How bible belty is Raleigh? (employment, stores, best)

[cry884]

I'm an atheist and don't feel that it's bad here. I get a little of the "everyone assumes everyone else is christian" stuff, but it's relatively harmless.

[LPnerd]

lived here 5 years now and it's not an issues in Wake Forest. It's changing here, remember, there is a church on every corner, but across the street there is a college or university in Wake county. Areas with lots of higher learning are less and less religious, and becoming more and more spiritual it seems to me.
We are pretty happy here in Wake Forest and I personally stay away from all organised religion, but also feel it's to each their own.

[metalhead0043]

I'm an atheist as well and I've never had anyone ask me anything about religion while living here. I've only lived here for about six months, but compared to Greenville, I can tell there is much less "in your face" type of stuff here. Also, there is not a baptist church on every other street corner either. I was constantly getting Watchtower and other stuff handed to me when I lived there. I work with the public so I guess I might have been exposed to it more than others. I never had anyone hand me anything in public or approach me about anything like that.

[cncracer]

I am a statistic groupie, and love to track social views through several reports. In looking first at the religious shift in the US the Pew Report showed 51% of the US population to be protestant, and 23% to be Catholic. They also showed the 3rd largest and fastest growing group to be the non-religious at 16% (2007). This was followed in 2008 with a break down by states which showed NC as having 69% who were religious and NJ who reported 52% religious. In NC like most other states the areas which will reflect the lower religious numbers are the areas where institutes of higher education are located, and the Raleigh and RTP area of NC is a hot bed of higher education. I don’t think you will have any problem in this area.

[dhwilkin]

Interestingly, the only time I ever had somebody try to push a religious talk on me in this region (been here since 1995) was when I was a student at NCSU. I'm assuming this was for one of the on-campus groups like Campus Crusade for Christ or something like it, as this guy (a fellow student) was going up to every table in the student cafeteria during breakfast and doggedly trying to start conversations about accepting Jesus. Apparently me stating that I was already Christian wasn't good enough somehow and he kept talking, and given that I am not a morning person, I quickly got grumpy enough that he decided to move on.

That's it, though. At no other time have I been forced into a religious conversation around here. Key word there is "forced", though. Religion does sometimes come up as part of general conversation (ex. "I have to leave early to go to service", "Our church is having a BBQ lunch, would you like a plate?", "Sneeze" "God bless you"). But if I don't reply, or just reply about the non-religious part of the conversation, then the conversation simply moves on. No harm, no foul. If just hearing about religion period makes you uncomfortable, then I'm not really sure what to say, though.

[becca4279]

We just moved here in June and the only time religion comes up is when people learn we are new to the area. This is generally followed by a casual invitation to their church and dropped without pressure. One thing that I've noticed that no one else has mentioned is that there seems to be more talk of God between children at school (at least in my daughter's 1st grade class). The kids aren't mean about it, they just assume that God exists and are much more open about it than in MN. This also holds true for non-Christian children here. When we lived in a very Catholic community in MN religion never was discussed amongst the kids at school, so it's a little different.
If you have children, keep in mind that they will be around children that are more open to discussing religion, maybe because their parents do or because it's more socially acceptable here.
Then again, no matter where you live you'll be around people that believe different from you on some things. Religion is prevalent here, but not pushy to me.

[Fresca99]

If you work for NC State government you will notice that a lot of Southerners pray, or spout religious text in the office. Whenever we had an office birthday party or potluck we couldn't eat until a prayer was given. So annoying and so inappropriate at a government office. Where is the separation of church and state?

[elnene2k]

I lived in Durham for 4 years now and there are tons of churches everywhere and it seems most people belong to something...We have been approached several times about church and pamphlets at doors, etc etc. It probably depends where you live...I live in the downtown area where there is a higher concentration of people...It may not be as prominent in an area like a subdivision or out in the suburbs...

Of course, almost always locals belong to some kind of denomination. It's really a few transplants that may be atheist, etc etc.

[Jeep Guy]

I moved to the Raleigh area when I was 3 and stayed until I left for college, although I'm there frequently these days. I've had a few circumstances where people would ask where I went to church, but they weren't total strangers. It was more like them asking where's your favorite hang-out spot. But it's not as common or widespread as many will say. Most of the time people came to my door (and still do) it's Mormons. You'll recognize them - they usually travel in a pair, both in nice suits and on bicycles. Sometimes you'll come across a booth at an outdoors festival or show, things like that. I've never had anyone get up in my face about it. It's all very polite. If you tell them you're not interested, they'll generally thank you for your time and leave you be without taking it harshly. I'm private with my religion, but it doesn't bother me one bit when people ask. It's always been a friendly, polite, no-pressure approach; I've never had anyone try to shove anything down my throat.

Funny thing is, once I walked past a Baptist booth and they were handing out free retractable pens. I thanked them but declined to hear more. They still gave me the pen anyway. A little while later I was in desperate need of a pen and remembered the one they'd given me. I took it out to write with, then for whatever reason the little spring-loaded part made it shoot out of my hand and vanish. Maybe you could only use the pen if you converted

[RedZin]

I've lived here since birth (with the exception of about a year or so in the Chicago area when I was 19-20) and I've NEVER been asked where I attend church.