art tours that Huntsville has, where many area artists open up their studios to the public.

[Ariyeh]

There's actually a Unitarian Church in Birmingham, too. But outside the Southside/UAB area I haven't found too many fellow liberals.

[harry chickpea]

I'll agree with the southside B'ham assessment, but you'll find traces all the way down the road to Hoover and Montevallo. In addition to the Unitarians, there is a Unity Church in Southside, and IIRC, a Reform Temple. Liberal isn't "in your face" in Alabama, but it does exist and is growing.

Back in the early 1980s, the only Birmingham bookstore that had anything outside of a highly censored mainstream offering was Loadstar in Southside. Even the chain bookstores had a horribly limited selection compared to any bookstore in the northeast. News is similar. The B'ham News was so dry, thin, and bad that I refused to even pick it up. I got an Atlanta paper for Sunday reading. It still amazes me that a newspaper can be that bad and still survive.

[dac]

The Unitarian church is active. I actually know several people who attend there. I myself am a minarchist and a Christian agnostic. lol.

[JWilliams]

Obviously, Alabama has some liberals, but I never really met them. I was aware of one guy who actually did not vote for Bush, others I knew to have voted Republicans or I expected that they would have. Political moderation is not a strong point. Of course, in other parts of the country, it swings the other way, underscoring the political polarity of the nation.

[Rick in Dixie]

Originally Posted by dac

The Unitarian church is active. I actually know several people who attend there. I myself am a minarchist and a Christian agnostic. lol.

A Christian Agnostic ?

[HipLib]

I live in Tuscaloosa and consider myself very liberal. My wife, myself and a handful of close friends are the only liberals I know of in the area. We also have a Unitarian church of about 100 members. Most of the folks there are liberal but very few are actually from the state of Alabama. I'd say maybe about 20 are from here. Most of the UU's here are professors or other faculty members at the University of Alabama. I'm an inactive member of this church. I've also attended the Birmingham Unity church that was mentioned earlier. This church is really a breath of fresh air. Very diverse, very tolerant and a very positive message.

[Historic Bessemer]

There are more than we like to admit!