Sandals with socks?
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In my experience down there, the only social invitations you ever got were to go to some church event.
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Where were you?
But yeah, churches were often (historically and in some places still) the center of social life in many rural, southern communities.
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Theyâll just vandalize it.
And considering they public signage in some of the areas, I could see it getting some bulletholes along the way.
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Sorry - I was talking about Savannah, GA - not AL
But we had it a few times, weâd invite people to our house or the park, and the return invite was always for a church social. Le sigh.
I quite like the shoes - as long as I could get some without the writing on the soles.
(not sure if âkitten testicle greyâ is my colour, though).
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I was talking about the whole SE region, actually, so itâs all good.
But Iâm not surprised⌠again, this is the most religious region of the country, AFAIK⌠Those of us who arenât religious sort of have to figure out a way to deal with it and not be totally excluded in the process, I guess.
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My SOâs dad lives in rural Alabama. Itâs pretty much the last place on Earth I would feel safe telling people I donât share their enthusiasm for Bronze Age mythology. Of course, that would involve speaking to local people, which would either out me as a damned Yankee or dirty ferrâun Canuck.
@Daneel: I kinda like the kitten testical grey, and I say that as a person who definitely prefers black shoes.
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Wait, does this shoe company not make any money? Why are they asking for crowdfunding for a successful business?
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Publicity stuntception.
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Much of my fam. moved to AL (in Talledega, the NASCAR Holy Land) so I visit. Talking about The Lord with anything but reverence will make things instantly horrifying, as would supporting the wrong college football team, but if you really want to see the locals get vicious, just say NASCAR sucks (and it does, itâs just a sporting event dedicated to the cars driving in a loop with the one with the best fuel economy winning).
Top Gear managed to hit every note when they drove through Alabama with painted up cars that were pro-Hillary, pro Man-love, anti-NASCAR, and slagging Country and Western.
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I really like Mojo Nixonâs description⌠Four and half hours of Kentucky rednecks making left turns.
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Yes, most people are religious here. And there likely is an element of self-definition at work. But the continual railing at and mockery of religious gets so tiresome. I sometimes want to grab people by the collars and yell âItâs time to move on!â The feeling I get is that most âoutâ or vociferously self-identifying atheists down here feel that they were heavily scarred or even betrayed by religion, and itâs typically some form of evangelical protestantism from which theyâre escaping. Theyâre more apostate than atheist.
(NB: Iâm from rural Tennessee, and was brought up in a hellfire-and-brimstone Baptist church, in which there were Klan members, and in which the deacons tended to come to church, in the 70s!, strapped. I was having doubts before I hit puberty, and the Baptist doctrine quickly succumbed, when I hit high school, to a deadly combo of hormones and American Transcendentalism.)
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Motorsports:
Europe: interesting and varied
Japan: weird and with impenetrable rules
America: boring
Australia: post-apocalyptic
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Yeah, if you want to see Americaâs horrifying religion in true form, college sports is good for that.
My wifeâs friend has ha ha only serious joked that sheâd sacrifice her beloved kittycat if her alma mater asked.
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Sure, it often delves into a certain level of self-righteousness. As you say, I think much of that comes from a place where the individual who left the faith was probably hurt in some way by their upbringing and thatâs not nothing, I think. But it tends to be pretty sweeping in tone, none the less - treating all faiths and all people of faith in the same way. Many of the most vocal atheists are all too similar to recent religious converts, I think.
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My dad loved to troll the locals while he was alive. The town was pure Crimson Tide, so heâd bring his Auburn sweatshirt to church, put it on when he got inside, then take it off as he left. He pulled it out when the brother-in-law visited as well, just too watch him languish.
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thatsthejokedotgif
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I own 4 pairs of shoes from Atheist Berlin.
Durable, comfortable and quite good looking ⌠for a decent price, at least over here - theyâre handmade in Europe after all.
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Funny enough, the cat sacrifice would have been to appease the Auburn gods. We just stared at her as we would any zealot. Nice woman, but yeesh.
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