Are atheists welcome in Texas (Howe: cities, places, single)

[catman]

I agree, that is a good provision! Never heard that before.

[doctorjef]

I'm not sure, but the provision may have been related to the anti-clericalism that attended the Mexican Revolution; the 1824 constitution of Mexico almost surely had the same provision and the original stated intent of the anglo Texians and hispanic Tejanos was to have constitutional government restored within the territories of Mexico -- one of the first banners used in the rebellion the formal declaration of independence from Mexico was the Mexican tricolour with the date 1824 in the centre white, representing the date of the legal constitution that Santa Ana had usurped. Notwithstanding the participation of some revolutionary priests like Padre Hidalgo in the Mexican Revolution, the Church in Mexico was largely an instrument of Spanish colonialism and exploitation, if not virtual enslavement, of the Indian population.

Sorry for the tangent.

[theloneranger]

As long as you aren't Californian no one will care.

Yes, people do ask "what church do you go to?". They're only trying to make polite conversation, and "We don't go to church" is a perfectly acceptable answer."

There are a quite a few church-related activities, but it usually doesn't dominate anyone's life. In small-town Texas the town may shut down early on Wednesdays and open late on Sunday, but it doesn't run anyone's life really, unless they're a preacher.

[doctorjef]

Actually, in all my years in Texas I don't think that as an adult I was ever asked what church I went to, unless I'd already volunteered enough information for it to be clear that I do in fact go to church. The only partial exception to this that I can recall were two or three somewhat intrusive Baptist seminarians in Ft Worth, with whom I worked at a small private psychiatric hospital at one point when I was in grad school. They did tend to give unsolicited opinions, one of them in a quite head-up-ass self-righteous sort of way. Obviously, one can run onto that sort of person anywhere.

[TexasHorseLady]

Originally Posted by doctorjef

Actually, in all my years in Texas I don't think that as an adult I was ever asked what church I went to, unless I'd already volunteered enough information for it to be clear that I do in fact go to church. The only partial exception to this that I can recall were two or three somewhat intrusive Baptist seminarians in Ft Worth, with whom I worked at a small private psychiatric hospital at one point when I was in grad school. They did tend to give unsolicited opinions, one of them in a quite head-up-ass self-righteous sort of way. Obviously, one can run onto that sort of person anywhere.

One can, indeed. And their focus isn't always religion, because that's not what it's about, really. They're just that kind of person and would be so about whatever their particular thing is.

[texasdiver]

Originally Posted by doctorjef

Actually, in all my years in Texas I don't think that as an adult I was ever asked what church I went to, unless I'd already volunteered enough information for it to be clear that I do in fact go to church. The only partial exception to this that I can recall were two or three somewhat intrusive Baptist seminarians in Ft Worth, with whom I worked at a small private psychiatric hospital at one point when I was in grad school. They did tend to give unsolicited opinions, one of them in a quite head-up-ass self-righteous sort of way. Obviously, one can run onto that sort of person anywhere.

My wife and I moved to the Waco area 5 years ago. We moved here for my wife to do her medical residency. Most of her fellow residents were male and most of their wives were busybody stay home mom types who were always organizing things. They had a resident spouse alliance which was basically a social club for the wives but they always gave pro-forma invitations to us few guys who were married to women doctors. Even though we never showed up to their afternoon play date things.

I remember one of the first things I got was an email questionnaire from the group for their directory. Address. birthdates, kids names, that sort of thing. But two of the very first questions were "where do you worship? and "do you have any prayer requests"

I remember writing back: "Where do we worship? We are actually a multifaith family. For myself I would have to say the tool department of Home Depot. My wife is more partial to Nordstrom."

I soon found myself dropped off their email list.

Church attendance is definitely higher hear than in many other states. I think that's generally a characteristic of the south. It's been my observation that a great many families haul their kids to church more because they think it is good for their kids than because they have any deep-seated beliefs themselves. A lot of business types also use church for business networking. If you sell cars or insurance or whatever, attending a big church is one sure way to increase your business.

But no one is going to bother you here for lack of church attendance. As for being an athiest? I would categorize myself as such and it just never comes up. What church do you attend? Yes, I've been asked that. Around her it's like asking what school you attended or what you do for a living. But no one goes deeper than that into what do you actually believe.

[doctorjef]

Waco specifically is one of those places that has been described as the buckle of the Bible belt. Abilene and Lubbock have likewise so described.

[catman]

Waco is the home of Baylor University, a Southern Baptist institution, so one would expect it to be rather heavily religious. I'd say the buckle of the Bible Belt would be farther east. Waco could be one of the holes, though.

texasdiver: I wouldn't have expected those people to have had much of a sense of humor!

[TexasNick]

Originally Posted by texasdiver

I remember writing back: "Where do we worship? We are actually a multifaith family. For myself I would have to say the tool department of Home Depot. My wife is more partial to Nordstrom."

I soon found myself dropped off their email list.

Ah, see...they should not have dropped you from the list because of your beliefs. If anything, I'd love to have someone like you and your wife in my group of Christians. Anyways, that's what Jesus would have done.

[TT Dave]

Originally Posted by doctorjef

Waco specifically is one of those places that has been described as the buckle of the Bible belt. Abilene and Lubbock have likewise so described.

Yeah, I read a list on the internet one time that listed the top 10 most conservative, primarily Christian-oriented cities in the U.S.A. and Abilene and Lubbock were both on it. Here in Abilene we have 3 small private Christian universities and there are a lot of churches of every Christian denomination all over town so that's probably very true.