Moving to Indianapolis/Carmel as non-religious family (low crime, school)

[W & C]

Originally Posted by Emigrations

The smaller towns in Indiana I've been to seem very conservative. I was out near New Castle last summer and saw a billboard saying if a man has long hair he brings shame to his family. I've also seen lots of the "no government zoning" signs in yards during election season. Still, small towns virtually anywhere except perhaps rural New England are going to be quite conservative. Carmel is conservative, but it's more country club Republican than Duck Dynasty.

So true, on both accounts. There are some rural parts of Pacific Northwest that are also liberal.

[masters1]

Originally Posted by on_the_move_again

I have a question about the role religion plays in everyday life in Carmel/Indianapolis area.

We understand that many people will be religious, and that's not a problem, as long as it doesn't have negative effect on our family, especially our kids. We lived in Oklahoma in the past, and within 15 minutes of meeting a new person in any social situation, the question of which church we attend immediately popped up.

We like to spend a lot of our family time attending kids activities such as baseball and soccer games, and our experience in Oklahoma was that 90% of the conversation both adults and kids had was in some ways related to church, youth groups and bible studies.

We want to make sure that our kids will not be judged and ostracized in school/sports activities for not going to church, and not attending bible studies and church youth groups.

If we can expect something similar to what we experienced in Oklahoma, we don't think moving to Indianapolis area would be a good choice for us. We would appreciate any input, as we're trying to make a final decision about accepting a job offer, and moving to Indianapolis.

Thanks

I've lived here for 18 years, am not a very religious person and have never found that to be an issue. Politics and sports seem to be the main conversations around here.

[ruascott]

Indiana folks would consider it very rude to ever ask another about their religion or politics. Just not common at all.

Also understand, Carmel is a transplant city....full of people from all over the country.

[ruascott]

Originally Posted by on_the_move_again

I wanted to know if the talk about church is a major part of everyday life, even in non church related situations (such as work and kids activities), and from the answers so far that seems to be the case.

I understand that nobody will try to make me go to church, but it looks like I would be pretty much the only person that's not the part of some church group or some conversation about it. So I can invision going to a soccer/baseball practice/game, and hear only talk about church, and not conversation about everyday topics that are not church related. That has happened before in Oklahoma, and some of the answer I see on this thread really remind me of that time.

My main concern is about how my kids are going to be accepted as non religious. I remember my 8 y/o son coming home all upset because his "friend" from school told him he was going to hell for not attending church.

I don't wanna put them in that kind of situation again, and while they can understand if one kid says something like that, being told the same crap by a bunch of kids will have a negative effect on them despite us trying to explain that behavior to them.

This outs flat not true whatsoever. There are more people that don't go to church than that do, particularly around Indy. There are tons of social activities and groups that are have nothing to do with religion

Also politically, Indiana, particularly Indianapolis, is not comparable to Oklahoma. Think country club republicans...not Focus on the Family republicans

[annm78]

Religious talk has already begun for my kindergartener. We've had a few discussions about how "some people believe".

Lucky for those of you who don't have experience being asked about your religion. I feel like it comes up about once a month. I had a neighbor try to convert me under the guise of a friendly lunch and I often talk to people who ask what church I go to. When I tell them I don't go to church they invite me to theirs, but it usually ends there (thankfully!).

I know a lot of non-religious folks here, but it's taken time.

[Serious Conversation]

Originally Posted by ruascott

This outs flat not true whatsoever. There are more people that don't go to church than that do, particularly around Indy. There are tons of social activities and groups that are have nothing to do with religion

Also politically, Indiana, particularly Indianapolis, is not comparable to Oklahoma. Think country club republicans...not Focus on the Family republicans

When you get out in the country and rural areas, it is pretty common to see Confederate flags, trailers, trashy property, etc. Yes, the affluent suburbs of Indianapolis are country club Republican areas. Small town Indiana is probably not that different from small town Oklahoma.

[Toxic Toast]

Originally Posted by Emigrations

When you get out in the country and rural areas, it is pretty common to see Confederate flags, trailers, trashy property, etc. Yes, the affluent suburbs of Indianapolis are country club Republican areas. Small town Indiana is probably not that different from small town Oklahoma.

I've been driving through rural Indiana for many years. While much of rural Indiana is not my cup of tea; I can count on one hand the number of times I have seen a confederate flag.

[restorationconsultant]

The Indianapolis metro area is pretty progressive. Organized religion everywhere seems to be in general decline and that is evidenced by the declining congregations in may churches and the empty churches converted to condos or other uses. A lot of my business these days seems to be with people buying defunct churches and converting them to some other use.

You will meet the occasional "religiously obsessed" person but most people are pretty low key about their religious leanings, or lack thereof. The recent backlash over RFRA has shown that Indiana, in general, is far more tolerant and the "religious zealots" insistent on imposing 'their view' on the state are small in numbers.

Most people are far more concerned about paying their bills than imposing religious views on others.
I wouldn't worry about it, just educate your kids about understanding that there are a few "intolerant people" out there and they will be fine.

[casualsurfer]

Lived in Carmel for a decade and never had that question raised in any of the school activities or playground time.

[Zig'sbird]

There is an old saying that rings very true here in Indy - "there are two things not to discuss outside of your family: religion and politics." I only discuss this with friends that I have known for years. Well, unless I run into a religious blow hard.

Anyway, for sporting teams/leagues/events it's really not brought up. The best example I have is our wrestling team/club. There is a group of parents who all go to the same church. For obvious reasons they are a tight group however my wife and I are always welcome are the only time religion was brought was when my wife asked them. Outside of that religion has not been mentioned. The only way we learned that they went to the same group was a picture of them on Facebook. Instead our group is cemented by our love of our children and our love of the sport.

Outside of wrestling, the other sports are the same: no one is preaching. Like was said earlier you are more likely to learn a person's political leaning before you do their religious leanings.

BTW, since you are coming out of Oklahoma if you are interested in wrestling send me a pm and I'll give you the lay of the land. At some schools it's a year long program. At our school the wrestlers only get about a month off.