[Serious] Questions about Belief and Personal Identity

[vulcanlogician]

I tried the 'I'm not particularly religious' tack when questioned about my religious stance by people whose business it wasn't. However, I live in South Carolina and they rarely settled for that answer, they almost always wanted to know particulars. So for years  when asked what church I go to I said I don't go to church, I'm an atheist. Then I got involved with a Untiarian Universalist fellowship, so now I say I go to that sometimes. The conversation is much less likely to turn personal and more likely to turn to 'what's a Unitarian Universalist'?

When I was in SC my son played baseball and football so I met a lot of the other parents.  I noticed that after the exchange of names the next step was about your church affiliation...always.  I always found it rather rude.  My usual answer was that I was raised Catholic and with enough of the typically Southern flavors of faith...that was enough said.

When my sister lived in SC, she said that she had people simply stop the conversation and walk away when she said she was Catholic. (This was late 90s. Hopefully the culture has shifted a little bit since then.)

My sister also said she drove by signs advertising a KKK picnic. I hope that sort of thing just doesn't happen anymore. But maybe it does...