Considering relocating to KY---Religion an issue? (Lexington, Louisville: wages, live in, vs.)

[mdawg]

Originally Posted by beilart

I voted for Obama but don't have a sticker. I do have a Grateful Dead plastic thingie on the front of my Yaris. Ya think that will matter?

Maybe if you got it painted in Camo it would "blend" in here more...lol. Just kidding a lot of people drive Yaris' and other small cars, especially in Louisville, not so much Lexington, and I can't speak for the other "cities" in Kentucky, I haven't really noticed. Out in the country you might get some funny looks but its whatever, they like their trucks, you like your Yaris. There is actually a Smart Car dealership in Louisville and a Mini dealership being contructed there as well.

[Peter1948]

Originally Posted by goobersmoochers

Never mind, I found it. For those who are interested: Wikipedia says "The OMB defines a Metropolitan Statistical Area as one or more adjacent counties or county equivalents that have at least one urban core area of at least 50,000 population, plus adjacent territory that has a high degree of social and economic integration with the core as measured by commuting ties."

It seems this was discussed somewhere on this board before, but it's good info to know. I truly did not realize how BIG Louisville is!

Most people do not, not even Louisville's own residents. Louisville is very much a city that thinks and acts smaller than it is. And certainly it is perceived as much smaller than it is nationally, when it is actually a medium sized to large city.

[goobersmoochers]

I think that's a good thing. All the amenities of a large city, but with a small(er) town attitude and atmosphere. I like it!

[Fishworthy]

Thinking about retiring to Benton ourselves real soon! We love to fish, especially for crappie. Found a place close to boat ramp on Kentucky Lake. We keep to outselves, we are not outgoing at all, white, middle class and retired! Anyone out there see any problems for us??

[tomocox]

Originally Posted by Fishworthy

Thinking about retiring to Benton ourselves real soon! We love to fish, especially for crappie. Found a place close to boat ramp on Kentucky Lake. We keep to outselves, we are not outgoing at all, white, middle class and retired! Anyone out there see any problems for us??

nope, even if you were orange, no class and busting your butt, you'd be fine

[petitecraftygeek]

If you're out in the country of KY, good luck. You're probably not going to have as much trouble on either of the two islands in Kentucky - Lexington and Louisville. I've lived in both for a total of nearly a decade - currently reside in Louisville - and am not exactly religious. That being said, I don't feel comfortable broadcasting my lack of religion. There are parts of Louisville I can't go to without getting funny looks, which I'm guessing have to do with my lack of being Black or White (can't think of any other reason.. I dress "normal" and can't be mistaken for looking like anyone else). Yeah, people actually stare.

Anyway, you'll often hear people say "bless your heart" or "God bless" and things of that nature. You'll hear people invite you to their church. From my personal experiences, I found I had more encounters with atheist and agnostic folk in Lexington, but not by much. So long as you just avoid talking about religion, you ought to be ok. Now, the country is a whole different land. Good luck!

[Mr. In-Between]

I've been living in a relatively rural area for a year now, in Central Kentucky, and while it certainly is an odd experience for me, I wouldn't say it's actually a problem. When people ask me what church we go to, and I say we don't, I often get some really funny looks - as though they asked me what our favorite food is, and I said, "Oh, we don't eat." I have noticed that sometimes people will actually draw away from me, as though they just realized there's something very wrong about me - like maybe I'm going to explode or something, or suddenly sprout horns and a tail and stab them with a pitchfork - but I don't really consider that a problem, because anyone who is that intolerant is someone whose company I'm not going to miss very much anyway. It's actually kind of comical when it happens, too. I get a good laugh out of it.

It is a peculiar adjustment for me, though. I'm not used to being around so much religion. Most of them seem like fine people, and are relatively harmless, but it just seems strange to be driving down the street and see gangs of people marching up and down the sidewalk with great big giant signs warning everyone about Jesus. The "recruitment drives" are unusual to me, as well - the colorful brochures welcoming me to the community, and urging me to join their church in case I haven't found one yet. Not being a religious person, I don't understand that at all (I don't get why any one church would be better than another church; god is god, right?), but I do genuinely appreciate the effort they're making, and respect them for the dedication with which they're trying to communicate to me a message that they think is important. It's just not my cup of tea, and most of the people I meet seem to be pretty accepting of it.

I have to remember that for them, I'm just as far outside of their frame of reference as they are to me. So I just try to be as respectful of that as I would like them to be to me. And for the most part, that seems to work out quite well.

[CraigCreek]

Originally Posted by Albert_The_Crocodile

I've been living in a relatively rural area for a year now, in Central Kentucky, and while it certainly is an odd experience for me, I wouldn't say it's actually a problem. When people ask me what church we go to, and I say we don't, I often get some really funny looks - as though they asked me what our favorite food is, and I said, "Oh, we don't eat." I have noticed that sometimes people will actually draw away from me, as though they just realized there's something very wrong about me - like maybe I'm going to explode or something, or suddenly sprout horns and a tail and stab them with a pitchfork - but I don't really consider that a problem, because anyone who is that intolerant is someone whose company I'm not going to miss very much anyway. It's actually kind of comical when it happens, too. I get a good laugh out of it.

It is a peculiar adjustment for me, though. I'm not used to being around so much religion. Most of them seem like fine people, and are relatively harmless, but it just seems strange to be driving down the street and see gangs of people marching up and down the sidewalk with great big giant signs warning everyone about Jesus. The "recruitment drives" are unusual to me, as well - the colorful brochures welcoming me to the community, and urging me to join their church in case I haven't found one yet. Not being a religious person, I don't understand that at all (I don't get why any one church would be better than another church; god is god, right?), but I do genuinely appreciate the effort they're making, and respect them for the dedication with which they're trying to communicate to me a message that they think is important. It's just not my cup of tea, and most of the people I meet seem to be pretty accepting of it.

I have to remember that for them, I'm just as far outside of their frame of reference as they are to me. So I just try to be as respectful of that as I would like them to be to me. And for the most part, that seems to work out quite well.

Just curious - exactly where have you seen these "gangs of people marching up and down...etc"?? I've lived in Central Kentucky for over 50 years, and have never seen anything resembling this!

I have seen church-sponsored floats in Lexington's Fourth of July parade, church festivals and carnivals, and of course the ubiquitous church bake sales and rummage sales - but "marchers with great big giant signs warning everyone about Jesus"?? Unless you're referring to the thankfully rare visits from the nutcases at the out-of-state Westboro Baptist Church (Fred Phelps's bunch), I have never seen or heard of anything remotely resembling this sort of activity in Central Kentucky - or for that matter, anywhere else in Kentucky.

[Mr. In-Between]

Downtown Danville, Craig. It seems to be a regular Saturday afternoon effort. They usually cover all 4 corners of the intersection of Main and 4th, by the US Bank and the Arts Center, and branch out up and down the streets from that intersection.

I'm not sure what denomination they represent, because usually when I'm going through that intersection I'm pretty focused on the traffic, and can't pay a lot of attention to their signs. I believe it may be the same group that goes door to door quite a bit in that part of town, because I live near the campus and see that group quite a bit. They dress the same, and a couple of the guys look familiar.

I've never spoken with any of them, but now that we're talking about it, I think I'll make it a point to go over and chat with some of them next time I get the opportunity, just to find out what their story is. I don't think they're associated with the Fred Phelps crew, because they just don't have that wacko look about them. They seem like really decent people. I'm obviously not a big fan of religion as an institution, but I do admire faith and have a lot of respect for people who stand up and represent their principles. I'd be curious to know more about them.

[InLondon]

Originally Posted by Albert_The_Crocodile

I've been living in a relatively rural area for a year now, in Central Kentucky, and while it certainly is an odd experience for me, I wouldn't say it's actually a problem. When people ask me what church we go to, and I say we don't, I often get some really funny looks - as though they asked me what our favorite food is, and I said, "Oh, we don't eat." I have noticed that sometimes people will actually draw away from me, as though they just realized there's something very wrong about me - like maybe I'm going to explode or something, or suddenly sprout horns and a tail and stab them with a pitchfork - but I don't really consider that a problem, because anyone who is that intolerant is someone whose company I'm not going to miss very much anyway. It's actually kind of comical when it happens, too. I get a good laugh out of it.

It is a peculiar adjustment for me, though. I'm not used to being around so much religion. Most of them seem like fine people, and are relatively harmless, but it just seems strange to be driving down the street and see gangs of people marching up and down the sidewalk with great big giant signs warning everyone about Jesus. The "recruitment drives" are unusual to me, as well - the colorful brochures welcoming me to the community, and urging me to join their church in case I haven't found one yet. Not being a religious person, I don't understand that at all (I don't get why any one church would be better than another church; god is god, right?), but I do genuinely appreciate the effort they're making, and respect them for the dedication with which they're trying to communicate to me a message that they think is important. It's just not my cup of tea, and most of the people I meet seem to be pretty accepting of it.

I have to remember that for them, I'm just as far outside of their frame of reference as they are to me. So I just try to be as respectful of that as I would like them to be to me. And for the most part, that seems to work out quite well.

I've lived in Kentucky my whole life. No one asks what church you go to. I never get that kind of question. Lots of people do not go to church here. There is such an odd misconception about the Southern United States and religon. It is not odd or strange to not go to church. People love to exaggerate, that's for sure.