(November 16, 2013 at 12:36 am)AJHammet Wrote: Deidre, I have tried a Philly cheese steak and I must say that I believe them to be God awful! I still don't know if I got a dud one, i got mine down on Market Street near the river, but have then heard that there's only one place to get a cheese-steak!! Where the fuck is it?! I am willingly and hungrily ready to change my mind!!

The Reality Salesman, I'm very happy someone found this as funny as me! My parents didn't understand! Nor did my friends or my fiancé! I could fault it to my anecdote, but I like to believe all evidence points to everyone but me and you having a shit sense of humour!

Thanks everyone!

lol oh that sucks. Usually the "greasy spoon" type places have good ones. I don't eat them often, it has been a while, but every now and then, I guess I crave grease.

Are you nervous to relocate to the states?

Hi Adam

Hope it all goes well with your relocation. It'll be interesting to get a Brits-eye view of atheism in the US. I'll look forward to those threads.

Stay away from the middle of the state!

Actually, don't. Pennsylvania is beautiful.

(November 15, 2013 at 11:50 pm)Aral Gamelon Wrote: Stay the fuck away from the South. I'm an atheist in TN, and every time it comes up I get proselytized to and insulted. Although with a rising interest in arguments and study on them I'm getting better at defending my position.

Yep. Even where I work, I work with a French woman, a Puerto Rician, a woman married to an Italian guy, and blacks in my kitchen. But all of them are religious to some degree and all of them get to talk to each other about religion, the kitchen has gospel music on the radio, but damned if I talk about my atheism or wear a hat or shirt with the word on it.

Then I get shit from my fellow atheists, obviously from places where no on bats an eye pretending the entire world is like the liberal paradise they live in when I bitch about religion. The irony is that my co workers think I am the bigot and they are the tolerant ones.

NC is not much better than TN.

Welcome to the forum! Enjoy it both from the UK and the US!... it should look the same on both sides of the Atlantic!

Welcome! Yes, large swaths of the US are filled with religious idiocy.

In more enlightened climes (big cities, the North East and West Coast) not so bad. Even here in the Pacific Northwest, one of the least religious areas in the country, there is a church about every few hundred feet it seems. There's a mega church down the way attracting thousands a couple of times a week. After getting the Jesus-juice, they all drive like crazed wombats when leaving the parking lot. Best to steer clear.

I wouldn't worry too much about speaking your mind. We've been too quiet for too long and need every voice we can muster to push back against the irrational tide.

(November 15, 2013 at 11:56 pm)AJHammet Wrote: Thank you Zazzy!

I just chose it when creating my thread! I thought it alluded to my own quest for my pot of gold! Be it for love, happiness or the thought of regular sex! Hah!

And Brian37, I have, over the years, and through association developed a penchant for the Flyers!

Thank you everyone for your replies, I am quite aware of how the South can seem like another world! Many of my relatives are from Texas and Alabama and I love them, but have found disagreement when my Uncle Ken - a US Marine Vet - Thanks god and not his kevlar vest. It is these small differences that I find somewhat alien. The fact that being a non-believer can at times be a minority, let alone a threat is something I must not accept, but realise. Not to say I am ever going to soften my views on the non-god - quite the opposite - but I am aware of the differences between the UK and the USA, and at the end of the day I would like to be a grateful citizen, yet continue to be a strong atheist.

Thank you

You are a better man than me then. If it were not for the cost of living and immigrating out of this backsliding backwater nutbuggery country bent on slave wages(the main reason) I'd leave toot sweet.

But even with that mere feeling, I do love this country in lots of other ways which makes me want to stay and fight (verbally).

Just knowing atheists live here and atheists outside this country do get it is a huge comfort. So welcome to our nut farm.

Quote:And Brian37, I have, over the years, and through association developed a penchant for the Flyers!

So far this year they suck.

(November 15, 2013 at 11:27 pm)AJHammet Wrote: Hi everyone!

I am a British atheist who has relatively recently proposed to my fiancé, an American agnostic. If all goes to plan I will be moving to Philadelphia in around 7 months to be with her. Obviously this is a tremendously exciting time but I would also like to know of other atheist's experiences of moving to a country that has a prolific religious population. I have visited the USA four times and have had no problems, but yet got an overwhelming sense of the idolisation of jesus christ, especially from my extended family and people on the streets. I would very much appreciate any tips, advice or discussion that follows this post, especially from those who have been in a similar situation to myself.

Thank you very much, and i'm glad to have found this forum.

Adam

You're up north, you shouldn't be worried about that.

However, you are going to live in Philly. And that in itself is pretty awful.

Quote:First prize was a week in Philadelphia. Second prize was two weeks. Evidently had a low opinion of Philadelphia

W. C. Fields