atheists allowed? (California: public schools, rooftop, live in) - City-Data Forum

ladymacbeth2010 · 08-27-2010, 07:37 AM

Hello there,

I'm the mother of two little boys. I currently live in a major city on the west coast. My husband and I are considering a job offer in KC. We are very intrigued by KC and believe it could be a great place for us.

We are atheists. I'm wondering what life would be like for us in KC. We are normal, law abiding, conforming people who wouldn't be shouting our beliefs from the rooftop...I suppose my main concern applies to the general culture of the KC area. Are my children going to have any problems in school because they don't attend church? Are we going to be ostracized by our neighbors because we're not believers? I am assuming the general vibe of the place will be more conservative than we are used to and I'm fine with that.

Any advice or experiences would be greatly appreciated.

smoking357 · 08-27-2010, 07:56 AM

Kansas tries to teach Creationism in public schools.

Seriously.

MoNative34 · 08-27-2010, 07:56 AM

Like you said, you're not going to make a big deal about it. Your neighbors probably won't either. I think you'll be fine.

misplaced1 · 08-27-2010, 08:07 AM

I spent 2 years in a small town in nw Missouri and aside from one time we had door to door church people come by (we had that in small town California every year also), there was no issue or topic of religion brought up. My kids went to school and got along fine. We aren't atheist but we never attended church either.

aragx6 · 08-27-2010, 08:10 AM

They haven't run me out of town yet ...

skrizzle · 08-27-2010, 08:45 AM

I'm atheist, several people I know are.. there are no problems at all.

brewcrew1000 · 08-27-2010, 09:00 AM

I'm atheist as well and i haven't had anything rammed down my throat.

I am about to be roommates with a student who is going to school to become a minister. I think a reality show is in the works!!! Should be a fun time though regardless, he's a great person

kcmo · 08-27-2010, 09:52 AM

I'm atheist and never had a problem although it's not like I really go around telling people that. KC is FULL of churches, they are a huge part of the built environment there, but the city doesn't really have a "bible belt" feel to it like some parts of the midwest and south. I think most people are pretty open but again, when I'm around christians, especially die hard christians, I just go with the flow. They don't have to know that I'm not religious.

skrizzle · 08-27-2010, 12:23 PM

Of course MO as a whole seems to have religious freaks... the new strip club bans that will basically shut them all down. A judge just refused to to stop the ban from taking effect even though it's unconstitutional.

CrownVic95 · 08-27-2010, 01:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ladymacbeth2010

Hello there,

I'm the mother of two little boys. I currently live in a major city on the west coast. My husband and I are considering a job offer in KC. We are very intrigued by KC and believe it could be a great place for us.

We are atheists. I'm wondering what life would be like for us in KC. We are normal, law abiding, conforming people who wouldn't be shouting our beliefs from the rooftop...I suppose my main concern applies to the general culture of the KC area. Are my children going to have any problems in school because they don't attend church? Are we going to be ostracized by our neighbors because we're not believers? I am assuming the general vibe of the place will be more conservative than we are used to and I'm fine with that.

Any advice or experiences would be greatly appreciated.

My wife and I moved from the Bay Area to the KC area with small children first in 1976. There are major differences - and most of them are in the plus column for KC for most people with a young family.

But the religion thing is there and one of KC's minuses compared to the west coast. I agree with most others here that it will not be a big problem if you mostly keep your views to yourself. I wouldn't let it make or break your decision.

I personally had very little problem with it, but my wife was bothered more when we lived there and I get the impression it tends to be a bigger issue among women. I could be wrong - that's just my impression based on my own experience. I remember she made a good friend there who was quite religious and it wasn't long before that woman asked if she could take our 7 year old to church with her. We talked about it and my wife ended up going along with the idea for a handful of times. Looking back, I can't believe we did that, because neither of us would give it a moment's consideration today. Anyway, just mentioning it because that kind of thing is more likely to come up there than here.

It's normally a simple, if not always easy, matter to put your foot down and get evangelists out of your face. Except, perhaps, in the workplace because there is a lot more at stake. My only serious concern if I were you would be about that. I would just look for any red flags that may have presented themselves in the interview process. I've had that happen a time or two and I learned to run the other way when they did. If none did and everything else gives you good vibes, I'd go for it as we both know that there are things about the west coast that you won't miss at all.