Are atheists welcome in Texas (Dallas, San Antonio: 2010, how much, live)

[jfre81]

Keep your beliefs and your dogma to yourself, even if it's the lack of it, and you'll be all right. This goes for everyone.

Matthew 6:5-6: "And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men....when thou prayest, enter into thy closet and when thou has shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret...."

I don't go to church. You don't have to either.

[BSL63087]

Originally Posted by jfre81

Keep your beliefs and your dogma to yourself, even if it's the lack of it, and you'll be all right. This goes for everyone.

Matthew 6:5-6: "And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men....when thou prayest, enter into thy closet and when thou has shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret...."

I don't go to church. You don't have to either.

I agree. I believe in God and whatnot, but I don't go to church. I don't think there's anything wrong with going if you are going for the right reasons but I just don't feel like it's necessary for me personally. I think most people pretty much keep it to themselves and don't try to push religion on you or anything. I don't like talking about it much because it can start up controversies.

I think you will be fine. I'm planning on moving to the Dallas area and I haven't even worried about it. It's the United States of America and you can do whatever you want.

[jfre81]

Whether or not I am an atheist depends on what a given individual's concept of God is - I could call nature and its balancing forces "God" as I might call the umpire at a baseball game "Blue." I believe in nature and its forces, so if I call it "God" then I believe in God, right?

I live just outside of the South Loop in Houston. About a month ago at my apartment we had some door-to-door kids trying to get me to hold my door open in 95-degree heat to help air condition the entire south side of Houston while he reads Bible verses to me. I have my own that I can read sitting down, in 74-degree comfort without having to constantly shove the cats away from the door while these kids earn some points for Jesus Camp or whatever. I politely declined, shut the door and have enough cash left after paying my light bill to order a pizza. Other than that I have had no close encounters with the evangelical kind in the city, but the next guy to knock on my door was the pizza dude and I was more than happy to give him my money. I was hungry.

Concerning the megachurches: I think the First Church of Joel Osteen is the only megachurch within Houston's Inner Loop. That's mainly because the Houston Rockets did not have a basketball arena to leave vacant in Sugar Land or Clear Lake where the Rev. Osteen has more shee...er, congregants. People in the suburbs eat that capitalist Christianity up.

[Leana76]

Not everyone who is from Texas goes to church. I grew up in Texas and the only person in my family that ever went to church was my grandmother. But that was it. I only went when I was with her.

But there a lot who don't go. So, I wouldn't worry too much.

[jason1117]

I'm an atheist.But I don't mind being asked whether I go to church or not.
I will simply tell them I don't. As long as they are well-meaning,I don't feel upset at questions of this kind.

[AT205]

I am an atheist and have lived in Austin and San Antonio more than 5 years each. San Antonio is religious. Conversations will come up all of a sudden about god from people you'd least expect. I wouldn't even say anything and they would drag me in to the conversation.

Personally, I think it's disrespectful...

Austin is by far better to live in if you are an atheist, considering also it's more liberal than any other city.

Stay away from SA!

[Poppy]

Oh please come to Texas! We need more non-Christians here! Seriously. Personally My husband, daughter and myself are Wiccan, my sons are Athiest and Bhuddist. Imagine how the local Christians feel about us moving to their small Texas town from the west coast!
Yes you will get the question about what religion you belong to. Be honest, or at least as honest as you feel comfortable with. I have discovered there are more people here who are non religious than I imagined and my parents are from Texas. I have also discovered that many people here are either Wiccian or are enlightened and educated enough they realize we do not worship the devil.
One thing I have encountered is Christians (strangers) wanting to pray for me from time to time. Having grown up Baptist I know that they are being well meaning and find it better to say thank you and let them believe that I believe as they do. It does no harm and it makes them feel good to think their prayers might help in some way. It's called playing along to get along.
As for whether a big city or a small town would be more suitable. I think rather than size you need to look for an educated community. College towns tend to be more educated and enlightened and there are plenty of them everywhere both large and small.

[jfre81]

Just avoid the college town in Texas with "College" in its name.

There are two religions there, Christianity and Aggie-ism, and many are adherents to both faiths.

[catman]

Poppy: I am an Atheist in Ft Worth and don't have any trouble with anyone. I think your approach of "playing along to get along" is the best way to go. It doesn't help to tell anyone that you think their prayers are a waste of effort; as you said, they mean well. Who knows, maybe you get some kind of karmic points for being agreeable.

jfre81: Good advice for sure!

[truetexan]

I have lived in Texas my whole life, and am very strong in my faith. I do know that only 8% of Texas is non-religious. I am going to be very honest with you of what I rember since I just moved to Tennessee. I grew up northwest of Austin in a small town called Burnet. All of my friends there were christians in Burnet, and it was a town that had alot of arguments. When I say arguments I mean like about a ''perfect'' race, religion, etc. From when I lived in Burnet it was very hateful against blacks, atheists, and gays etc. You had to be white, christian, and straight. I was never a part of these considering I have a gay uncle. But I do beleive that christianity is an important thing and looking at the statistics it sounds like the majority of Texas feels the same way. So my advice to you is you should probably keep your personal life to yourself if you want to live in Texas.