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Been here for almost 50 weeks having relocated from a major metropolitan city in the North. To be honest, I am still taking the time to adjust. Having come from a city with 1+ million citizens and hours of traffic, Greenville seems "laid back"! Some may like this lifestyle but I haven't found my niche yet.
However, all my co-workers say that Greenville is a decent area to raise a family.
Any time I have mentioned something even remotely negative about Greenville on here I get torn to shreds. Id move if I could. This area really isnt my cup of tea but DHs job is too good to walk away from right now. The only positives I can say are that housing (if you buy, landlords around here get away with murder) is cheap and it's close to the mountains. I have also found GHS to be a fantastic hospital which I couldn't say about mission in Asheville.
For me the one big thing is that almost everything centers around church and if you don't attend you are ostracized for it. Ive never ever lived somewhere that religion rules life like it does here. I also find the schools to be subpar from research and what colleagues with students in them have told me. I will soon have to worry about that as I'm pregnant. I never thought I'd homeschool but its looking like a possibility especially because all the private schools I've found are religion based.
I'm also a big proponent of animal rights and this place is just appalling. I've been volunteering at the shelter for almost a year and between the ridiculous red tape from higher ups and the lack of penalties for animal crime(puppy mill bust back to selling the day he is released?! are you kidding me?!)makes me extremely depressed and angry. On the plus side I feel that Greenville needs more people like me coming from other areas to ever get its act together so I at least feel like I'm helping.
We don't attend church and have had very similar experiences to yours. I have many stories of how our faith (or lake thereof) has had a negative influence on our lives here, from a coworker who never once communicated with me after I told him I wasn't Christian (he asked) to a brick being thrown at our house. I have other stories that blow my mind.
And for a churchgoer to try to discredit your experience is a bit like when you hear a white person claim they know what it's like to be a minority. You are most definitely in the minority here in Greenville if you do not attend a Christian church. I know many people just attend out of tradition, or for social reasons, but they do nonetheless go to church on Sunday.
Nearly ALL of my neighbors attend church every Sunday, and many go other times throughout the week.
Our landlord when we first moved here suggested a couple of more liberal churches we could go to even though she knew we weren't Christian. She said that's by far the best way to meet people.
I have found the meetup group situations to be a bit forced and awkward as far as making friends go. We have had better luck being regulars at places where people like us go.
But being a non-Christian here has most definitely presented many challenges for us, socially and professionally.
When I started my new job, with a Fortune 500 company, in the Upstate in 2007, about five minutes into my first day, I was approached by a hardcore fundamentalist who was newly reporting to me, and asked if I'd found a church down here yet. She immediately went into a recruiting speech trying to get me to join her church. It took three words for me to shut her down. "Oh, we're Catholic". I may as well have been the devil after that.
We don't attend church and have had very similar experiences to yours. I have many stories of how our faith (or lake thereof) has had a negative influence on our lives here, from a coworker who never once communicated with me after I told him I wasn't Christian (he asked) to a brick being thrown at our house. I have other stories that blow my mind.
And for a churchgoer to try to discredit your experience is a bit like when you hear a white person claim they know what it's like to be a minority. You are most definitely in the minority here in Greenville if you do not attend a Christian church. I know many people just attend out of tradition, or for social reasons, but they do nonetheless go to church on Sunday.
Nearly ALL of my neighbors attend church every Sunday, and many go other times throughout the week.
Our landlord when we first moved here suggested a couple of more liberal churches we could go to even though she knew we weren't Christian. She said that's by far the best way to meet people.
I have found the meetup group situations to be a bit forced and awkward as far as making friends go. We have had better luck being regulars at places where people like us go.
But being a non-Christian here has most definitely presented many challenges for us, socially and professionally.
No offense Art, but if you are as antagonistic in real life as you are on these boards, I sense the brick at your house was for way more than not being religious. OK, maybe antagonistic is a bit extreme, but it seems that you lecture. A lot. and that you eagerly jump to conclusions and judgments about folks. That's not the way we roll in the south, to be honest. I have found that here in the south, if you try to force your opinion on others, then you will be disliked, regardless of your religious affiliation (or lack thereof).
And for the record, I'm not very loud about my faith. So your rationale doesn't hold water. Unless you asked me, you'd probably not know that I'm a regular churchgoer beyond the fact that I try to enact those qualities that Christ tells us are important. But otherwise, I am mum. If someone mentions wanting to find a church, I will mention my own. I don't care if you don't go to church. I don't care if you are heathen. It's not my place to judge. I'm friends with everybody who is friendly and respectful to me.
No offense Art, but if you are as antagonistic in real life as you are on these boards, I sense the brick at your house was for way more than not being religious. OK, maybe antagonistic is a bit extreme, but it seems that you lecture. A lot. and that you eagerly jump to conclusions and judgments about folks. That's not the way we roll in the south, to be honest. I have found that here in the south, if you try to force your opinion on others, then you will be disliked, regardless of your religious affiliation (or lack thereof).
And for the record, I'm not very loud about my faith. So your rationale doesn't hold water. Unless you asked me, you'd probably not know that I'm a regular churchgoer beyond the fact that I try to enact those qualities that Christ tells us are important. But otherwise, I am mum. If someone mentions wanting to find a church, I will mention my own. I don't care if you don't go to church. I don't care if you are heathen. It's not my place to judge. I'm friends with everybody who is friendly and respectful to me.
Very well said! The "in your face Bible thumpers" in the South stereotype is way overplayed. Yes, church is part of life for many people in the South, and certainly in Greenville. But anytime someone here suggests that almost everyone in Greenville goes to church, I immediately know that they are someone with an agenda.
First of all, not even half of the people in Greenville go to church on Sunday. The truth is, most people in Greenville DON'T go to church. And despite what some people on these message boards say, very few of the ones who do will be in your face about it. I have no doubt that some people will be very outspoken about their Christianity, but that isn't unique to Greenville by any means. Being asked where you go to church happens all over the country, not just in the south. I have friends who moved to Connecticut, and have had several people who asked them if they have found a church yet. But of course, being asked that in CT is considered being friendly, whereas in SC it's the sign that people are forcing religion down others' throats. :roll eyes:
Some people, regardless of where you live, are going to be more outspoken about topics like religion, politics, and sex. I had a friend who was treated poorly in DC because he said he is a Republican. Another acquaintance of mine was disrespected in California because he is a black man dating a white person. For people who have traveled some, it shouldn't be surprising that isolated incidents like this occur everywhere. But to portray them as occurrences which only happen in Greenville, or are somehow worse in Greenville, is ludicrous.
Some people on this forum act like it is crime or something to be religious and go to church. I never can figure out why. I also can't figure out why these same people lump religious people with conservatism. I'm liberal and have attended church throughout my life.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Art123
Nearly ALL of my neighbors attend church every Sunday, and many go other times throughout the week.
And what's wrong with that? If they want to attend church every day then they have that right. Who are you to tell them otherwise?
No offense Art, but if you are as antagonistic in real life as you are on these boards, I sense the brick at your house was for way more than not being religious. OK, maybe antagonistic is a bit extreme, but it seems that you lecture. A lot. and that you eagerly jump to conclusions and judgments about folks. That's not the way we roll in the south, to be honest. I have found that here in the south, if you try to force your opinion on others, then you will be disliked, regardless of your religious affiliation (or lack thereof).
And for the record, I'm not very loud about my faith. So your rationale doesn't hold water. Unless you asked me, you'd probably not know that I'm a regular churchgoer beyond the fact that I try to enact those qualities that Christ tells us are important. But otherwise, I am mum. If someone mentions wanting to find a church, I will mention my own. I don't care if you don't go to church. I don't care if you are heathen. It's not my place to judge. I'm friends with everybody who is friendly and respectful to me.
My point is that when asked about faith, or when it is brought up, you are good to go. You have the "right" answer.
I do not.
My choice (when religion comes up - which is often) is to either 1) lie to the person and avoid any negative judgement, or 2) be honest and risk being judged, which happens here. A lot.
Once, I was at a neighborhood event, and after avoiding this one guys repeated leading statements about religion, he finally just point blank asked me if I was a Christian. I replied, "No, I am not." He backed up, turned around and walked away. End of conversation. End of (possible) relationship. I was not in the club, not worth another word or another second.
Nice personal BS psychoanalysis, by the way. Is that what Christ teaches? Not your place to judge? It seems like you did just that right on the same post that you claim not to. Have you walked in an agnostic's shoes?
No? Then don't claim to know what it's like. Because you do not know. You can not know.
See how that "rationale" actually does hold water there?
I have never forced my opinion on any one. I have opinions. And mostly keep them to myself unless someone is saying something foolish on this forum.
The OP asked about others experiences. A couple of us have expressed ours, i.e. not being a Christian.
So unless you have experience with that, just state your own experience and move on.
Once, I was at a neighborhood event, and after avoiding this one guys repeated leading statements about religion, he finally just point blank asked me if I was a Christian. I replied, "No, I am not." He backed up, turned around and walked away. End of conversation. End of (possible) relationship. I was not in the club, not worth another word or another second.
That's an unfortunate situation. I don't see how that is supposed to reflect poorly on Greenville though. If I said that I was driving in a city, and a bad driver rear-ended me and caused damage to my car, would it be fair to conclude that that city has a lot of bad drivers? Likewise, would it be accurate to use that situation to imply that such accidents don't happen in every other city too?
That's an unfortunate situation. I don't see how that is supposed to reflect poorly on Greenville though. If I said that I was driving in a city, and a bad driver rear-ended me and caused damage to my car, would it be fair to conclude that that city has a lot of bad drivers? Likewise, would it be accurate to use that situation to imply that such accidents don't happen in every other city too?
I moved here recently. I'm relaying my experiences. The OP can go from there, realize anecdotes, make judgements, etc.
But if you must try to defend Greenville...
I've never had that experience anywhere other than here, the "buckle of the Bible Belt.". I've had similar experiences here as well, but never anywhere else I've lived in the previous 30-something years of life in other places.
But, yes, there are bad drivers everywhere. You are correct there.
Are most people here judgmental Christian zealots? No. But Christianity and church are a big part of life here. Much more so than anywhere else I have lived. And that has had an effect on some of us recent transplants in a negative way.
Jus an observation from a couple of people. No need for all the defensive responses.
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