Message from American to Europeans

[Gambit]

Hello,

I am new to the board here, but let me give you a little insight on what living in Europe is like for an American.

I am from Michigan, but lived in Germany for two years and have now lived in Belgium for two. While I will say that Atheism is generally more accepted here, I don't see a huge difference. However, again, I am from Michigan, by your post I can only assume you are from the south, which is an entirely different animal.

Aside from that there are many other things to contend with here when it comes to religion. In the bigger cities you will find thousands upon thousands of immigrants, mainly from the middle east. The locals are not very tolerant of them and it gets a little weird. While I am not a racist or discriminate against people of religion I will say it is somewhat annoying having this constant reminder of religion all around me. There are Muslims in the States, but not nearly as many as here. So while wondering around busy city areas, you are constantly around religious people. The difference here is that people here, like Muslims and Orthodox Jews where their religion on their body. They dress different, they act different. While in the States you don't really run into that constant reminder as much, although chances are the person next to you in line at the gas station in the states is a Christian, you most likely can't tell by looking at them.

The immigrants here have also made it into a messy political situation where they are trying to push their way of life on the Europeans, at least that is the way the locals see it.

Lastly, it is kind of unrelated, but I would advise against moving to Europe simply for Economic reasons. Not only are your taxes sky high for reasons you probably won't notice even benefiting you, the Eurozone is falling apart. I don't know if you follow the news over here about the debt crisis but it makes the the debt debate going on in the States look like a walk in the park. The entire currency zone is on the brink of collapse and a lot of economist are predicting a poorer near term future for Europe as a whole. Although I will say, if you must move to Europe, try to move to Switzerland.

I'm kind of leaning towards disagreeing with you, in regards to the affects of the debt crisis. Maybe it is the countries you have been to, however, in the UK I think the situation is better than in the U.S. I was amazed at the amount of businesses with 'closing down' signs in both Texas and Florida, last time I was there. I'm talking 10 minutes from the Alamo and a half hour's drive away from Disney. As for in your face religion, the U.S. wins hands down, in comparison to the U.K.

Then again, I feel that I can't really commit to that being totally true either. For instance, if you go onto the Shankill Road in Belfast wearing rosary beads, you might not come out again. Similarly, if you go onto the Falls Road declaring you are a Protestant, the same may apply. If you go to either and say you are an atheist, you'll likely be asked to clarify whether you are a Catholic or Protestant atheist. Ours is more to do with politics, however, the religious divisions are still there.