[jdhpa]

Originally Posted by jdhpa

Politics and personal behavior are unrelated. Someone can be liberal or conservative and mind their own business. Someone can be liberal or conservative and interfere in other peoples' lives.

For the purposes of this thread, the question is will someone be treated differently by their neighbors, peers at work, potential employers, etc. if they're known to be socially conservative? E.g., if someone puts up a lawn sign promoting a conservative political candidate, will their neighbors who have been on good terms with them for a while start to ostracize them (even a little)? Will it affect their performance review at work or chance of being offered a job? If they own a business, will people choose to go somewhere else because of it?

I appreciate all of the responses

Originally Posted by Hepcat

I guess I don’t understand what you mean by social conservative. Does it mean you won’t shop at a local store owned by a gay couple? Does it mean you will protest in front of a local women’s health clinic if they also provide abortion care?

If you believe your non-Christian neighbors are going to burn in hell for not believing as you do, and you tell them so, then it very well may impact your relationship with them.

A lot depends on what your definition of social conservative is, and how it informs your relationships with people around you.

I believe I addressed this above. If someone does no harm, insults no one, mistreats no one, minds their own business, but is known to have conservative beliefs, supports conservative candidates for office, etc., will it affect them socially or professionally?

[ben young]

Originally Posted by jdhpa

I believe I addressed this above. If someone does no harm, insults no one, mistreats no one, minds their own business, but is known to have conservative beliefs, supports conservative candidates for office, etc., will it affect them socially or professionally?

Notice the Progressives wont give you an answer .Just saying.
I don't live in VT, so I didn't do the poll.

[Gulf of Aden]

Am I the only one interested in knowing more about the conservative witch?

[voyager977]

Progressive transplant here who is happy to address the OP's question.

We moved here permanently 8 years ago after camping up here my whole life with my grandparents, parents and my own kids. I think the key phrase in your question is what's tripping people up. What do YOU consider a social conservative to be?

If you're conservative in that you feel it's important to strive for balanced budgets that's probably not gonna start a firestorm. If on the other hand, you feel LGBTQ people shouldn't be afforded the same rights as everyone else, you may have a problem.

What I've found about being a flatlander in Vermont is this:

• Vermonters can seem a bit cool at first. Give them a year or two to get to know you and you'll probably do fine.
• Unless they bring up politics, I tend to be quiet.
• Most folks here are genuinely kind hearted and caring.
• If a neighbor responds to your wild car lot blow up guy wave with 2 fingers lifted off the steering wheel, consider yourself officially welcomed to Vermont!

So, don't be a bigot, a racist or a general @sshole and you'll do ok. Just respect people's boundaries, don't try to inflict your religion on others and follow the rule our parents taught us: "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all"

Finally to the question someone raised about political signs, it really depends on the candidate and your neighbors. Our Governor Phil Scott is a Republican in a largely Democratic state. If my neighbor had a sign up for him, I'd have no issue. If they had a sign up for another notable national candidate, well...

And to the Georgia commenter, you are spot on. My liberal leanings may not have been welcomed during time I've spent in the south but after a while most people stopped trying to save me after learning I wasn't born again and worse yet, an atheist!

NEK is a more conservative region than my place here in the islands but I will caution I have several quite progressive friends in and around Derby, Lyndon and St J.

Be respectful and you'll eventually be provisionally accepted. ;-) If you weren't born here, you'll always be provisionally accepted. Good luck and thanks for starting the conversation.

[ChadChadderson]

I was born in Vermont and I spent my entire life on the other side of the border. What erks Vermonters the most are people who come into the state and say "Oh you know what Vermont needs?" "You know what this place needs (more/less) of?". "I don't like that we should change this or that and do this instead."

I've heard that crap from a lot of the people that come up from the NYC area.

[Zephyr2]

I've heard that crap from a lot of the people that come up from the NYC area.

When I lived in South Carolina a popular bumper sticker was "Don't Tell us How You do it Up North." OTOH this forum is populated with lots of people who are more than happy to set you straight on exactly how you are living your life wrong, and they will voluntarily give you a 10-point list of things you must do if you are to live a virtuous life!

Having lived for many years right next to Vermont in upstate New York I have visited many times, and my impression of Vermonters is they are accepting of differences as long as you don't try to tell them how to live their lives. There are a lot of conservative Vermonters, but there it means traditional, living a modest lifestyle financially, not telling others what to do, respecting private property and the right to privacy in general, respecting the right to own firearms, etc. It tends to be a lot like that in upstate New York too, north of Albany, though I think we may have more "redneck" conservatives in New York.

[Gulf of Aden]

The conservative witch is the star of this thread!

[squarpeg]

Originally Posted by ChadChadderson

I was born in Vermont and I spent my entire life on the other side of the border. What erks Vermonters the most are people who come into the state and say "Oh you know what Vermont needs?" "You know what this place needs (more/less) of?". "I don't like that we should change this or that and do this instead."

I've heard that crap from a lot of the people that come up from the NYC area.

While I agree and sympathize with a lot of this type of thought line, I'ts not always true. Many times the ideas people bring with them, about good things where they live, are actually improvements. Now we don't want to have Vermont look like Jersey, on the other hand I do enjoy a good bagel.

[Zephyr2]

Many times the ideas people bring with them, about good things where they live, are actually improvements.

But, in New England they will never change if it's "the way it's always been." I've seen horrible intersections in more than one NE state that would benefit from a little improvement and common sense. There was one intersection in Maine that I suspect is still there where a stop sign was placed on the main coastal highway, Route 1, so that locals could have unimpeded access to make right turns from an obscure side road. Made absolutely zero sense and was such a surprise to people on Route 1 there were continuous accidents there.

[squarpeg]

That issue is not unique to New England. Same everywhere. I had a friend who opened a business in a small mountain town in Puerto Rico. The first year he was there he attended the big town festival for 3 kings day. He told me, when it was done the town square and streets were filled with mountains of trash. Coming from pristine New England he was so struck by it he went to the town commissioners and demanded to know why there were not places for people to properly discard all the trash. The commissioners said they were a very poor small town and simply could not afford all the trash receptacles it would take. So he said go out and buy 100 garbage cans and I will pay for them. The next year rolls around, he said he is proudly standing out at the festival with all these trash cans around the square. He said when it was over the trash cans sat near empty and all the trash again filled the streets.....So sometimes it takes a while for people to see there may be better way then what they are used too.