Are Christians ostracized in Seattle? (Tacoma: tenants, college, zoned)

[CarawayDJ]

Originally Posted by angelenogirl

Ira, I think it goes back to the "rules" and "uptightness" you mentioned in another thread. As evidenced by this thread, it seems that people here are willing to, well, if not accept or tolerate you, at the very least ignore you...as long as you follow the rules and don't mention the word God, like, ever. But as soon as you do, watch out! We've already had a mention of spaghetti monsters, and it probably won't be long until someone pops in to ridicule the OP's "sky fairy." I've seen it happen many times.

Almost everyone who's responded has mentioned people "forcing beliefs" on others. I've lived all over this country, and have never encountered this forcing of beliefs anywhere. What I really think is that, again, any mention of faith is "forcing your beliefs on me." It really seems some people here actually feel faint if they see or hear the word Christmas. I just don't get it. I'm not a religious person, but it doesn't bother me to hear about what other people believe. And I don't spend my days hunting for ways to be offended.

Bingo. I'd say it's a progressive thing. Somehow "freedom of religion" is being morphed into "freedom from religion". I have to chuckle every time someone says they believe in "live and let live." What they usually mean is "believe what I believe and we'll be OK." Really, that whole live and let live thing is mostly a total crock. I'm a Christian, but not overly religious. To me, "freedom of religion" and "live and let live" don't mean you have to keep your beliefs a secret or talk about them only within the confines of your own home. I remember my time working in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. I celebrated some of the Islamic holidays right alongside the Arabs. I was never offended when my muslim friends would discuss the Koran or their beliefs. I will never ask someone to keep quiet except when at home or in church. Yes, nobody wants to be aggressively "preached" to, but that rarely occurs. I expect my fishing buddies to discuss a little fishing, and I expect my religious friends to discuss a little religion. Some people seem to think any overt display of religion is "in your face."

These live and let live crocksters seem blissfully unaware that asking Christians to keep their faith in the closet is no different than saying that you are tolerant of gays as long as they don't act gay or show any gayness around you.

[fnh]

Some of you seem to be missing the salient point that the OP self-identifies as a "born again" evangelical from Oklahoma. I live in both Seattle and Houston, do you have any experience around evangelicals? Do you know what that means? The OP sounds like a very nice, reasonable person who respects boundaries, but many evangelicals speak VERY FREQUENTLY about their religion and in my experience interject talking points in almost every conversation. I'm just trying to be helpful and let him know that Seattle is not Oklahoma and such overt talk is generally frowned upon whereas in the South it is much more common thus accepted. But I suspected he already knew that and perhaps was a little too cheeky in my response. For that I'm sorry.

Now, none of you can presume to know whether I am Christian or not (since it's private!) But I can recognize hypocrisy when I see it, among both religious and non-religious people. I remember a conversation with a friend of mine who was complaining about Muslims putting their religion "in your face" with headscarves etc. while at that very moment wearing a t-shirt emblazoned with a giant rhinestone cross, a diamond cross around her neck, and a baseball cap with yet another rhinestone cross.

There is no war on Christianity in this country anywhere and to suggest otherwise is foolish hyperbole. Christians enjoy being the majority in the United States but being Christian fail to notice the Christian environment surrounding all of us, Christian or no, because of its very pervasiveness. Don't make something out of nothing. Seattleites are no more or less bigoted than anyone else, just perhaps more secular in public.

Have a blessed day!

[The Help Desk]

Seattle is very liberal, and liberals worship government.

Being Christian in Seattle is much different than being Christian in say, Kansas City.

[rockyinyourradio]

Originally Posted by mkarch

Just remember to treat people's beliefs in the Flying Spaghetti Monster or the Invisible Pink Unicorn with the same kind of reverence you expect towards your beliefs.

Oh I believe it! Many people reported seeing them at Hempfest this year!

[mrt144]

Mars Hill is very popular if thats any indication.

[sean98125]

Being Christian isn't going to be that big of a deal.

If you're the kind of Christian who thinks women are subordinate to men, or that Genesis is an accurate account of the creation of the world, then you're going to have problems getting along here if you make those thoughts known. Liberals are more than happy to talk about the socially active Jesus who said to feed the poor, tend to the sick, and to visit those in jail. They aren't so happy to hear Paul telling women to shut up in Church or Moses telling the Bronze Age Jewish people that rape is okay as long as you marry the victim but gay sex is not.

[RotseCherut]

Originally Posted by sean98125

Being Christian isn't going to be that big of a deal.

If you're the kind of Christian who thinks women are subordinate to men, or that Genesis is an accurate account of the creation of the world, then you're going to have problems getting along here if you make those thoughts known. Liberals are more than happy to talk about the socially active Jesus who said to feed the poor, tend to the sick, and to visit those in jail. They aren't so happy to hear Paul telling women to shut up in Church or Moses telling the Bronze Age Jewish people that rape is okay as long as you marry the victim but gay sex is not.

No offense, but you are so completely ignorant, that perhaps you should just learn to keep you warped, demented and religious views to yourself, instead.

Moses never said anything about rape being tolerable as long as you marry.. In those days, if a woman was not a virgin, her chances of marriage were quite slim. YOu may not like the situation, but that is how it was and many times a raped woman was shamed entirely and forced to live alone. The world 3000 years ago is nothing like we have today.

More times than not, a rapist would have a sword thrusted through his abdomen or stoned to death if they were caught. A woman's virginity and honor was no simple matter, like it is today, where sex is cheap and women are advertised on TV and the web as cheap pieces of meat. Marriage was an option, solely because the woman may have been impregnated and the man was willing to commit to marrying, supporting and raising the child of the girl who otherwise now would live an impoverished life. However, that only could be done with the consent of the woman. The man would be forced to pay a huge chunk of his income.

Oh yes, if a man rapes a married woman, the punishment is DEATH! No exceptions!

That is more than I can say about rapists today in our atheistic society. A rapist today can rape a woman, get caught and be out of prison in a year or so to go and rape more people. All this in the name of compassion for the criminal over the victim. Thanks to our atheist like government that sympathizes with criminals over victims..

[That Smell]

Seattle has its own religion- Protective Techno-Hippiedom. High taxation, a proper aloofness and an insular, homely solidarity while partaking in marijuana are its chief tenets. You are either with them or against them and having a cognitive independence means you are troubled and are a potential threat to the bubble those folks live in.

Religion in Seattle is like democracy in China: Observe the political dictums of the official party and you are seen as a good citizen. Raise any questions using facts and refuting accepted dogma and you are deemed 'wrong' and must be corrected, or worse, exiled. (Notice the obtuse redundancy? And disagree enough and they will literally suggest imperially that you should leave!) Seattleites are basically pious statists with a preferred goofy-ness that simultaneously encourages yet spurns government involvement in their lives while demanding complete obedience to their conflicted sense of morality, usually given to them in platitudes by charlatans. Technology consumers with a Luddite core sensiblity, perhaps? Personally, I think the town is a touch schizoid and unhappy but enduring of their pope-for-life, the Tech Geek wonder-king in his castle across Lake Washington, whose family seems to be enamored with John Calvin of Geneva, who has turned the place upside down in order to make humans as sensible and as well-executed as his popular OS or software platforms.

That is Seattle's religion in a nutshell.

[The Help Desk]

Originally Posted by max.b

Were people praying for the rain to stop, or just waiting it out? That should tell you if Seattle is religious. I want to know too.

Too funny!!

[Mouldy Old Schmo]

Just like a lot of states, what people say in Washington's urban areas goes for the rest of the state. If eastern Washington is more conservative than the west, too bad for them. I think the last conservative Republican to represent any area of Washington was Representative Linda Smith, and that was in the 1990s. Since leaving Congress, she founded Shared Hope International, a group working to end sex trafficking around the world. I think even some of Seattle's hardcore hipster lefties can go along with that.