Religion in the Raleigh-Durham NC area? (Chapel Hill: renting, public schools, college)
Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, CaryThe Triangle Area
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Definitely Every day I hear someone native to North Carolina mention their religion to me. It is really obvious that this is the Bible Belt. Just drive around and you will find many huge mega churches and their enormous parking lots are filled to overflowing on Sundays and often weekdays!
Church is the ever- present social phenomenon here in the Triangle among the locals and a huge number of transplants.
I've only met a rare few people who can have a conversation without mentioning "my church" in one way or another.
The one thing that was new to me when I moved to Wake county was that many if not most of the smaller churches have marquis that espouse some sort of dictum to remind us to be good people. Some are clever, some are weird, but it was something I had not encountered before and it gave me pause at first. Now I am used to seeing these and it is simply part of the local experience.
As far as being asked what church you go to, it is simply either a way of starting conversation, or a suggestion that the speaker thinks highly enough of you that they would like you to join them at their church, which is really quite social as well as religious here in the south. You can simply say that at this time you are not looking for a church, or that you are not a church-goer.
Exactly, 9x10 you will not be asked but if you are, the majority of the time it's not to push something on you, church to a lot of people is very social and away of making friends, and not just making friends but introducing friends to friends(things like hey this is xyz this is my new friend yata yata, she's in to art so I thought I introduce you to blah blah blah). For those seldom times if asked, that is the intent.
I'm from the UK - a very secular society for the most part. The amount of religion/religious people/ references to God in day to day life/ kids mentioning God to my kids has totally shocked us. We knew this was referred to as Bible Belt but just yesterday my husband and I were saying we were not expecting this level.
I don't have people asking me to come to their church but I can tell you that pretty much every single person I've met since moving her 1.5 years ago has mentioned their church or their religion or God etc.
It doesn't bother me that much (I don't feel I need therapy ??) but it bothers me that my kids have been brought up with no religion and now they're having people mention stuff to them that they don't understand or feel uncomfortable with. Also is quite like to tell people I'm an atheist and so are my kids but I feel this would not be a good move. In the UK this was not the case. Nobody cared or asked your views on God and nobody mentioned it ever.
Just a different perspective. Oh I have 1 friend who is same as me but she's born in UK despite living here a while.
There is a charity/ movement called Openly Secular in the Triangle who are working to make people feel comfortable with the atheist next door so that atheists can "come out". It wouldn't exist if it wasn't necessary!
I wonder if there's a generational gap? I'm 28 and an atheist, and most of my friends are not religious either, and I don't perceive our group to be all that different from the average, at least among millennials in the Triangle. When I was in college there was a religious contingent but most of those people came from rural parts of the state, and promptly went back after graduating.
It's more likely the neighborhood, Vatnos. I don't really remember the last time I was asked about church. I do have a mom friend at school who is active at her catholic church so I sometimes hear about that, but she actually works there, so it's the same as anyone else talking about their job. I do remember recently running into some friends of my younger daughter on a Sunday afternoon and I asked what they had been up to that day and the girl said they went to church that morning and then they'd been riding their bikes around. That's kind of the context I hear about church in Chapel Hill and Carrboro, though. It's a thing that we did, not a proselytizing kind of "do you have a church home" thing.
Boy Scouts are actually a quasi-religious organization so it makes sense for them to meet in churches. The Boy Scout oath:
Quote:
On my honor I will do my best
To do my duty to God and my country
and to obey the Scout Law;
To help other people at all times;
To keep myself physically strong,
mentally awake, and morally straight.
Boy Scouts are actually a quasi-religious organization so it makes sense for them to meet in churches. The Boy Scout oath:
They don't all meet in churches. My troop met in a Raleigh Public elementary school. I know one that meets in Masonic Lodge...another at a Shriners club.
I'm from the UK - a very secular society for the most part. The amount of religion/religious people/ references to God in day to day life/ kids mentioning God to my kids has totally shocked us. We knew this was referred to as Bible Belt but just yesterday my husband and I were saying we were not expecting this level.
I don't have people asking me to come to their church but I can tell you that pretty much every single person I've met since moving her 1.5 years ago has mentioned their church or their religion or God etc.
It doesn't bother me that much (I don't feel I need therapy ??) but it bothers me that my kids have been brought up with no religion and now they're having people mention stuff to them that they don't understand or feel uncomfortable with. Also is quite like to tell people I'm an atheist and so are my kids but I feel this would not be a good move. In the UK this was not the case. Nobody cared or asked your views on God and nobody mentioned it ever.
Just a different perspective. Oh I have 1 friend who is same as me but she's born in UK despite living here a while.
There is a charity/ movement called Openly Secular in the Triangle who are working to make people feel comfortable with the atheist next door so that atheists can "come out". It wouldn't exist if it wasn't necessary!
That the topic of religion is pervasive is more incidental than anything else. Professional sports dominates the conversation in my house because that's where we focus a significant amount of intellectual capacity. People who spend time with us and don't follow sports often feel left out of the conversation and have expressed that they are occasionally uncomfortable when we engage in the "Yankees vs. Red Sox" or "Giants vs. Eagles" debates because they truly can't relate.
A strong majority of people here in the Triangle have church as a central theme in their lives and so it only makes sense that it's a constant part of their dialogue.
As for your comment regarding the secular movement and that it "wouldn't exist if it wasn't necessary"; does that logic explain why England still operates under a pseudo Monarchy?
They don't all meet in churches. My troop met in a Raleigh Public elementary school. I know one that meets in Masonic Lodge...another at a Shriners club.
Oh, I know. My comment was in response to Michgc expressing surprise that so many scout troops meet in churches. I should have quoted her. Meeting in church doesn't surprise me at all since the organization as a whole does do some talking about God, although I'm sure it varies from troop to troop. I don't have a boy in scouts, but my dad was a troop leader for about 20 years (won the honor of the Silver Beaver) so I'm fairly familiar with the organization.
My girls have not been interested in girl scouts, but they have friends who have done it. I don't believe their particular troops met in churches, but the Girl Scouts have God in their pledge too. In general they're a little more progressive than Boy Scouts, though. I think one of their friend's troops met in the Civitan or Lions Club or somewhere like that.
Agree with those who just aren't really seeing this in their daily life. Suspect it depends on your neighborhood and social circle. I live in downtown Durham, work at Duke. Have yet to have anyone breathe a word about religion to me. My only contact has been the couple gorgeous churches I pass on my morning run. I'm pretty well settled into my own atheism at this point. Its not a touchy subject for me and I tend not to concern myself very much with what others think about it. Anyone who wants to give me a "Come to Jesus" speech is welcome to do so, as long as they are open to hearing my "Come to Atheism" speech (at least in social settings).
I'm sure that there is a strong religious presence among long-term residents and folks in certain areas. In general, the driving forces in the area right now seem to be academia and technology. Seems nearly all of us transplants are coming for one of those two things. Neither of these industries is exactly known for having a high proportion of heavily religious folks.
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