Question for religious parents

"user" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 20 Feb 2006 18:33:56 GMT, toto wrote:
On Mon, 20 Feb 2006 11:33:12 -0500, "Marie"
wrote:

"toto" wrote in message
...
Most religious folks I know don't generally bring up religion
with others who are not of their own faith. Most children who are
religious don't tell other kids they are going to hell either.

I have had, over the years, several strangers come to me and my children
in
the grocery store, or a restaurant, and just start talking about Jesus
and
if I went to church. This happened just a few weeks ago, actually, in
Walmart. An elderly man came to say what cute kids I have and then
started
telling me he hopes I have them in church and he just went on and on
about
it. When I first meet people, one of the first questions is where I go to
church. When I answer nowhere, Oh how shocked the people look and just
can't
get over that I don't BELIEVE. There have been several times strange
children at the park, on finding out my kids don't go to church, have
told
them they are going to hell. You people who are saying it's not common-
you
are so lucky. My family couldn't even join a homeschool group in my area
b/c
they required a signed statement of faith. We drive an hour to get to our
group (which is worth the drive, it's a wonderful group, but I do wish it
were closer). Christian groups try to ban movies and tv series.
(brokeback
mountain was banned here but we went to another city to see it, and book
of
daniel was cancelled on NBC) It's something you just can not avoid here.
Marie

I only recently moved to the South and I hope that I never have that
experience. It was certainly not common in Chicago despite the fact
that there were plenty of Southern Baptists around. There were people
who preached on the street corners, but they were pretty easy to
avoid. I have actually seen less of those in New Orleans than I did
in Chicago.

I have never had anyone come up and start talking about Jesus to me in
the grocery store or mall stores here (but I have only been here about
a year).

I travel fairly frequently to the South ( Tennessee and NC, mostly ),
and I don't think there's been a single trip in which I haven't had
someone bring up religion. The last time I was in Nashville, I stopped
to get a haircut before meeting with a client, and the *first* thing
the woman asked was, "And have you found Jesus?"

Unfortunately, the standard rejoiner of "Yes, he's been hiding behind
the living room couch all this time! Can you believe that little devil?"
didn't seem appropriate when dealing with someone holding sharp scissors.
;-)

LOL brilliant!
Debbie

user wrote:

But even in areas with lots of Yankee immigrants, like the RTP area,
it seems like small talk with the merest aquaintance gets around to
religion very, very quickly.

That's one of the reasons I got the hell out of RTP as fast as I could.
-L.

dragonlady wrote:
It may depend upon how you define "religious people". I have meet
atheists who are pretty obnoxious about cramming their beliefs down
other people's throats, including telling those who believe in God that
they are idiots and dangerous and ruining the world. Now, I consider
that strong a belief about God a religious belief (and I know quite a
number of deeply religious atheists -- most of whom are NOT in the
obnixious cram-their-beliefs-down-others-throats camp) -- but most of
the obnoxious ones would not consider themselves to be religious.

I was making more of a point about proselytization. Many sects of
Chritianity preach that you *must* witness and proselytize - I don't
know of any agnostic group that "promotes" anything even coming close
to proselytization.

-L.

In article , user says...

On 20 Feb 2006 11:26:37 -0800, Banty wrote:
In article , user says...

On Mon, 20 Feb 2006 18:57:01 GMT, dragonlady wrote:
In article ,
user wrote:


I travel fairly frequently to the South ( Tennessee and NC, mostly ),
and I don't think there's been a single trip in which I haven't had
someone bring up religion. The last time I was in Nashville, I stopped
to get a haircut before meeting with a client, and the *first* thing
the woman asked was, "And have you found Jesus?"

Wow! Since I generally enjoy religious discussions, the upcoming move
to North Carolina could prove most interesting for me. (Unfortunately,
those who lead with "have you found Jesus" aren't usually interested in
a "discussion" -- but once in a while they are.)


Unfortunately, the standard rejoiner of "Yes, he's been hiding behind
the living room couch all this time! Can you believe that little devil?"
didn't seem appropriate when dealing with someone holding sharp scissors. ;-)

Alas, probably not. But *I* rather like it.


But even in areas with lots of Yankee immigrants, like the RTP area,
it seems like small talk with the merest aquaintance gets around to
religion very, very quickly.

Cool. I shall look forward to lots of religious discussions.


I enjoy them as well, but unfortunately, I find that people who
bring up religious discussions with someone who is, for all intents
and purposes, a stranger, aren't likely to be the same people who
like to compare, say, Sunni to Shia philosophies. ;-) My
just-passing-through impression, combined with comments from
friends who have moved to the RTP area is that there tend to
be quite a lot of fairly vocal and intrusive fundamentalist
church members who take any opportunity to grab your ear, and
are rather leech-like in their persistence.

Personally, I prefer the North, where you know you're an
accepted part of the community when they stop referring to your
house by the name of the previous owner. ;-)

Which can be decades! Unless you do something like paint it salmon pink! ;-)

Banty (it's *my* house fersure)


We have a neighbor three doors down, who, I kid you not, painted his house
like a huge U.S. Flag, right after 9/11. It covered the entire front of his
2-story house, including the garage - stars and bars, and in as correct
proportion as he could get. The house was painted like that until last
Summer.

Hopefully not the stars and bars that come to my mind, having grown up in
Texas...


It will forevermore be "George's House", as long as there's still one of
us neighbors still breathing, no matter who else moves in there. ;-)

I take it George is the, um, patriot? :-)

Banty

On 20 Feb 2006 13:19:48 -0800, Banty wrote:
In article , user says...

On 20 Feb 2006 11:26:37 -0800, Banty wrote:
In article , user says...

On Mon, 20 Feb 2006 18:57:01 GMT, dragonlady wrote:
In article ,
user wrote:


I travel fairly frequently to the South ( Tennessee and NC, mostly ),
and I don't think there's been a single trip in which I haven't had
someone bring up religion. The last time I was in Nashville, I stopped
to get a haircut before meeting with a client, and the *first* thing
the woman asked was, "And have you found Jesus?"

Wow! Since I generally enjoy religious discussions, the upcoming move
to North Carolina could prove most interesting for me. (Unfortunately,
those who lead with "have you found Jesus" aren't usually interested in
a "discussion" -- but once in a while they are.)


Unfortunately, the standard rejoiner of "Yes, he's been hiding behind
the living room couch all this time! Can you believe that little devil?"
didn't seem appropriate when dealing with someone holding sharp scissors. ;-)

Alas, probably not. But *I* rather like it.


But even in areas with lots of Yankee immigrants, like the RTP area,
it seems like small talk with the merest aquaintance gets around to
religion very, very quickly.

Cool. I shall look forward to lots of religious discussions.


I enjoy them as well, but unfortunately, I find that people who
bring up religious discussions with someone who is, for all intents
and purposes, a stranger, aren't likely to be the same people who
like to compare, say, Sunni to Shia philosophies. ;-) My
just-passing-through impression, combined with comments from
friends who have moved to the RTP area is that there tend to
be quite a lot of fairly vocal and intrusive fundamentalist
church members who take any opportunity to grab your ear, and
are rather leech-like in their persistence.

Personally, I prefer the North, where you know you're an
accepted part of the community when they stop referring to your
house by the name of the previous owner. ;-)

Which can be decades! Unless you do something like paint it salmon pink! ;-)

Banty (it's *my* house fersure)


We have a neighbor three doors down, who, I kid you not, painted his house
like a huge U.S. Flag, right after 9/11. It covered the entire front of his
2-story house, including the garage - stars and bars, and in as correct
proportion as he could get. The house was painted like that until last
Summer.

Hopefully not the stars and bars that come to my mind, having grown up in
Texas...


"Stars and bars" was a very poor choice of words, considering the context...
Stars and stripes was what I should have said.



It will forevermore be "George's House", as long as there's still one of
us neighbors still breathing, no matter who else moves in there. ;-)

I take it George is the, um, patriot? :-)


Indeed he is. And we love him for it, too, as he's the one who helps
get the neighbood out to vote, runs a Meals On Wheels, and is our token
Environmentalist, too. ;-)

And, to get the subject back on to my off-topic bunny trail, you just
don't get people like George down in all of those new Southern subdivisions
that are cursed with HOA's. ;-)

- Rich

dragonlady wrote:

In article ,
Rosalie B. wrote:

I had people outside the PO once who wanted me to sign a petition
outlawing Halloween celebrations because they were worshiping the
devil, and I told them that I did not believe that Halloween was devil
worship, it was the celebration before All Saints Day, and they should
be petitioning FOR it instead of against it. I tend to be a
rabblerouser.

Actually, Halloween is All Hallows Eve, and is the evening BEFORE All
Saints Day. (And All Souls Day is November 2.)

It is, however, an old pagan holiday celebrating the New Year (Celtic),
and many of the traditions we have -- bonfires and costumes and even
trick-or-treating -- DO draw from the old pagan traditions.

It is one of the many pagan holidays that the Christian Church co-opted.

(Just general rabble rousing.)

I knew that but I didn't want to spend a lot of time outside the post
office discussing it, and I wanted them to be uncomfortable.

Someone once called me (a local firm that did building) and wanted to
know if I wanted storm windows (you know the kind of thing), and I
pretended that I thought he had called to get an OSHA Consultation
from me (because I was at that time an OSHA Inspector). He ended up
terminally confused - so much so that I almost got him to sign up
before he realized what he would be getting.


grandma Rosalie

In article , user says...

On 20 Feb 2006 13:19:48 -0800, Banty wrote:
In article , user says...

On 20 Feb 2006 11:26:37 -0800, Banty wrote:
In article , user says...

On Mon, 20 Feb 2006 18:57:01 GMT, dragonlady wrote:
In article ,
user wrote:


I travel fairly frequently to the South ( Tennessee and NC, mostly ),
and I don't think there's been a single trip in which I haven't had
someone bring up religion. The last time I was in Nashville, I stopped
to get a haircut before meeting with a client, and the *first* thing
the woman asked was, "And have you found Jesus?"

Wow! Since I generally enjoy religious discussions, the upcoming move
to North Carolina could prove most interesting for me. (Unfortunately,
those who lead with "have you found Jesus" aren't usually interested in
a "discussion" -- but once in a while they are.)


Unfortunately, the standard rejoiner of "Yes, he's been hiding behind
the living room couch all this time! Can you believe that little devil?"
didn't seem appropriate when dealing with someone holding sharp scissors. ;-)

Alas, probably not. But *I* rather like it.


But even in areas with lots of Yankee immigrants, like the RTP area,
it seems like small talk with the merest aquaintance gets around to
religion very, very quickly.

Cool. I shall look forward to lots of religious discussions.


I enjoy them as well, but unfortunately, I find that people who
bring up religious discussions with someone who is, for all intents
and purposes, a stranger, aren't likely to be the same people who
like to compare, say, Sunni to Shia philosophies. ;-) My
just-passing-through impression, combined with comments from
friends who have moved to the RTP area is that there tend to
be quite a lot of fairly vocal and intrusive fundamentalist
church members who take any opportunity to grab your ear, and
are rather leech-like in their persistence.

Personally, I prefer the North, where you know you're an
accepted part of the community when they stop referring to your
house by the name of the previous owner. ;-)

Which can be decades! Unless you do something like paint it salmon pink! ;-)

Banty (it's *my* house fersure)


We have a neighbor three doors down, who, I kid you not, painted his house
like a huge U.S. Flag, right after 9/11. It covered the entire front of his
2-story house, including the garage - stars and bars, and in as correct
proportion as he could get. The house was painted like that until last
Summer.

Hopefully not the stars and bars that come to my mind, having grown up in
Texas...


"Stars and bars" was a very poor choice of words, considering the context...
Stars and stripes was what I should have said.



It will forevermore be "George's House", as long as there's still one of
us neighbors still breathing, no matter who else moves in there. ;-)

I take it George is the, um, patriot? :-)


Indeed he is. And we love him for it, too, as he's the one who helps
get the neighbood out to vote, runs a Meals On Wheels, and is our token
Environmentalist, too. ;-)

And, to get the subject back on to my off-topic bunny trail, you just
don't get people like George down in all of those new Southern subdivisions
that are cursed with HOA's. ;-)

- Rich


THAT's where I know you from!

BTW, I went with the dishwasher on the other side of the sink from the stove.

Cheers,
Banty

user wrote in
:

Personally, I prefer the North, where you know you're an
accepted part of the community when they stop referring to
your house by the name of the previous owner. ;-)

what if they refer to your house by the name of the original
owner, who died 100+ years ago? it gets confusing too, because
there's at least one other house in town referred to by the
same name...
lee
--
war is peace
freedom is slavery
ignorance is strength
1984-George Orwell

user wrote in
:

On 20 Feb 2006 11:26:37 -0800, Banty
wrote:
In article ,
user says...
Personally, I prefer the North, where you know you're
an
accepted part of the community when they stop referring to
your house by the name of the previous owner. ;-)

Which can be decades! Unless you do something like paint
it salmon pink! ;-)
Banty (it's *my* house fersure)

We have a neighbor three doors down, who, I kid you not,
painted his house
like a huge U.S. Flag, right after 9/11. It covered the
entire front of his 2-story house, including the garage -
stars and bars, and in as correct proportion as he could
get. The house was painted like that until last Summer.

there's a house in Epping NH that's painted bright orange
with purple polka dots on the front (the whole huge Victorian
is orange). i suspect a neighbor feud
lee
--
war is peace
freedom is slavery
ignorance is strength
1984-George Orwell

"Rosalie B." wrote in message
...
toto wrote:

On Mon, 20 Feb 2006 11:33:12 -0500, "Marie"
wrote:

"toto" wrote in message
...
Most religious folks I know don't generally bring up religion
with others who are not of their own faith. Most children who are
religious don't tell other kids they are going to hell either.

I have had, over the years, several strangers come to me and my children
in
the grocery store, or a restaurant, and just start talking about Jesus
and
if I went to church. This happened just a few weeks ago, actually, in
Walmart. An elderly man came to say what cute kids I have and then
started
telling me he hopes I have them in church and he just went on and on
about
it. When I first meet people, one of the first questions is where I go to
church. When I answer nowhere, Oh how shocked the people look and just
can't

I think in the case where people were approaching me like that, I
would respond that my religion was my own business and that I did not
want to discuss it. Politely at first, and then increasingly
emphatically. I would not tell them that I didn't believe
specifically although I might say that I was not a Christian and did
not want to be saved.

One approach is to say something like "I'm really very comfortable with my
religious beliefs, thank you for your concern". No need to tell them that
your religious beliefs don't involve being religious.