What's the worst thing about living in Austin? (Roma: credit, university)

[lemonlime22]

Originally Posted by sxrckr

Too Christian-y??

What is it about "Christian-y" that is so bad or threatening?

I can understand wanting to stay away from a place because of thug culture, gangbangers, crime, filth, zero morals, etc.... but we are worried here about it being too Christian-y, or God forbid, seeing the ten commandments somewhere? Or angel dress-up during the holiday? WOW....

Oh, I don't find it "threatening". To me personally, I find it boring, really. Mind numbing, actually.

But for my unformed, elementary aged children--well, I just don't want them being surrounded by the superstition. I don't want them to think "God" is up there at the control panel and non-sensical things like "God" will decide if they are good or bad.

It would be one thing if people here (in my community, south of Austin) kept this on a personal, private level. But they don't. It's on the sleeve here. It's like living in a town where nearly every person is an insurance salesman. Just.don't.wanna.hear.it.

Wonder how you would feel in a Muslim or an Orthodox Jewish community? When religion is a big part of someone's life, there isn't a lot to talk about...

[JayBrown80]

Originally Posted by sxrckr

Too Christian-y??

What is it about "Christian-y" that is so bad or threatening?

I can understand wanting to stay away from a place because of thug culture, gangbangers, crime, filth, zero morals, etc.... but we are worried here about it being too Christian-y, or God forbid, seeing the ten commandments somewhere? Or angel dress-up during the holiday? WOW....

I wonder what your response would have been if her child came home with a card that said "Allah is lord!" or "Celebrate the birth of Xenu!".

I personally don't care if children learn that christmas was a holiday originally celebrated only by Christians, because it was a celebration of the birth of their deity (although it is now largely a secular holiday). That's just learning history and history is a subject that should be studied in school.

But I find the above crap, "what's so bad and threatening about christianity??", to be absolutely infuriating. I hate when people ask a question with such an obvious answer. Especially because it TYPICALLY comes from people that would have thrown an absolute fit if some other pretend character, like allah or xenu, had been taught to their children at shool, and not their preferred pretend figure IE. jesus.

The OBVIOUS answer to the question you asked lemonlime is this. One only needs to turn on the news ANY night of the week to see what is rotten and threatening about Christianity. Why, just last week, Brian Fischer the leader of "Focus on the Family" (one of the largest and most well funded Christian political groups in America) came out and AGAIN said that HIV does not cause AIDS, and that straight people cannot get AIDS, that only gays can get it. And that gay only get AIDS because most gays are promiscuous and have 1000s of sex partners and all gays are drug addicts.

Antigay Leader: HIV Doesn (http://www.advocate.com/News/Daily_News/2012/01/06/Antigay_Leader_HIV_Doesnt_Cause_AIDS_Drugs_and_Sex _Do/ - broken link)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Focus_on_the_Family

One only needs to familiarize themselves a small bit with ANY christian political group to realize that it would probably be a VERY GOOD thing indeed to protect your child from christian "values". In my mind, the above thinking on the part of christian fundamentalists is a prime example of the "zero morals" that you recommend protecting children from.

Now, I understand not ALL christians are horrible people. Just the SIZEABLE majority of them that contribute to groups like Focus on the Family (and by the way, you don't just contribute to them with your money. You also contribute to them with your silence.) But if you read your statement...

Originally Posted by sxrckr

I can understand wanting to stay away from a place because of thug culture, gangbangers, crime, filth, zero morals, etc...

..then one can see that you have NO PROBLEM with painting people with a rather large brush. But when someone does it to you...then you feel indignant.

I think you summed it up perfectly. WOW.

By the way, Focus on the Family is headquartered in Colorado Springs...to answer the question of another poster asking about that particular area.

[Jennibc]

Allergies, hands down. This is the first season I've been hit with them and I am dying. I've tried everything. Looks like I'm headed for shots.

[Jennibc]

Originally Posted by 1mintjulep

I grew up in north Louisiana, which is culturally very similar to Texas, especially as far as religion goes. I remember Gideon Bibles being distributed when I was in the 4th grade, but I think somebody raised a stink about it, because it never happened again. We didn't have "moment of silence," but they did that praying around the flagpole thing, which they got away with because it was before school hours and students weren't obligated to participate.

I have been accosted by Christians trying to witness to me in bookstores when I was browsing in the Buddhism section. This didn't happen in Austin, but it made me extremely apprehensive about going to bookstores.

Then there are the Christian billboards on I-35 between here and Dallas. There's a gas station in Canton, TX that has "the gas station where Jesus Christ is Lord" or something to that effect painted on the side of the building. The Burger King in that same town has the 10 Commandments posted over the menu above the counter. I never even saw that kind of thing growing up in Louisiana, and I've certainly never seen it on my visits to the Northeast.

Some people, like THL, might not see a problem with that, but it certainly speaks to fundamentalist Christian triumphalism and everything that goes with it.

Why worry about it? I'm not christian and I just don't let it bug me. So what if other people want to believe it? How do you feel about the environmentalists coming to your door? (I thought of them, because they showed up on my doorstep this week wanting me to sign some petition). Same thing.

I've never felt like our lack of religion has been an issue in Austin.

[mimimomx3]

1)allergies
2)traffic
3)new money coming from other parts of the US who think that Austin is a "bargain"

[centralaustinite]

ding ding ding on number three!

[N. Olikee]

The Closed-Minded people (who think they are really Open-Minded people) who have decided they hate Austin and will never be happy living here.

[sxrckr]

Originally Posted by JayBrown80

I wonder what your response would have been if her child came home with a card that said "Allah is lord!" or "Celebrate the birth of Xenu!".

I personally don't care if children learn that christmas was a holiday originally celebrated only by Christians, because it was a celebration of the birth of their deity (although it is now largely a secular holiday). That's just learning history and history is a subject that should be studied in school.

But I find the above crap, "what's so bad and threatening about christianity??", to be absolutely infuriating. I hate when people ask a question with such an obvious answer. Especially because it TYPICALLY comes from people that would have thrown an absolute fit if some other pretend character, like allah or xenu, had been taught to their children at shool, and not their preferred pretend figure IE. jesus.

The OBVIOUS answer to the question you asked lemonlime is this. One only needs to turn on the news ANY night of the week to see what is rotten and threatening about Christianity. Why, just last week, Brian Fischer the leader of "Focus on the Family" (one of the largest and most well funded Christian political groups in America) came out and AGAIN said that HIV does not cause AIDS, and that straight people cannot get AIDS, that only gays can get it. And that gay only get AIDS because most gays are promiscuous and have 1000s of sex partners and all gays are drug addicts.

Antigay Leader: HIV Doesn (http://www.advocate.com/News/Daily_News/2012/01/06/Antigay_Leader_HIV_Doesnt_Cause_AIDS_Drugs_and_Sex _Do/ - broken link)

Focus on the Family - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

One only needs to familiarize themselves a small bit with ANY christian political group to realize that it would probably be a VERY GOOD thing indeed to protect your child from christian "values". In my mind, the above thinking on the part of christian fundamentalists is a prime example of the "zero morals" that you recommend protecting children from.

Now, I understand not ALL christians are horrible people. Just the SIZEABLE majority of them that contribute to groups like Focus on the Family (and by the way, you don't just contribute to them with your money. You also contribute to them with your silence.) But if you read your statement...



..then one can see that you have NO PROBLEM with painting people with a rather large brush. But when someone does it to you...then you feel indignant.

I think you summed it up perfectly. WOW.

By the way, Focus on the Family is headquartered in Colorado Springs...to answer the question of another poster asking about that particular area.

I can see you are already so upset with this, when I see no reason.... so this demonstrates some of my point.

I was never referring to fringe groups here either. Talk about painting with a broad brush!

Yes, I do get the sense you feel threatened or angered. My children didn't come home with any of this but I wouldn't get upset over angel dress-up at a time of year when there are angel decorations and such all around. This is hardly the same as being preached to. By the way, Jesus of Nazareth is an historical figure, not a made up character. Don't know that there are any records of a man named Allah or Xenu. May want to brush up on ancient history just a bit.

[JayBrown80]

Originally Posted by sxrckr

I can see you are already so upset with this, when I see no reason.... so this demonstrates some of my point.

I was never referring to fringe groups here either. Talk about painting with a broad brush!

Yes, I do get the sense you feel threatened or angered. My children didn't come home with any of this but I wouldn't get upset over angel dress-up at a time of year when there are angel decorations and such all around. This is hardly the same as being preached to. By the way, Jesus of Nazareth is an historical figure, not a made up character. Don't know that there are any records of a man named Allah or Xenu. May want to brush up on ancient history just a bit.

Actually, there is zero proof that Jesus of Nazereth existed at all. No more proof than that of King Arthrur or Beowulf having existed. Focus on the Family is not a "fringe" group, they are one of the largest and richest christian political groups in America. And Lemonlime didn't complain about her child getting dressed like an angel, she complained about her child coming home with a bible verse, a quote from a religious text. And if your child had come home reciting religious text from the Quran, then I imagine your tune would change completely.

You might get a "sense" that I feel threatened. Christians often "sense" things that aren't there. I am not angry or threatened, just answering your question to lemonlime, which was "What so bad or threatening about Christianity". The answer is rather obvious.

[centralaustinite]

Jay is right. There is no historical record outside of Christian texts themselves about Jesus of Nazereth. No Roman census in the right time period. Also, no Egyptian text (and there are a LOT) mentions the Hebrews.

Allah is the Arabic word for "God" specifically the God of Abraham and is used by Arabic speaking Christians and Jews as well as all Muslims.

Muhammad (the last prophet of the Abrahamic God) also escapes historical record (at pretty much the last possible moment to do so, b. 570 AD) although there is extensive independent documentation of his successors.