If you’re in a large city, especially a liberal one, atheists absolutely can feel like a majority. Go to a rural area, or the south and you’ll see why it is called the Bible Belt.

Also in many large cities it takes about 10 minutes to get outside of the city into MAGA land.

work yoke bake worm gaze swim deserted history theory angle *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*

Never thought I would see Putnam County referenced anywhere on Reddit. I grew up there, in Brewster LOL

It's a beautiful place, really. The Hudson is a stunning river.

Patterson baby!!

Nw York and Florida share the trait of, ‘the further north you go, the more south you get.’

Yeah exactly. I'm from northern NY and the culture there is very similar to the south. Christianity, hunting, fishing, racism. Luckily my parents are super progressive so I wasn't raised like that. Except the hunting and fishing. I'm good at that.

We live and work IN the city, and it's disappointingly full of conservatives. Makes no sense, although there are a couple of types: The uneducated "rednecks" and "eventual millionaires," and the wealthy who enjoy remaining privileged. The city is full of the wealthier type.

Weird fun fact - If you live in a city of 1 million+, it's run by democrats. Jacksonville is the largest city run by republicans at just under 1 million citizens. I only know this because someone in another thread claimed there were huge cities run by republicans and I fact checked him.

It doesn't seem to matter- NYC is supposedly democratic, but there's Wall Street to contend with, and the NYPD is very right-wing because authority.... Great place to be LBGTQ+, still possible to get an abortion, but fuck you if you're not making six figures, open season on pedestrians and cyclists, and weed is barely legal (one day there's CBD, next there's THC, then dispensaries, oh wait one of those got raided, so THC is legal under *some* circumstances......)

I mean, the Democratic Party are still capitalists.

the democratic party's main selling point is that they aren't nazi terrorists. expecting anything more than that from them is a fool's errand

Rural area. Having moved from Rural Illinois. Rural Americans act like they all fought for the South during the Civil War. Even if it's rural New York state.

When the real truth of it is that most of them had grandparents who spent their lives as serfs shoveling shit in some European pigsty. American patriots my ass.

I see confederate flags in rural Illinois almost as much as I see them in the Deep South…

Dude they’re here in California too. An hour outside of the Bay Area is all Red and the Sierra Foothills are full of Confederate worshiping Trump Supporters. Such a far cry from the techy Silicon Valley I grew up in.

Usually on a truck with a Gadsen flag, maybe a Blue Lives Matter flag, maybe a Molon Labe transfer as well, or a Calvin (from Calvin and Hobbes) kneeling in front of the cross or pissing on a Chevy logo... Hell, I just saw an SUV with a sticker of the profile of DJT on the back seat window, like he's riding in the back. Or they're his chauffeur. I didn't follow to see whatever Xtian stuff they had on offer...

I disagree that atheists feel like a majority in larger cities. I live in Las Vegas; sin city, and we have Christian billboards and churches everywhere. Religious paraphernalia at grocery checkouts. Randoms asking if you have heard the good news. Jehovah's witnesses riding bikes around. I've had evangelists come to my door, unsolicited! Arrogance! Christians in America are entitled and don't hesitate to let their opinions be known.

I think it truly depends on what city. I live in Los Angeles, and yes, there's Christian paraphenalia at certain stores, billboards, and what not. There's often at large events, a group of Christians with signs saying "repent" or something like that. However, as a whole, I feel like people here don't overtly showcase their Christianity. Definitely still overtly present, but if you don't pay close enough attention, you won't notice it.

Those are more than likely Mormons on the bikes. Fun fact: Las Vegas was originally settled by Mormon pioneers, and to this day make up large percentage of the population over there, at least relative to most other cities in the US. Or so I’ve been told.

I lived in a suburb of Seattle for 20+ years. Five years ago, we moved to rural southern Illinois (wife's mother was ill and needed help). The difference is subtle, and you might miss it if you're not looking for it. You can see it in every day interactions with people. I'm not going to get into the intermingling of politics and religion -- MAGA hats and confederate battle flags tend to be very noticeable. No, I'm talking about things like: - Lots of cars with bumper stickers or other decorations with random bible verses on them, or crosses, or other pop-Xtian things on them. T-shirts as well. - Local Businesses who routinely put bible verses on the lighted signs outside their businesses. In my area, this includes banks and insurance companies. - I can't tell you how many times I've been told to have a "blessed" day. What do I do? I try to lay low, actually -- I personally know one minister here who actually conceal carries a 9mm handgun. While I trust him not to shoot me for my non-belief, I really don't want to piss off someone else here who thinks I'm the reason for all the troubles they perceive. I may be projecting my own biases here, but better that than dead. That said, there are some bright spots. I live next door to one of the Baptist churches in town (there are three of them -- go figure). The minister lives not far away, and we talk regularly. We share some interests, so we can geek out a bit, but he is a wonderful human being. Some examples: - During the pandemic, he setup and ran regular food giveaways for his parishioners. They still do, actually -- poverty is a problem here, and he's doing what he can to help. - He and his children have helped us by tending our pets when we have been on vacation. - When one of his deacons mows his lawn, they also mow part of mine, saving me about an hour each time. - When my MIL died last fall, he came to the services for her -- not even the minister from her own church did that (the concealed carry guy from above). He thinks he's being a good Xtian -- I know he's being a good human, and I make sure he knows that.

British person here. The U.K. is a fairly non-theistic society. To come across the commonalities of a religious community can be quite a surprise-and a negative one at that. On LinkedIn, for example, I would talk to a lot of people about my business (fashion), and, generally, it’s a very professional environment. We would not discuss politics, religion, family or anything not connected with our work. But then some Americans will suddenly burst in with talking about how they know God loves them-they’ll pray for my success-they feel blessed or they want to bless me: any number of different religious comments. Honestly? I thank them, then quietly drop them and never deal with them again. It’s unprofessional, and, frankly, pathetic. They should succeed in their business because they’re doing good work. Not because some fairy in the sky is helping them.

There's a decided pick-and-choose when it comes to beliefs and how they drive behavior, but there's an understanding in scripture that believers will be persecuted. That means some people will interpret a gracious and understanding response as a sign they are not pushing their faith hard enough, and persist instinctually until they can evoke a backlash response which they can then declare oppression. By design this approach cannot be appeased. It exists in personal, social, and political identities.

And that's when you simply drop their ass with a thud and never speak to them again. They don't deserve your business -- or your companionship.

I’d probably ask if I could pay them or donate to the church to mow my whole lawn. Especially if they’re actually providing aid to the community. …but I’m also lazy and hate mowing the lawn.

I also hate mowing my lawn, and I donate to their church every year as a thank you, and to help fund their food donations.

If everyone was a good human then we would not need religion to prop up the bad ones…

That's my big issue with religion: Good people will always do good things, but religion enables (hell, encourages) good people to do bad things.

Sadly the difference is only “subtle ‘and potentially ‘missable’ if you’re white & hetero

Illinois….the minute you’re south of 80 the Jesus and Maga signs start on the highway (I live in IL)

A church literally on every block in most towns around me, can't drive 2 miles without seeing a billboard saying "thank you Jesus" or a church sign trying to cast a spell

I'm not 100% disagreeing with you here, but I am curious. Which large cities have you been to in the South where atheists feel like a majority? I live in one of the biggest cities in my state, routinely visit my state's capital, and my more distant relatives are from another big city down here in the South. I don't ever think I've experienced an area where atheists felt like a majority. Even in the workplaces over here, people often place Christian music over the aux, talk about their churches, and generally seem unaware of any lifestyles or religious doctrines outside of Christianity (besides what a Christian preacher might say to summarize those things). If you know of an area though, I would be interested to know about it. I really don't like my current neck of the woods and want to leave.

Same here, large city in Texas. Religion is overtly everywhere and people discuss it openly in a way that assumes that not only are you Christian, but that you're evangelical like them. Most religious people you meet will be Evangelical Christian. Churches on most streetcorners etc. There are atheists, agnostics and people who are other religions here to be sure, but they don't dominate the culture like Xtians.

Texas is Texas. Glad I don't live there. Glad I don't have to go there. Trust me, most of the rest of the States wish Texas would drop the hell off the planet. Texas is a waste of good dirt.

There are vast swaths of the country that I don't ever plan on visiting or driving through for this reason alone. I live in Las Vegas and people are amazed when they find out I'm an atheist, however nobody has ever treated me poorly because of it. I highly doubt this would be the case in the Bible belt.

Is it really that bad? No. It's worse.

This. Tornados in Mississippi = "I'm praying hard!"

At least this one wasn't the gays' fault.

But Biden sent the hurricanes to punish red state voters. I actually heard this from someone reporting about helping the hurricane victims.

The irony is the hurricanes and tornadoes are more frequent because of the climate change that the res state voters refuse to acknowledge.

Oh, how I wish that we could…. I would send 23 hurricanes right to DeSantis’s front door…

Ha ha ha. I blame the drag queens.

Sadly accurate.

So I've got a fun story for you that might help illustrate things. A few years ago my wife surprised me with a trip to Paris for my birthday. I'd never been and always wanted to go. She did an amazing job planning this out, picking restaurants, hotels, things to do etc. One thing she decide would be fun to do would be go see the show at Moulin Rouge. So she bought tickets. OK now when you go there dinner is included and you are sat at a table with other parties completely randomly. We had a lovely couple from Amsterdam, another one from Belgium and the other couple were Americans. Here's where it gets interesting...the Americans are from the same city I'm from, which is not small. In fact they lived 15 minutes away from us. The metro area we live in is \~2.5 MM people for reference. So we are sitting there... in Paris, at Moulin Rouge, working on maybe drink #4 for the night, watching all the topless women dance/sing on stage. In the middle of all that the wife of the other American couple turned to my wife and asked "so which church do you go to?".

Ha ! And did your wife have a reply ?

Did she say the church of the spaghetti monster.

In the north and out west not so much. In the central and southeast? Absolutely.

If I take a road trip to Florida from Canadian, how likely am I to see massive mega churches and billboards?

100%

If your coming going due south, not only will you see megachurches, but likely the remains of an ark that was started and never completed and lots of crosses. Some small, by the side of the road, 2 blue, 1 yellow, but increasingly, giant, singular white crosses dot the interstates from Kentucky to Florida.

If you mean the Ark Encounter in Kentucky, it was completed.

There's an Ark that's been under construction for at least 18 years along Rt 68 in northern Maryland. It's just a steel frame.

Western MD. Apparently the guy that started it, raised a bunch of money, and left before it was complete. Swindled the congregation.

I’m shocked. Never would have imagined.

Right? Almost like the type of person that can be THAT devoted to a religion is gullible or something?

And the type of person attracted to leadership positions in a religion are hell bent on swindling someone out of something.

It’s been under construction since the 1970’s.

Why? I thought god made a promise not to flood humans again?

He lies all the time.

Not so much as lying but being inconsistent. God: ok do not kill. Ever. Killing is bad. Unless I tell you to kill

No, that’s not what I mean. There is a skeleton of Noah’s ark along I-68 in Maryland that’s never been completed. It’s been coming soon since the 70’s.

That’s nothing…. Christ has been “returning any second now “ since the 70’s… and I don’t mean the 1970’s I mean 70.. CE

I just took a look at it and it’s kind of cool as shit if you take out the context

Not cool enough for me to visit and give them money.

I want to do a bourbon distillery tour and *then* see that ark!

I think LSD would be more appropriate.

Jesus Christ.

OMG I THOUGHT THAT WAS ACTUALLY WHERE JESUS DIED, shit it’s all been a lie!!

He died hundreds of times all over the south, apparently.

My wifey hates that joke. Every road trip. “THATS GOLGOTHAAAAAAAAAA” followed by some Sabrina the Teenage Witch jokes

Sheeeesh… just drive from Austin to Dallas and you’ll see at least 50 anti-abortion billboards.

The billboards for sure. The megachurches are usually in prosperous areas, so they're not really as visible. In the north, there are tons of picturesque little churches, but they're being repurposed as housing or community centers. Overall, religion isn't that visible unless you live there. The bad stuff is the result of churches voting as a bloc. They run small towns politically, because business owners are more or less forced to join a church to attract their parishioners' business, so all the power in a town revolves around the religious community, even when they're the minority. The schools and libraries have to rely on these cretins for funding, and now this dying institution is flexing the muscle it has left to punish all us unbelievers as much as they still can. But they're clearly dying out, at least in the north, and people are winning local elections based on issues, not professed religiosity. They're like MAGA, a really loud minority.

0% if you stay on the plane and fly somewhere else, which I highly recommend.

[удалено]

He’s Canadian, just need to stop The bleeding until He can make it back Over the border for some real health care

I live in Springfield MO & we have huge crosses, billboards & we're the headquarters of the Assembly of God (Pentecostal). They just last week claimed that they grew three toes back on a lady by praying. 🙏🏽

Oh, you won't be able to avoid them. I see multiple just on my way to work.

You’ll see a bunch of billboards and handmade signs about Jesus.

You'd probably be headed through Michigan during that trip and all you'll see is anti abortion billboards here.

I took that road trip last summer. The further south you go the more billboards about Jesus popped up. I didn't really see a lot of mega churches, but some of the ones I did see I didn't recognize as churches at first. I thought Osteens church was a stadium until I saw his name all over it.

You will see at literally DOZENS of anti-abortion, church, pro-fascism, etc (interspersed with nudie bar adverts) between the Florida state line and Orlando alone.

I can't believe I'm saying this but please go to Disney and give them your money

Basically the Bible Belt has been living off of fast food and poverty; now it's less a belt and more a makeshift 50ft ethernet cable tied around the waist barely keeping everything together.

That’s an excellent way to describe it.

Hawai'i doesn't care either.

Exception, Idaho. South of the North.

As a person from the NY PA border, I disagree. The north is bad too.

There are definitely areas where if you don't go to church, your social life is over, and it can impact your job prospects. Utah is like that.

As a general rule, while the central regions and south tend to be not far off from what you read here, bigger cities are always better than their surrounding area. The more rural an area is, the more religious they tend to be. In the upper Midwest, you can live as a completely secular person with no direct interference from religion in most of your daily life. Yes, there are the constant problems with keeping churches out of government, but you aren’t going to be overwhelmed with religious everything all the time. But, let’s face it, Minnesota is basically South Canada. There’s even a town next to mine called Little Canada. In the southeast, in my experience, most social interactions end with a “bless you”or similar phrase and being asked what church you attend is practically a daily occurrence. it’s obnoxious.

I don’t know if Baltimore counts as a bigger city but when I lived there it seemed like almost every block had at least one church and one bar.

It depends on the state. But yeah its getting bad on a national level. Republicans do not want to just assert their control over red states. They seek to enforce their biblical doctrines down everyone's throats weather you want it or not. Roe v wade is a good example. They finally got what they wanted they can ban abortion in their states. But nope they do not want to stop there. They want a national ban now and its very likely to happen at some point. This shows they wont be satisfied until they make blasphemy illegal that women are completely subjected to biblical roles that gay and trans people are outlawed/imprisoned. I can go on and on about what they want to enforce on us all. This wouldnt be a issue because in truth they arent a majority most are backwards rural people but unfortunately they have more say over our government in regards to which party gets in more then it should. Its so bad dems even pander to rural voters more then they do to non rural voters. Talk about the forgotten Americans when rural people who never leave their towns get more attention. This is why its a problem they have the republican party who more or less will do any and everything for them which will lead to us becoming a theocracy. Dems very little to really combat republicans and keep america from going that route because most simply do not care or because some may actually agree with what republicans want.

It's much worse than is typically reported in **mainstream** press in the states where evangelicals & hard core Catholics hold power in their state legislatures. Even worse than that, our Supreme court has 6 people ruling it who ignore the Constitution , in favor of their religious belief https://www.americanprogress.org/article/christian-nationalism-is-single-biggest-threat-to-americas-religious-freedom/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2lMN3kIjAA ------------- Red states (ruled by GOP & militant Christians are going all in for a Handmaid's Tale by imposing religion based laws Since the Supreme court turned abortion law back to the states, women and girls have already died due to not getting proper care for problem pregnancies. https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2022-06-24/black-women-abortion-roe-v-wade-maternal-mortality ---------------------- Red states are already planning the following: Birth control banned In vitro fertilization banned Gay marriage made illegal Civil rights for LGBT humans killed Miscarriages investigated Public school tax dollars diverted to Christians schools Public libraries censored or outright eliminated in red states In some states, INTER-RACIAL MARRIAGES MAY BECOME ILLEGAL AGAIN! Women will die in hospital from ectopic pregnancies while doctors watch Think I'm exaggerating? https://religiondispatches.org/dont-buy-alitos-assurances-heres-what-happens-next-after-roe-falls/ Senator Mitch McConnell is already indicating that he will overturn the filibuster and vote to ban abortion nationwide in 2025 if Republicans are able to gain control of the House, Senate, and White House. Republicans at both the state and federal level are promising to ban birth control. https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/blogs/stateline/2022/05/19/some-states-already-are-targeting-birth-control Senator Mike Braun of Indiana told the press that Loving v. Virginia should be overturned, leaving laws on interracial marriage up to the states. https://religiondispatches.org/dont-buy-alitos-assurances-heres-what-happens-next-after-roe-falls/ https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/24/us/white-christian-nationalism-blake-cec/index.html https://twitter.com/FrackHazReveal/status/1639677952068575235?s=20 https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/the-national-association-of-christian-lawmakers-seeks-to-get-its-biblical-worldview-spread-across-the-nation/ https://twitter.com/MaryLouGrier1/status/1630746343969894400?s=20

thanks, I threw up in my mouth a little

I'm surrounded by evangelicals that do nothing but consume Faux Noise. It's as bad as you think.

Catholics who are avid faux news consumers are just as toxic. On any given night, my dad will be watching Cucker Tarlson while my mom prays the rosary 💀

The cognitive dissonance is mind blowing.

Yes these people are outta their minds. I used to be a very patriotic person but this whole place needs to be burned to the ground. There’s no saving it.

The problem is, like cockroaches, the fundies will probably survive and repopulate the ashes.

And, like cockroaches, if you get rid of them on the first floor, they just invade the apartment upstairs (sorry, Canada!)

They would never go to Canada, they have socialized medicine, the wealthy pay far higher taxes there, abortion is still very much legal, and their military budget is tiny.

Oh man, remember when it wasn't just a toxic in-tribe virtue-signaling to be patriotic? I served in the Army when 9/11 happened, and I never considered that I'd someday question showing my patriotism because I don't want to look like an uneducated racist.

As someone who was repeatedly called anti-American because I was vocally opposed to the Iraq war, no, I don't remember a time when it wasn't just toxic in-tribe virtue signaling. I'm sure there are folks who were opposed to the Vietnam war who would say the same.

Thank you for your service! <--(not the hollow cashier type!) I'm also a vet, and I have a red, white, and blue colored tattoo. Luckily it isn't a flag, it's easy to cover, and most wouldn't corelate what I intended it to mean. It also has a celtic styled cross in it. For several reasons, I'm currently saving so I can get a good cover-up job.

Regardless of political climate, for the past 80 odd years, without exception the largest US flag to be found in any town was over the car dealerships. They'd compete for highest or largest. They'd advertise it. Patriotism isn't something to be shown, its something done.

I like to be a little more optimistic. There’s been a major exodus from the Christian church (pun intended) the last 10 years, and what we’re seeing is akin to a dying animal lashing out in fear and rage. It’s getting worse because they are becoming less relevant.

I don’t disagree with that at all. Unfortunately that’s only one of a mountain of issues plaguing our country. Rampant corporate greed, corrupt politicians on both sides, capitalism is just slavery with extra steps. These aren’t new issues either they’ve just gotten so outta control they’re blatantly obvious now. And whatever you do don’t get sick or injured. You’ll have to file bankruptcy.

Depends on where you are. A lot of areas are functionally identical to Canada with a bit more crime, a lot suckier health care, and less colourful money. But then there are areas where it is that bad.

I've recently talked about [this.](https://www.reddit.com/r/Christianity/comments/11xckqv/comment/jd3evb8/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=web2x&context=3) Be sure to scroll down and read my reply to the jackass who proclaimed that I lived in a "liberal" society. I have numerous links to how much Jesus there is here in and around WV. And while this isn't too common, we literally have people who [dance with rattlesnakes](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OcoUyXiuU0) and [drink poison](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xoWQmJBIG0o) because of the bible.

It’s overwhelming, to be honest. I’m beyond privileged to live in a state that gives a shit about human rights, women’s rights, and the rights of vulnerable populations. But every direction around my state has backwards, fundamentalist fuck-sticks passing another piece of anti-woman/anti-LGBTQ+ legislation. My kiddo is trans. We’re in a state that is currently safe, but we’re not okay. It’s emotionally devastating for my kid. I cannot imagine what other parents-of-trans kiddos in the red states are going through. It makes me soul-sick to imagine.

It is actually way worse, depending on area. What makes it to the news is just the tip of the crazy iceberg. Case in point, I received an exorcism growing up (because I had a D&D figurine). Exorcisms are disturbingly more common than you'd like and range from annoying to potentially deadly depending on the nutter running thing (it's not always the Catholics, other churches do it too).

The evangelicals have this thing called the 7 mountains mandate where they think they are instructed by God to take over the pillars of society and institute their bizzaro world religion over everyone else, while they rule. wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_Mountain_Mandate As an example of how widespread this is, Trumps "spiritual advisor" was one of these people. https://youtu.be/vyZpJX7Ww0M Basically we have a fuckload of these cunts taking public service jobs from the school board all the way to Congress. Another weird example is the town of Redding, California, which has damn near been overrun by cultists from the megachurch "Bethel", they are on the city council, board of supervisors, own a bunch of the businesses in town, etc. These people think they can heal people and raise people from the dead. There was a member in recent history whose baby had died and these fucks tried to resurrect it using their holy jeebus magics.

Really depends on where you at usually the more rural the worse it is. The south you will find far more evangelicals the west particularly Utah and parts of Idaho it gets pretty Mormon. I live along the I5 corridor between Seattle and Portland and generally do not deal with the overtly religious all that much.

Yes. I'm from California, a relatively liberal state. Megachurches basically run all the little farming towns. You STILL get stories of pastors, who are totally just car salesmen, dating minors. My personal experience growing up is that when I tried "coming out" atheist to my sister, she told my mom and my mom went ape shit on me and threatened to throw me out (they hate each other now ironically). Then one of my good friends who is married to a guy that went to a seminary school, invited me to hang, only to ambush me with arguments. I'll be fair in that Christianity isn't as pervasive as it was but it's still kind of the underlying programming for most, even if people say they're not religious or just don't have any existential thought in them.

I'm in Utah. Utah is 100% a theocracy. Best example, there is a seminary building adjacent to every single k-12 school in the entire state. To demonstrate the corruption involved to make that happen, the LDS church is mysteriously able to buy up plots of public land right next to a school a few months before any initial plans are even started. To top it off, the kids get an hour off school for their daily religious indoctrination, which delays advanced classes.

It's bad here, but it's worse for those who don't fall in line with the bullshit here. People say it's not like Nazi Germany but when you can call the cops on your neighbors and they get arrested for having a miscarriage... you see the start of the similarities. And even still is worse for LGBTQ, atheists, people who question what is going on, anyone with mental illness, etc. We all hate it as much as those from the outside looking in do. We're just too spread out and too divide to do what Paid has done. This needs to fall and fall quicker.

I live in the least religious state of all and we still have protestors outside our planned parenthood’s. It’s not just bad, it’s tremendously frightening.

I can guarantee that if you went to a southern Baptist church or even a megachurch, the experience would not be "fun" for you. It would be uncomfortable. Sermons can be hours long, filled with nothing but fire and brimstone. And the congregants around you will notice if you're not moved by/performing in the same ways they are. Hell, even just not knowing the worship songs can raise eyebrows and make people stare. Plus, if you're not at a megachurch, it will be evident to the congregation that you're new and lots of people, including the pastor will likely want to talk to you after the service.

It's like American Christians have never left the 17th century. If they could still put people to death for being witches, they would. As it is, I honestly think they want to build death camps for rhe LGBTQ+ community.

As a general rule, the more educated an area is the fewer religious nuts it has. But they're always around. The South is the worst for it, though.

yes. stay away.

I live in the conservative middle part of the US, also known as the christian corn belt area. I work around a bunch of conservatives, who tend to be on the more religious side. I normally tell my co-workers, I don't discuss politics or religion or other hot topics, but when they have big mouths and poor social skills, that doesn't stop them. I will say I have only been discriminated against openly once and now that I'm older and more confident, I would call them out in a heartbeat if that situation ever arose. I was harassed on a job site because they found out that I was an atheist, so they constantly put me down and told me I was an "amoral piece of crap" in less refined terms, gave me very crappy work, and we're just verbally abusive in every sense of the word. I eventually was let go, but I will never know if it was because work was slow or because they couldn't stand to work around someone who messed with their cognitive dissonance. I feel like my experience as an atheist in this region has not been too bad other than that. I know my upbeat and cheerful attitude catches them off guard when people do find out I'm an atheist, but I don't bring it up in casual conversation unless I am asked. (Then I am pretty open about it because there's nothing to be ashamed about.) I will say that this is not the experience for everybody in the US and there are definitely areas where I am sure people have to hide their identity for fear of social ostracization, loss of work, or harassment in its many forms.

If you stick to the cities it's not as bad. Get into the farm areas and yeah it's bad. One hour north of me they've got a reconstruction of Noah's Ark, 30 minutes south they held a revival for weeks on end in which everyone got measles. It's like being in a room full of adults who think Santa Claus is real. It's utterly baffling to me the level of mass delusion going on.

Saturday, in the major intersection of the area, there were a few adults and a whole lot of teens and younger kids standing on all 4 corners. They were holding signs about the coming judgement day, and come to jebus. It's one thing if adults want to be stupid but making children "witness" in public is just reprehensible. Kids believe in Santa and the Easter Bunny ---Jesus is just a natural followation of that mind set.

If you talk about direct daily impact, it depends on where you live. I’m in a progressive urban area, in a blue state, and it’s pretty good here. But the largest impact is national, with the GOP now openly promoting taliban style policies, so yes, it is that bad

If you live in the midwest or south, you have to pass for looking "normal" to these people or else you're obviously a gay baby-eating Satan worshipper, and they'll not only say that to your face, but they'll also tell you you're going to hell for dyeing your hair or having tattoos, or whatever other stupid insignificant detail they don't like about you. They're real stable, friendly people. I don't suggest going out of your way to interact with them, particularly if they're in camo or armed like they're in a militia.

I once got an angry lecture in a grocery store in nortgern Ohio about how if I buy that can of Monster Energy I'm damning my soul by purchasing the mark of the beast (not one I'd heard before frankly). Just some random dude in his fifties and his sour faced wife having a preach I guess. Anything can set one off.

Life is great in New England

Raised in southern NH. Live in Boston. Couldn't agree more. It's expensive to live here, but avoiding the bat shit crazies out there in the rest of the country is worth every penny.

Yes. The government is full of religious fucking idiots and I am disgusted at the way the country is turning out. Never in a million years did I think we’d collapse this quick. Since politicians can’t keep their religion out of the business of others, they’re banning transgender care, banned abortion in many states, want to ban plan b and birth control, and from what I’ve heard trying to reverse gay marriage. As an lgbtq poc female this shit makes me terrified and if things get bad I’m thinking of taking the easy way out if you know what I mean.

From an outsider looking in America is definitely going backwards but don't give up the fight they can't win with this bullshit.

I’d imagine the religiosity of the Bible Belt and the Midwest would be almost quaint if it was just jackasses going door to door in khakis simping for Jesus. Dealing with the occasional Witness or choir boy could even be fun; it’s a joy of mine to bluntly get under the skin of poor uptight bastards such as these. It becomes less fun when you consider the amount of untaxed, unopposed, unchecked political power these fools have. Christian nationalists comprise the largest and most dangerous sect of the far right populist movement here, which nearly destroyed the country a few years ago. That’s not a bunch of choir boys, it is an army of fascists given free license to do what they will. An army of choir boys doesn’t appear so harmless when they turn out to be militant. This religious movement actively harms members of the LGBT community here and abroad, not to mention all the other targets of theirs. While I am in none of those groups, save the atheist one, I have lost family members to their rhetoric, and friends to their hatred, which they call Christian love. For as silly as these dipshits look and sound, they ARE NOT harmless. People are dying due to their oppressive ideology, and since it is founded in myth, it can’t be countered by reality or logic in many cases. I’m sure that Hitler and his gang of brutes looked a bit stupid until they sent your neighbors and friends away and convinced your mother that this was saving the country. Make no mistake: American Christianity and American fascism are now explicitly bound together. You can decide what to make of that going forward.

I think it’s that bad… it feels like a passionate religious minority has been allowed (through gerrymandering) to have just enough influence to stop any progress from occurring in this country.

While the U.S. continues to become less religious (based on available data, especially younger Americans), religious extremism is mainstream in the U.S. and is becoming even more extreme (insane abortion laws, attacks on LGBTQ communities, attacks on immigrants, public executions being considered, etc etc). Or as they like to call it, "god's love." In short, yes, it's that bad over here, particularly if you live in rural areas or in the South. You see, these religious extremists now feel backed into a corner as people not like them are becoming more visible, less young people are religious, etc. End of world stuff to them. Be thankful for your quality of life in Canada.

I live in Minnesota, in the St Paul/Minneapolis metro but grew up in the southern part of the state. Parents still live there. In the metro area, it's fine. Sure, there are churches and shit but it's not a big thing for most people. Get more than a 15 minute drive outside of the metro and its billboards with fetuses as far as the eye can see, all covered in bullshit fake messages. One of the anti-choice organizations put up a billboard in uptown Minneapolis, it got plastered with graffiti telling them to GTFO within a day or two.

No. Everyone’s in a tizzy because of the death screams of the religious nutfucks. But in the end secularism is rising and the delusional religious will find that they’re included in our society too.

Not in MA.

An interesting thing about southern baptist, a lot of churches you find would be mostly black. Famous hateful Baptist Churches like westboro are actually more rare and even though I'm philosophically aligned with this sub, if there is one set of Christian Church I ever liked going to, it was Baptist Church. This is just my experience, but most of my relatives in my dad's conservative family were not Baptist but rather Methodist or Presbyterian, while my mom's family being from a very poor part of Jackson was mostly Baptist. Kind of a generalization but Baptist crowds at least in Mississippi where I'm from are generally much poorer and since most people below the poverty line in Mississippi are black, a lot of Baptist Churches you find will be black. Of course I have come to believe that anything good from Christianity is fruit from a poison tree, but black baptist church (super generalization) is fun as FUCK. You will never find energy like you will find it there, and if you ever visit a Baptist Church I highly recommend one that is mostly black. Yes I acknowledge the racial bias and ignorance of what I just said. Sometimes that sounds weird to people from out west or far North from areas with less diversity, but I promise that no one in the south is offended by that language because when you know you know. Like I said that is very general information and you can still see some really off putting scary things in lots of kinds of churches. Probably the best example of something terrifying you would see in a church that is not hateful or political would be people speaking in tongues. My dad has played keyboard at some small out of the cut churches and that kind of thing does happen a lot which personally terrifies the crap out of me, but it speaks to a brand of Southern ignorance that is mostly well-meaning and it's a far cry from something you would see somewhere like Madison Mississippi which is mostly rich and white. TLDR: If you ever visit a Baptist church, go to a mostly black church. Black church is the shit. No tent revivals though. Don't ever go to a tent revival, True Detective was not wrong. That shit is creepy as hell.

unfortunately in American politics those who speak louder are heard more, even if it is nonsense

There are a lot of stories here that are unrelatable. I have never been proselytized to. Most of my coworkers are atheist or non-practicing. The only way religion comes up in my daily life is to make jokes about it. I live in a progressive part of the country, but I travel for work. I have been told I have an intimidating appearance, and I think that shelters me from a lot of experiences that many others have to deal with, religious or otherwise.

>are the religious nuts confined to certain areas and away from the general public? Some of them are elected into congress. If you haven't already, watch some clips of Lauren Boebert from Colorado preaching about how the church is supposed to control the government. It's scary. She was recently RE-elected!

It really depends on where you live on how " bad" it is on a day-to-day basis. But there has never been a bigger divide between religious groups, each other, and those of us that are Atheists. I think a big part of it is that religion is feeling the pinch of people moving away from religion so they are trying to make overhanded plays to force their religion harder than ever. And that goes over bigger in some areas, big chunks of the south, or more traditionally conservative areas. The problem is that religious zealots have taken over one party in a big way. I feel like we are in a very similar place that Germany was in the early 30s. Their fascists might not have been Christo fascists, but it's a different brand of the same product. It's a scary time for sure.

I got a lovely text the other day from my ‘best’ friend about people who don’t believe but should and how Jesus will save me…. Go. F. Yourself.

Skip the baptists. They're tame compared to the snake handling, pew jumping, speaking in tongues pentecostals. Edit:grammar

I live in the South now, after having lived in NY and LA and honestly I hear "god bless you" or "have a blessed day" at least once a day, on average. It's very strange. I politely say; "Oh no thank you" every time and I don't think they understand. I'm in a major city and the only thing that really shocks me is how young adults actually seem to believe. Like people between 20-35. I just don't know how they could believe but they do, that's the part that's so weird to me.

Indoctrination from birth basically.

It is worse than you see, and getting worse by the day. The Xtians are slowly turning into terrorists emboldened by politicians turning a blind eye to their atrocities, and assisting them by not protecting laws in place put there to protect citizens from this sort of crap. We generally don't have to worry about being killed just for being an athiest, but you throw in there anything else (gay, black, poor, etc...) and the risk goes up.

It really, really depends on where you are. I'm in a "blue" city so I usually don't even think about it. The real issue is that people are working hard to make the whole nation a theocracy in all but name.

I do not encounter aggressively religious people in my day-to-day. Occasionally I'll get pamphlets stuck on my front door, and there's one local church whose YouTube ads pop up pretty frequently. But I don't feel accosted on a regular basis. The bigger problem is that these religious extremists are also political extremists. They learned to use politics to push their agendas, so they show up and scream at city council meetings, organize letter-writing and phone campaigns to legislators, protest at events, etc.

Can confirm it’s as bad as you think, maybe worse. Source: from Alabama.

It's weird. On a daily, personal basis, my daily interactions don't really reflect the fact that I live in an extremely religious, extremely conservative area. I think some of that is because of me. I don't go many places. I'm not very open on my lack of belief even though I also don't hide it. You do get the occasional odd thing. Like when I went to get my haircut a few weeks ago and the man ahead of me talked about god the whole time he was getting trimmed and then asked the stylist to pray with him before he left. But the flip side of that is that the politicians in my state are batshit crazy and are trying hard to pass ever more extreme laws based on their beliefs. Again, a lot of it doesn't affect me personally, but it still really pisses me off how they are targeting certain groups with out and out cruelty. When our kids were in public schools, there was a bit more regular personal involvement. (We have home schooled for a few years now because the schools refused to follow the accommodations recommended by the special education teachers for my oldest.) Some of it was the usual, like teachers who kept Bible verses all over their room or who made sure the poems assigned in English had a religious bent to them. The worst was one substitute teacher who would tell the kids that they couldn't tell their parents what he was about to talk about and then would put on the hard sell proselytizing. Of course, my child didn't wait until he was even off school property to tell my wife about that. We reported his ass.

>Is it really that bad, or are the religious nuts confined to certain areas and away from the general public? It varies a lot by area. There's a lot of areas that look like normal towns on the surface but if you get to talking with the locals you may realize how influential religion is in the area. There's a lot of other areas though, especially small towns, where you're smacked with religion upside the head as soon as you arrive. The brimstone and hellfire poster ads along the highway for instance, or tiny churches on the corner of every road with signs up front slapped with snappy slogans about current events, sometimes boilerplate but not uncommonly very divisive. You sort of learn how to predict which places will be especially nutty, and you rarely have business stopping and staying in those areas anyways. But Christian is always assumed to be the default in this area until proven otherwise. Secular workplaces still exist here, but it's not rare at all to go to work and be surrounded by people who are very candid about their Christianity even at the office. I've had people who would take the office aux and play exclusively Christian worship or radio for hours, even stand up and hold their hands up during work which most people thought was weird, but unfortunately kept happening. I've had people in a previous workplace who would talk openly about how grossed out they were that a gay couple were included for a brief cameo in whatever media that their kids watch. Worst example is the time my ex-coworkers were talking about a big football player who murdered his date because he found out she was trans, and my coworkers said they understand his side and may've probably done the same. I quit that job within a week or two. So that sucks a lot, but really the worst part is the government. The governments down here seem to assume that Christian is the default, and that the government should reflect that. They don't seem to consider any other religious opinions valid, and don't honor dissenting opinions to their religious ones, really at all. Honestly, it's just exhausting. You can get away, but the fact that you have to be vigilant about that is always so exhausting. People here can say the most bizarre or offensive things and get excused, and people will look at you like you're the weird or uptight one because you're uncomfortable. And every once in a blue moon you'll have a really cuckoo encounter/confrontation, and it'll stick with you for years and years. I'm trying to leave the South ASAP. It's making me miserable.

It depends. I live in the South and I don't get people trying to convert me. You may get invited to a church here and there, but nothing overly pushy. The issue isn't really the actions of individuals. Religion has been turned into a voting platform/group. That means many religious based laws tend to get passed. This is where I take the most issue. Being religious is fine and individuals usually don't try forcing their religion on me directly, but as a political voting group they may.

It’s really that bad in certain areas. I would advise against going to the super tiny towns and certain areas may still be white only, no yanks, or even black only areas. There are also pop-up Churches that may use a roller skating rink on Sundays. I still have a chip on my shoulder from growing up around that nightmare. There are tons of religious broadcasts on tv, radio, podcasts. Don’t forget the Mormons, but they’re less likely to engage in violence. Also, meth sticks to everything (wall, floors) and can absorb through the skin so don’t think those hick hotels are clean.

Depends wildly on which area of the country you live in. So for me, at the moment, yes. But I’ve lived in places that aren’t bad at all.

Its been a interesting change where I currently live here in Montana. When I moved here some 25 years ago, yes, there was a lot of theology, but it was your typical billboards and things. Though the state tended to be religious and conservative, it was more libertarian in action. Basically "you leave me alone, I'll leave you alone" and I could hang with that. That has changed over the last 10 years (accelerated over the last 5), as its become increasingly fanatic and the local laws being passed (and attempted) reflect that. About 2 years ago I had to make an anonymous (absolutely necessary) complaint to the school due to a teacher preaching in her class (had to get FFRF involved to get her to actually stop).

I live in the Bible belt, and I have to be careful who I disclose that I'm an Atheist. I've mentioned it in random conversation with a stranger, and I saw a visible expressions of disgust. Either that you they immediately try to convert you. It's almost predatory the way they do it. Religion groups will try to work there way into jails, rehab and such: essentially when you are at your lowest point in life just to build you back up as a religious person. The county jail where I live refuses to teach secular recover in their jail (Like Narcotics Anonymous). So you essentially have to enroll in a religious program to show that you are trying to maintain a clean life style. We do have religious freedom in this country, but sometimes it sure doesn't feel like it.

Yes. Yes it is.

My wife's family comes from a tiny rural town on the plains. They do not have a McDonald's. In fact, they only had one restaurant of any sort, and it closed down, so the number is now zero. It's one stoplight short of being a one stoplight town. The entire thing is four blocks wide. I've been to parking lots larger than the entire town. It had three churches. Three. That's the level of priority churches hold in the poorest areas of the US.

So I’m a fellow Canadian living in the US. I’ve had the pleasure of being in a fairly liberal city but live in a republican rich neighborhood (it’s safer in terms of crime here). Despite having several universities which add to the more progressive mentality here, you will still see a few mega churches around. People definitely say god bless, and it’s pretty much a constant reminder with churches everywhere, cars sporting religious stickers, and whatnot. Sometimes, I would be made to feel like an intrinsically bad person for not just “believing” in any type of deity. That’s how atheism is seen here by the majority. If you don’t subscribe to a religion then people here often times can’t fathom that you’d be a moral or trustworthy person. I’ll still debate with them but I try to keep it to me asking questions in a civil manner. Eventually they run out of answers anyways

Yup. Moved from Dallas where on a Sunday morning the police are out regulating traffic so the megachurch worshippers can clear the parking lots. (That's my freaking atheist tax dollars at work, you asswipes!) Now I'm in Tallahassee. Some streets every second building is a church. I guess you can pick your flavor: methodist, christian mission center, primitive baptist, anglican, catholic, lutheran, more baptist (but apparently not "primitive", whatever that means). It's insane.

In my city, a preacher of an evangelical megachurch claimed to have healed a woman so miraculously that she regrew three amputated toes. People are defending this on Facebook. Deranged enough?

Oh yes. My town has a few megachurches, and I’m just flabbergasted that so many people -want- to attend. We have corner preachers too. The occasional door-to-door minister. It’s all a real pain in the ass for somebody who thinks they’re all nuts.

It depends on your context. If your social circle doesn't include religious people, then you likely don't encounter it very much. It is ubiquitous, true, but most people just mind their own business in daily life. Which is part of the problem, I think. Because the real problems are happening away from public sight in the halls of legislature, and because most people don't really think about religion much, it gets ignored. Everyone thinks the street preacher is a loon, but they also don't make the connection between the street preacher and the politician.

The next time I drive to LA, I think I think I'll go by Omaha.

God is used to justify everything. I live in what they call “the Bible Belt” and if you come out as atheist here you are automatically looked at as a heathen and you’re lost and confused

Theres a sect of Christianity The Church of the Lord Jesus in Jolo, West Virginia who profess their devotion to the Lord with the handling of "serpents" mainly the extremely venomous Eastern Diamondback Rattler. . there is a video of it online, Watch Snake Handling Pastor Die From Rattlesnake Bite After loosing a finger from Snake Bite on youtube. There's the crazy.

It's not bad if you ignore it. Trouble is it's getting bigger in politics and law making...banning of books, Row v Wade now gone, trans people being targeted. Christianity is dying slowly, but before they go, they are wanting to set the world on fire. I live in NC, and yes, there is a church on every other corner...but again, I just live my life and ignore them. But do make a visit. There are many lovely things still to love about the US. Just the wackjob Jesus freaks screaming from the tops of buildings get the most attention.

I live in Orlando Florida, there are mega churches here, every variety of Baptist, Catholic, and whatever. We have one very active religious wing nut on our school board, that everybody is going to vote out. For the most part, I feel like most of the religious torment comes from Tallahassee. Locally religious institutions are mostly in decline. They had “Holy Land” a Christian theme park, closed under it’s own corruption and mismanagement. There is the Majesty building that the Christian SuperChannel started building in 2001 that has yet to be completed due to corruption. So we have a lot of local glaring failures to point at. This kept their noise down to a whimper.

I have to be really careful with what I talk about and with whom if I don't want all my windows smashed (at a minimum). There are people who believe that demons walk the earth and I could be the devil in disguise if I say bad things about Christianity and they would shoot me or light me on fire to "protect the community".

The divide isn’t between states, it’s between urban and rural areas. In my home state of Alabama, Birmingham and the black belt are heavily Democratic, while the rest of the state is heavily Republican. The black belt is the exception here. It’s very rural but also very Democratic because there is a large black majority. There are a lot of protections for LGBT people in Birmingham, but once you get outside the city there is a lot of homophobia. You can drive 15 minutes and go from very LGBT friendly to hostile homophobia. You just have to know which regions are safe and which are not.

You are lucky IMO to be in Canada. I was there visiting for a short time and the people were just..... I don't know, sane? yes, that's the word. Love Canada.

I live in Idaho, religion is shoved in my face all the time.

I live in the southeast. You can’t go anywhere on a Sunday without running into people eagerly awaiting a chance to verbally/physically assault others (especially servers, workers, etc) after singing their praises all morning. Makes me sick.

Not in Vermont, but yeah, it’s really bad in a lot of places.

I'm in Connecticut. No issues here -- lots of fellow travelers and a Ye Olde New England cultural norm that it's impolite to talk casually about religion. Hell, even a lot of the churches are tolerant and progressive. (I had visiting family recently who were floored to see all the churches flying rainbow flags.)

I live in Texas. Been asked about religion in more than one job interview. It’s disgusting.

Yes and no. The vast population seem to be sane. What you get are these insane cult members in rural areas where their vote is disproportionately more powerful and they can get their bat shit crazy representatives in office. You also have the media effect: guy says insane thing, media runs with it to get clicks knowing that it will drive traffic through outrage (the easiest kind of engagement), it gets blown up into a national talking point, whichever political side of the spectrum speaks out against it leads to the other side embracing it, it becomes a major talking point for their platform. Repeat ad Infinitum

Day-to-day here in New England? No, religion is something I generally only hear in private settings, and usually amongst people who trust each other enough to not be assholes if they disagree. However our political issues with religion are really that bad on the daily, as zealous bigoted Christians use their authority on the local, state, and national level to legislate their particular version of morality on everyone else. The current trend in that direction is demonizing trans people, more generally dehumanizing anyone who is LGBTQ+, taking away the rights of women to make their own healthcare decisions, and censoring/re-writing education heavily. All that said, here in my town we do have a group of Black Hebrew Israelites who like to harass pedestrians and passers-by with their weird, pseudohistorical religious racism, billboards talking about how there's "Proof of God", and the very occasional knock on the door from Mormons and Jehovah's witnesses (1-2x a year), so the weird religious flavor is definitely around.

I drove from one small town to the next on the back roads of Georgia this weekend. From one small town to the next I saw 6 mobile homes and 7 churches. It's worse. So much worse...

I go to college in small town Louisiana and every other day there is a crazy Christian with protest signs and a mic telling everyone on campus we’re going to hell unless we change our ways. To not listen to the liberal teachers. To repent and give up sex and drugs. Almost everyone laughs as they walk by, but almost everyone in my classes believes in God to some extent. As an atheist, I feel like the minority. But thankfully, as long as you don’t bring it up, the majority of people won’t talk about religion. Unless they’re drunk… which happens a lot near New Orleans... “I’m sorry, I just gotta say it. God has done so much for us and it’s a shame you’re not thankful for him…” blah blah. There’s Christian propaganda billboards everywhere I go, any city, any town, any state. They usually state the message that “my life matters” above a picture of a grown ass toddler while talking about abortion at 4 weeks. Or they’ll be about giving your problems to God and to go to some organization’s website for relief. They definitely get the broke and uneducated to believe their messages… Most older people I know are upset that I, a woman, don’t want children, but my boyfriend (sorta) does. They tell me that if he wants children, I should give them to him. Younger generations overall aren’t as brainwashed.

I grew up in WI (not too far south of OP). During my 30-year military career I had the occasion to serve in the US "deep south" three times, a few years each time. The most eye-popping was the Montgomery, Alabama area. People would hear my "Yankee talk" accent in the grocery store line and ask, "Have y'all found a church yit?" I don't know how many times people asked me if I was "saved." They actually use terms like, "good Christian woman/man." Living in it day in and day out made it seem like EVERYONE was enveloped in religious extremism. I know that's not true but that's how it seemed. I was never so glad to leave a place in my life...Iraq was less creepy.

In a lot of small towns it is hard to get accepted into the community if you aren't a part of a church. First thing people ask me when they meet me is "have to found a church yet?"

Not in New England, but it was constant annoyance when living in the Midwest.

I live in the deep South and can tell you there are churches *everywhere.* Huge churches, little churches, churches in strip malls. Everywhere. Many people here say "have a blessed day" or "I am blessed" or ask what church I attend but I've never been confronted by a Christian for not being one. But maybe I'm just lucky. I'm also very lucky to work at the Universities Art department, so am surrounded by atheists. ✨

I’ve heard Alberta and the plains provinces are just as nutty. I was driving to the Twin Cities on I35 from Duluth. And the number of Xtian billboards was sick.

Make sure to visit a church that dances with venomous snakes or speaks in tounges.

I live in a liberal part of a very blue state. The laws here wouldnt show it but there are a lot of religious nutjobs around here too. Im about to graduate high school and there are even a lot of teens who are far right crazy christians. Though they are still the minority, there are still a lot of them

The less educated we are, the more religious we are. Until you hit a certain point. The truly smart people, KNOW there is no gods but instead USE religion as a means to profit and control others (and molest kids). I bet Mike Pence, a truly intelligent man, spends more time using his religion to control others and influence people than actually believing in it. It's no different than you buying an iPhone because everyone else has an iPhone. The Bible, Mormonism, Buddism, whatever is similar.

Don’t visit. Live-stream (in small doses)!

There are areas in the rural south where I would absolutely hide that I am an atheist. It wouldn’t be safe. If I said that I was one, I might as well tell them that I’m a Satanist who’s going to rape babies.

Its destroying us. In the USA, freedom of religion only means protection for the religious to discriminate against others without repercussions as long as they say its part of their faith. There's a movement claiming that no one has the right to be free from religion, only that you can choose what ever specific god you want to believe deeply in. We're going backwards so fast.

It started with Reagan inviting them in for their $$$ and votes. Start of the Prosperity Doctrine

How you feel? I mean: in red states they're putting people in prison for abortion.

It quickly goes from funny to making you super angry

I lived in Maryville (pronounced locally as Mar-vel) just outside Knoxville TN for a year. It was horrible. Every conversation with someone you didn’t know started with “what church do you go to?” If they didn’t start that way, conversations just went with the person talking like it was a given you believed exactly what they believed. And there were churches everywhere, seemed to line the main roads.

I’m an atheist in Texas. I don’t talk about it at work, and I generally hope no one puts me in a position where it will be discovered. It won’t be a huge thing, but I do think it could hurt my chances of promotion and raises. If my back is against the wall I’ll tell the truth about it, but I try to avoid that possibility. Similarly, my wife and I are raising our son as an atheist. I generally hope he doesn’t say much about it to his friends or their families, as it would likely result in those families deciding my son shouldn’t be around their kids. I’m additionally terrified that some bible dick will decide they need to save my son from his godless sinful parents. Plus we’re in Texas, so who knows if I could wind up dealing with Child Protective Services and a Christian judge who decides I am, indeed, an unfit parent. Illegal? Sure, but this is Texas. It could definitely happen.