Are people tolerant of Catholics in Nashville? (Knoxville: high school, living in)

[robertpolyglot]

Originally Posted by sumwunzma

My family is moving to Fairview and there isn't a Catholic church there at all. We're from New Orleans (a Catholic city!) and so being Catholic isn't just about church - it's a cultural thing too. I've heard stories about people telling Catholics they're going to hell in the outskirts of Nashville. I hope that's changed because we're sure not changing our religion! The coastal south (Biloxi, Mobile, Pensacola, etc.) is mostly Catholic because most of us can trace our roots back to the same few families who settled in these parts! I've always judged people on their behavior and how they treat others, not where they pray or even IF they pray.

Very hick and very unenlightened. Seriously (to the bold part)?

[#Littledog]

Originally Posted by sumwunzma

I've always judged people on their behavior and how they treat others, not where they pray or even IF they pray.

Amen to that!

[bobtn]

It isn't a problem. I grew up Roman Catholic, and graduated from Fordham University. Have been to funerals, both Catholic and other faiths down here, with no problems at all.

[Tunky]

Originally Posted by sumwunzma

My family is moving to Fairview and there isn't a Catholic church there at all. We're from New Orleans (a Catholic city!) and so being Catholic isn't just about church - it's a cultural thing too. I've heard stories about people telling Catholics they're going to hell in the outskirts of Nashville. I hope that's changed because we're sure not changing our religion! The coastal south (Biloxi, Mobile, Pensacola, etc.) is mostly Catholic because most of us can trace our roots back to the same few families who settled in these parts! I've always judged people on their behavior and how they treat others, not where they pray or even IF they pray.

GAH! I call those kinds of people "The Church Of Who Would Jesus Hate?"

In my search for a church I found one that openly listed who they hate on their homepage.

[hml1976]

I don't think there's open discrimination towards Catholics in Nashville. I'm Irish Catholic and have heard some comments along the lines of "oh well, my daughter in law is nice but you know, she's Catholic." or "Well, Catholics aren't Christians." I'm not even sure what that means.

There definitely is not a Catholic culture in Nashville like NYC or Boston. Catholics are not a part of the religious scene in Nashville if that makes sense. But you're not going to see outright discrimination either.

[JoAnn5]

Ah do buhlieve that Scahhhlett O'Hara was Catholic. Fiddledy-dee... If it was good enough for Scahhhlett.....

Seriously, since the South was settled by so many good Irish-Catholics, the religion has been around as long as any other. There is no discrimination here in real life....maybe on some of the stereotypical films.... Mostly we believe in "Live and let live".

[robertpolyglot]

Originally Posted by bobtn

It isn't a problem. I grew up Roman Catholic, and graduated from Fordham University. Have been to funerals, both Catholic and other faiths down here, with no problems at all.

Right on, so not only did you "import" Catholicism, you "imported" The Bronx. Just kidding, product of 16 years of Catholic school here...through college...

[robertpolyglot]

Originally Posted by JoAnn5

Seriously, since the South was settled by so many good Irish-Catholics, the religion has been around as long as any other. There is no discrimination here in real life....maybe on some of the stereotypical films.... Mostly we believe in "Live and let live".

Was it really? Learn something new every day. I always thought the population base was English and Germanic Protestants, for the most part. I do know that Birmingham has a sizable Italian population which shocked me and that there has always been a large Catholic presence, complete with many parochial schools through high school. Also, as I said earlier, the coastal Gulf South has a large Catholic presence.

I once ran a thread on "Why don't people consider Catholics Christians?" It raged on and on, with the nearby Protestants (Luth, Episc) defending us and the more fundamentalist types slinging mud at us. Oh well. If people only realized we have the OT and the NT as our ONLY scriptures, everything would be cool...but they have to dig up other crap.

Still, I don't think Catholicism in the South is an issue...unless you live in the middle of nowhere next to Jed and Granny Clampitt....Just kidding.

[hml1976]

Nashville wasn't settled by Irish Catholics. There are a few Irish Catholics in the South East (near the coast) but TN was all English and German Protestants as was the vast majority of the south.

From wikipedia "While only 2% of Southerners were Irish Catholics, they concentrated in a few medium-size cities where they were highly visible, such as Charleston, Savannah and New Orleans. "

robertpolyglot - my grandfather (and some uncles) went to Fordham Prep and Fordham. My father and his brother decided to rebel and went to Notre Dame

[pucabear]

I was born and raised in Southern Indiana and can't believe you had such a bad experience being a Catholic. Hmmmm, there must of been some talk going on about me in high school...being a Christian and dating a Catholic boy.

In all seriousness, I teach in a public school and work with Christians, Catholics and more....never any issues. FYI: I teach in a small town in Sumner County.