Twin Cities accepting of atheists? (Minneapolis, St. Paul: neighborhood, school, university)

[Prple]

[SIZE=3]We are thinking about moving to St. Paul or Minneapolis and are wondering if the area is accepting of atheists? Do you think there would be any problems for us? Do you consider the people in the cities to be highly religious? Just curious. [/SIZE]

[moving123456]

Most people will not care. "What church do you go to?" is not a common question there like it is in the south. I don't think I was ever asked anything like that while living in the Twin Cities area, but I was asked more times than I can remember in just a single year in Charlotte.

[Camden Northsider]

Most atheists get stoned here - it's a little known dark secret about the Twin Cities metro area and who we consider to be acceptable newcomers here.

Haha! I'm just kidding of course. I cannot speak for some of the suburbs as I don't have knowledge of too many of them, but if you move to Minneapolis or St. Paul no one is going to care regardless (except possibly in very specific isolated situations). The cities are a very diverse area, there are many Moslems, Jewish persons, Bhuddists, Christians of all demoninations, agnostics, and atheists. St. Paul has very Catholic roots and feels a little more old-school/ traditional IMO than Minneapolis, but regardless it will not be an issue. In my own workplace there is not much if any talk of religion/ religious belief unless it's a conversation between two 'friends' that trust each other, but otherwise you don't hear about it and we actually don't 'celebrate'/ get time off for many of the religious holidays in order to be respectful of all faiths in our organization.

I have found that in the Midwest, in general, outwardly vocal Atheists tend to shoot themselves in the foot and be viewed by most Midwesterners as annoying rabble-rousers - I honestly don't think this has as much to do with non-acceptance of atheists but rather - and you'll have to excuse me a little bit here - many persons that tend to wear their Atheist pride as a badge of honor generally pass a lot of judgment upon and patronize anyone that is not atheist while espousing their beliefs (but then become outraged when Christians/ non-Atheists do the same). I'm kind of an apathetic agnostic but I have friends and family members that identify as Atheist - they just know that in many situations it would be very inappropriate and uncomfortable to bring up their beliefs in the course of conversation, and they do not take cues from their Christian counterparts and try to evangelize the "believers" to come to the "non-believer" side. Bottom line is, and what I am about to say is kind of a Midwestern mantra for probably a number of situations - how you choose to live your life is no one's business but your own.

[K-Luv]

St. Paul might assume that you are Catholic, but most will not bother to inquire if you actually are.

Minneapolis, for the most part, will not care either way as long as you don't push your views on them or try to change what they may already believe.

[JenLee]

I've never had anyone ask what my beliefs are unless we were in a specific conversation about religions. I think there is a lot of respect for personal and spiritual beliefs here; if you respect the right of others to believe what they wish, they will respect you for the same reason.

[kuan]

Yeah, this isn't like some small towns where someone notices if you're not in church.

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by Camden Northsider

Most atheists get stoned here - it's a little known dark secret about the Twin Cities metro area and who we consider to be acceptable newcomers here.

You realize this could be interpreted two very different ways, right? As in "Athiest newcomers get invited to all of the GOOD parties!"

[K-Luv]

Originally Posted by rcsteiner

You realize this could be interpreted two very different ways, right? As in "Athiest newcomers get invited to all of the GOOD parties!"

In a sense, this statement is correct.

[blaine61]

I grew up on the west bank near the university where there was alot of diversity and religion was not an issue there. I also taught in several places on the nothside and in the south by Lake Harriet and even over near Lake Calhoun as a substitute teacher. Every neighborhood has their own idea of what is acceptable,but as others have commented,if you are looking to to be very vocal about your religious preference,then expect to ruffle a few feathers.

[Minneapolitan]

In my 8 years of living here, I've never, ever been asked about what religion I practice (agnostic). And I feel comfortable telling people that I am. There are many agnostics and atheists in Minnesota. Check out this group:

mnatheists.org - Home

They also have podcasts on iTunes.