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ok comments aside from a NYer calling NC scary I will chime in here. yep it is very much the Bible belt here and yep it gets really really old. Smaller the town the worse it gets as well. (Native NCer mov ed away and am back but have no issues moving again) Dont get me wrong plenty I love about NC but it seems to be heading backwards from when I moved back here 10 years ago. That being Said the major University cities or close to them is where you want to be. Charlotte, Asheviille, Greensboro/WS and RDU area. A lesser extent would be Greenville and Wilmington.
You get used to being asked where do you go to church all the time(but yes it gets old) But there are plenty of great things about NC as well for example most places are cheaper but the metros the cost is spiriling upwards at quite a rate
I'm so sick of hearing northerners talk like this. When you moved to the south, you weren't moving to a smaller, cheaper, New York. This is an entirely different culture, and, if you don't like it, feel free to move back up north. Yes, religion is important to most southerners, but you will find that a lot of us couldn't case less what religion you embrace. Your religion, or lack thereof, is your business, and I don't care which path you choose. Don't expect to find anywhere that shares even the least resemblance to a smaller version of where you came from. Also, whatever you do, please don't utter the phrase, "well, that's not how we do (whatever subject being discussed) up north."
I'm so sick of hearing northerners talk like this. When you moved to the south, you weren't moving to a smaller, cheaper, New York. This is an entirely different culture, and, if you don't like it, feel free to move back up north. Yes, religion is important to most southerners, but you will find that a lot of us couldn't case less what religion you embrace. Your religion, or lack thereof, is your business, and I don't care which path you choose. Don't expect to find anywhere that shares even the least resemblance to a smaller version of where you came from. Also, whatever you do, please don't utter the phrase, "well, that's not how we do (whatever subject being discussed) up north."
OP, I'm very confused. You say you want a place that's 'safe' and with 'good schools'. Surely you realize that this is another way of saying "lily white".
Doesn't this conflict with your liberalism?
As for fitting-in in the South, Atheists there generally move to enclaves in the middle of cities. Being in the middle of town, and adjacent a big university, usually does the trick. Lots of professors to hang with. But you'll have to put up with a lot of diversity, in such a location.
The other kind of Atheist-friendly place would be a neighborhood of gated estates, like mine. (I'm soooooo NOT an Atheist, but people would be less likely to know, since in the really pricey seats, people generally don't 'share' their faiths as much as folks do, down in the cheap seats....although plenty of gonifs and momsers have gotten rich making up religions and starting for-profit houses of worship. And Baptist Preachers make as much as football coaches, down South. And football coaches make as much as Doctors, down there. So the palazzo-next-door may be peopled by folks with unnaturally-colored Pompadour hairdos.
So, really, I'm thinking that unless you can move next to some writer's colony or something, on your budget, you're pretty-much out of luck in North Carolina.
And so you have it. For anyone who thinks Long Island is liberal, you are wrong. NYC is mostly liberal. Long Island? NO.
One of the most segregated places in the country with some of the most provincial people you will ever meet.
If you are not Republican, you will not get a county job. Fundamentalists are everywhere and most people on Long Island are afraid of NYC. Or any city.
And "safe" and "good schools" are code words.
I still do not think that the OP should pretend to believe in God and take her children to church if she's an atheist. It's living a lie.
Trust me here - Long Island ins not LIBERAL.
Remember Massapequa Tabernacle? Pastor Profetta and Jessica Hahn? A scandel that involved Jim Bakker in the 80s.
Then there's the Upper Room in Deer Park, and Smithtown Gospel Tabernacle. All huge churches with services
inside of buildings that look like airplane hangers.
Google any of these places. You will see what I mean.
OP, I'm very confused. You say you want a place that's 'safe' and with 'good schools'. Surely you realize that this is another way of saying "lily white".
Doesn't this conflict with your liberalism?
As for fitting-in in the South, Atheists there generally move to enclaves in the middle of cities. Being in the middle of town, and adjacent a big university, usually does the trick. Lots of professors to hang with. But you'll have to put up with a lot of diversity, in such a location.
The other kind of Atheist-friendly place would be a neighborhood of gated estates, like mine. (I'm soooooo NOT an Atheist, but people would be less likely to know, since in the really pricey seats, people generally don't 'share' their faiths as much as folks do, down in the cheap seats....although plenty of gonifs and momsers have gotten rich making up religions and starting for-profit houses of worship. And Baptist Preachers make as much as football coaches, down South. And football coaches make as much as Doctors, down there. So the palazzo-next-door may be peopled by folks with unnaturally-colored Pompadour hairdos.
So, really, I'm thinking that unless you can move next to some writer's colony or something, on your budget, you're pretty-much out of luck in North Carolina.
Have you ever even been to the South? This post is so full of it, I don't even know where to begin to respond. So I'll just quote it, so everyone will be sure to see how dumb it is.
some posters just went all the way around the world, putting words on the page that was
never uttered by the OP and had me shaking my head in amazement of how easy it
is to get a crowd riled up .
my husband has been a vegetarian for 37 years and I can't tell you how many times it has
been suggested[ or done behind his back] to just pick the meat out of the dish and it should
all be fine, ha. many of these responses certaintly reminds me of that.
it appears the truth is that the only way to "play " in NC , is by the religious rules.
In my experience, this was the case, particularly if any aspect of your life can be judged as punishment for sin. I met very few people who didn't have any beliefs/kept their beliefs personal and didn't get involved in organized religion. Most people I knew wore their religion on their sleeve, as in, "going up to random people in a restaurant to give testament to Jesus"-sleeve-wearing. And to be honest, all of the people I met who were either secular or kept their beliefs personal were transplants, with the exception of ONE person.
ETA: I don't to suggest the OP live a lie by going to church and pretending to believe in God. I tried that and it doesn't work. Trust me, lol. But I would be extremely quiet about your atheism until you at least develop a core of friends, and don't be surprised if 75% of them abandon you once they find out you're atheist. Plus, religion--specifically Christianity--permeates everything, at least where I was in NC. For example, the local town opening festival, which was not advertised as a religious event, featured a preacher, who even held an open prayer. When I went to work every morning, people would exchange Bible verses, without even considering that not everyone is Christian. The YMCA had Bible verses and pictures of Jesus on the wall. (I know it's the YMCA but they don't do that up North.) That's just how Christian everything is. So you basically have two options: 1) Fly under the radar as "Christian" by letting people assume what they will anyway, or 2) Be open and honest and have your social and professional life seriously jeopardized as a result.
Last edited by nimchimpsky; 06-21-2012 at 06:54 AM..
nimchimpsky, sounds like small town NC to me. Larger cities and college towns wouldn't be like you described. I have many NC native atheist friends and I also have many NC native Jewish friends, and NC native liberal Christian friends, and a few NC native Muslim and Buddhist friends. I also have been proselytized in parking lots by folks handing out Jack Chick tracts.
nimchimpsky, sounds like small town NC to me. Larger cities and college towns wouldn't be like you described. I have many NC native atheist friends and I also have many NC native Jewish friends, and NC native liberal Christian friends, and a few NC native Muslim and Buddhist friends. I also have been proselytized in parking lots by folks handing out Jack Chick tracts.
Yes, there is definitely a significant disparity between the larger metro areas and the rural counties in NC (just like several other states that are basically rural with one or two big cities, such as Georgia, Illinois, Nevada, Colorado, etc). Metro areas and college towns are more than a "little" toward the left side of the spectrum politically. The OP has landed in one of the most bedrock conservative parts of NC, it's no wonder she doesn't fit in.
And I agree that Long Islanders aren't always liberal--HUGE numbers of Catholics have moved here from LI in recent years and they usually register Republican, from the research I've done.
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