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"Another big issue is that fundamentalist Christians don't believe in evolution, and often believe the Earth is no more than 6,000 to 10,000 years old."
Belief in evolution is no better than belief in Jesus, God, eternal life etc. It is the nature of belief to be wholly lacking of knowledge. Else, why would the words belief/believe ever be used? To state "I believe" is to equally state "I do not know".
But I digress... this thread is about Eugene Oregon...
Location: where you sip the tea of the breasts of the spinsters of Utica
8,297 posts, read 14,159,764 times
Reputation: 8105
I believe that all the Republican contenders for the presidency are evil sociopaths, but I can't prove it absolutely. There's plenty of evidence though.
If you are OK in Clackamas, you'll be OK in Eugene.
I will agree with most of the posts that the non-christians are very pleasant, open-minded and not in your face......
.....to a point.
Spank your kid in public....you're likely to have the cops or social services called on you....or told off that you are a child abuser by an 'interested' party.
Many in Eugene won't even tell their children "no". My child was in the YMCA daycare a decade ago, at about 2 yrs of age. An older child, at least 4, was punching my child. The attendant wasn't doing anything but saying, "Now, Johnny (whatever the name was), do you really think that's how we ought to behave?" No stopping it....no telling the little brute "No"....none of that. Needless to say, none of my children have ever been back.
While there are a lot of self-identified christians here in Eugene, most are not biblical at all. The gospel message in Eugene has been diluted in most of the churches I have visited...infused with many new age innovations and processes. The church here is very left-leaning.
As for the non-christians, as long as you keep your thoughts completely private, you are fine. However, don't expect them to keep quiet about their beliefs....they won't. You will be exposed to every aspect of 'freedom of speech' you can possibly think of, to include ones you couldn't purchase in a magazine until the age of 18....but, as many in this forum have espoused, don't even think about applying your freedom of speech to discuss in public your christian beliefs. Your christian religious rights end at the end of your nose.
As you can see from previous comments in this forum, if you 'believe' in creation as written in the bible, you will be called stupid and ignorant. if you tell others of your belief, you will be called a liar. your views will be refuted with name calling, not scientific references.
Now, before everyone starts in on me..........all of the above is a generalization based on my 30+ years in Eugene. Everything I have listed, I have seen myself, or heard from very good friends who I have never known to lie to me, or read in this forum. These are not common occurances, but they do occur. This does not describe everyone you will encounter in Eugene, but you cannot avoid meeting these people unless you hide yourselves in a closet.
Bottom line: If you desire to 'train up your children in the way they should go', and you don't want to receive daily flack for it.........look elsewhere. If you want your children raised in a huge mission field....look no further!
you'll be fine. if you want a more conservative neighborhood/Church I would look somewhere on the North side of the river.
Do you know any thing about Eugene Christian Fellowship Church? If so, do you feel they are conservative? We attended there once, years ago & thought it was very much in tune with our own beliefs.
We don't have small children now, but when I did, I brought them up in a home that believes in Jesus Christ & God the Father as declared in the Bible. We don't "door knock" or leave pamphlets, etc., as the Jehovah Witnesses do here. Even when we've told them OVER and OVER, we are Christians, thank you, etc. (in other words, "we're good, no need to come back to our door", but it doesn't work. Maybe because our next-door-neighbors are JW. It's ridiculous, to me, to continue to go to someone's home - where you are basically told politely "no need". It would be like US going next door to refute their beliefs. We would never do that. We don't even know them, we speak & wave, but we are not what you'd call "over the fence, chatty, neighbors". When we first moved here, both families revealed their beliefs to one another & that was pretty much it. Just to sort of say "this is us & our way".
My husband is from Eugene. He was not a Christian when we met. I did not force my own belief in Jesus Christ down his throat & Jesus did not force himself upon my husband. He would never do that. My husband says, "God sat right down beside me" & it was then that he realized he was being called out. This same man, was literally fed science & atheism his whole life & very heavily for over 30 years. And what happened to him later in his life was NOT done by any forcing. But maybe Ahteism was forced on him previously? If you met him, you would see a true Oregonian - opinionated, gruff exterior, out-spoken & hard-working. He used to LOVE to defend Athiesm & did so using the Bible. Now, things are much different in his life. And I think we would not find it so easy in Eugene, not so much the city itself, but some family members, unaccepting of our choices in life. Where is tolerance mentioned in some other posts, a thing Eugene is known for? One family member was noted saying he/she thought we're in a cult. So, there's hesitation on our part, in regards to acceptance & "live & let live", we don't see it. But with other things, tolerance, it's there, usually at the opposite end of the spectrum though. (sigh)
Last edited by Babyyyblue61; 03-28-2012 at 01:43 PM..
I've been reading some threads here and wondering if Eugene will be kind to a Christian family? I started out looking for tips on good schools, neighborhoods, etc., and noticed that people on these threads are a little brutal. With all the diversity will there be open mindedness towards conservative families like everything else that is accepted here? Thanks for your response.
I've lived in the Eugene area since 77 and have watched it change. You didn't say where you're living now, or your background (white collar/blue collar) and what you both do for a living. Do you expect to socialize only with your church or do you want your children socializing with the kids from their school? Will you be volunteering at the schools? Stop in or call one or two of the biggest real estate agencies, Find a LICENSED Buyers agent (that means they will have your best interest at heart, NOT the sellers best interest) tell that person IN DETAIL what you're ideal situation is. look at a few places, pick that person's brain about the other areas, and then seriously think about renting first. You're sure tol find a neighborhood and church you like that way and if you put your kids in private school, you can move around to some extent. If you can afford private schools, even if you aren't Catholic, check their curriculums, teacher qualifications, teacher/child ratio and compare to area schools. This way your kids will get a better education, Eugene schools are hurting!!!! (No I'm not Catholic) Those people who live in Veneta, say its a great place to raise kids.... particularly if you have some acreage and can get them into 4-H. The downside is west 11th traffic from Veneta is really bad during certain times. Coming from other areas, the traffic isn't so bad that you can't drive in to work or church but if you were raised white collar, and are in an executive position, can afford private schools, you'll probably be happier near other professional people and may want to live in town. Look around the Eug. country club and particularly Oakway golf. College hill used to be more conservative than the rest of the SW area that borders Willamette street and that's worth checking into. These are older very stable centrally located areas. Are you a charismatic? Check out Eugene Faith Center. They are what I call a full service church and there are activities for everyone of all ages. (I haven't been to Eugene Christian Fellowship and Willamette Christian Center for years. There was talk at one time that willamette Christian Center may have a school for their members only). Springfield is changing. It's more conservative, has a lot of young families so schools are becoming more of a priority. Its also got its own jail, two hospitals (Eugene has 0 ) and some higher end homes (check out the area north of Hayden Bridge Rd. on the river and for newer homes with small yards, between 8th and 10th) The better rated grade and middle schools are along this street as are a few conservative churches. Thurston High has fewer problems than Springfield high. Depending on where you work, there is excellent bus service from some of the outlying areas. Good luck, hope this helps.
I lived about a block from Willamette Christian Center for several years. They always seem to be well attended and as a bonus they have security in the parking lot and church during services.
What are you in for? The fact that nobody will care about your religion at all, they have far better things to worry about than what god you pray to or for.....
...get them into 4-H. ... Springfield is changing. ...
Just thought I'd mention that our family's understanding is that 4-H in Lane County lost its funding and is currently in limbo. It was a wonderful program when it was active.
I also agree that Springfield is changing. We've only been in Eugene since early 2000's, but even in that small amount of time we've seen enough positive change there to make us consider buying a home there (we currently rent in Eugene). We have friends who live there and also in Thurston and they really love it and have never had any problems. Two families we know sold their homes in Springfield when their children were entering school age because they drank the Koolaid and were led to believe that Eugene has better schools. They are both upset, feeling as if they've made a huge mistake and now they are stuck in Eugene - paying higher taxes, a higher mortgage, and living a lower quality of life - in their opinions. Once upon a time that might have been true, but not anymore. It turns out Springfield has more resources and programs like voc. tech, theater, music programs, arts programs, etc. because they get more federal dollars and many of the programs that Springfield students benefit from are not available in Eugene schools - because Eugene schools are broke and receive less funding because family incomes are higher here. It doesn't seem fair - whatever happened to equality and all children receiving the same opportunities? Evidently, in Oregon public schools, you have to be low income to qualify for things such as after school programs, academic enrichment programs, etc. A few Eugene schools have after-school programs but they are in the lower-income/higher crime areas of Eugene. Our kids went to Gilham/Cal Young/Sheldon and it's shocking how much we parents/family's must pay to keep basic services in our schools. We (parents) have to work our butts off and fundraise thousands of dollars a year to keep things in our Eugene schools that the federal government provides for Springfield schools, simply based on things like income. It's irritating. We have come so close many, many times at putting our kids in private schools. However, we are not a religious family and it's difficult to find a private school in this area that follows a traditional/structured curriculum that is secular.
Sorry to go on about that - but just wanted to say that I agree - Springfield is looking up lately to a lot of people - ourselves and quite a high number of our friends and families we know in Eugene. And did anyone else notice how there was an absence of the "Occupy" in Springfield during all that nonsense? I'm so sick of how Eugene seems to enable the homeless population here, and I was not happy with how they handled the Occupy situation, renaming Beltline, or the EmX fiasco. It's just getting ridiculous. And we are beyond frustrated with the Eugene 4J high school our son attends. It's to the point now where we laugh instead of cry - because we've been getting upset and fighting it for three years now in vain. It's exhausting. And the releasing criminals into the community because we somehow don't have the money to keep the jail beds open - are you serious? We just don't understand the direction Eugene is heading - it's not a good one. We used to ride the bike trails all the time year-round. Now we don't - it's often too creepy, with too many sketchy people and homeless people camping around or hanging around. My little town that I used to love when we first moved here, it just doesn't feel the same. It isn't the same.
We are a Christian family and have lived near Eugene since 2005. Eugene is not necessarily "friendly" to Christians. We have found that the area's residents are mostly very liberal about almost everything. Eugene was listed in a nationwide poll last week as one of the top ten "best towns to be gay and liberal." The folks seem to be very open minded to liberal ideas but very closed to consevatives, i.e., Christians and our way of thinking as Bible based believers. The best redeeming quality is that we have found an excellent Christian church and surround ourselves and our activities with fellow believers. Not to spread negative info, but to let you know what you are in for. However, it would be GREAT to have another Christian family join the ranks and be heard for what they believe in. There are also lots of old hippies still around. Many have become very powerful within the community and have extremely liberal influence here.
Our best to you and hope you find what you are looking for. First thing on your agenda is to find a solid Christian believing church. It took us nearly two years to find the one where the Lord wanted us to serve.
Well I used to be liberal, but that changed when I moved to Wyoming (due to bad economy here). Since I've been back there's been several opinions here that I don't agree with (I just choose which topics to be vocal about) . If you don't mind that or being in the minority you'll be fine for the most part. But there are things that drives me nuts living here after living in WY.
As far as education goes I've attended school here and in Eastern Washington. By far without a doubt the quality of education is much better in WA.
Last edited by jj85; 01-14-2013 at 04:05 PM..
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30+ yrs in Eugene
We don't have small children now, but when I did, I brought them up in a home that believes in Jesus Christ & God the Father as declared in the Bible. We don't "door knock" or leave pamphlets, etc., as the Jehovah Witnesses do here. Even when we've told them OVER and OVER, we are Christians, thank you, etc. (in other words, "we're good, no need to come back to our door", but it doesn't work. Maybe because our next-door-neighbors are JW. It's ridiculous, to me, to continue to go to someone's home - where you are basically told politely "no need". It would be like US going next door to refute their beliefs. We would never do that. We don't even know them, we speak & wave, but we are not what you'd call "over the fence, chatty, neighbors". When we first moved here, both families revealed their beliefs to one another & that was pretty much it. Just to sort of say "this is us & our way".
