(November 11, 2014 at 3:45 pm)Mister Agenda Wrote: Yet, Austin sprang up in the South. Columbia SC is a place where I have no more fear about being openly atheist than I would in the Midwest. The South can't escape changing demographics, it can only drag its feet.
True. I'm glad there are some changes going on in most places. In some places it really is like a gang though. Depends on who you live with as well.
(November 11, 2014 at 2:20 am)Godschild Wrote:(November 10, 2014 at 10:19 pm)PerfectRecall17 Wrote: Honestly what GC is saying is right--that many places in the South are just giant religio-cultural gangs. When people bring other experiences to the South, a lot of people act more or less like a gang. In some places is downright scary.
As someone who's lived in the South for all my life, I've kept up running, martial arts, and studying the heck out of my textbooks so that one day I could get out. You know how freaky it is when you hear the WBC lady talk? There's quite a few here like that.
As someone from the inside of this way of life who defected, I can say it left lasting harm on me.
I'm in college now. But I still suffer from anxiety attacks. I'm paranoid about letting loose about my being atheist. I have to carefully and systematically delete any and all ties to atheism on my computer / phone, when I visit home. The "We" mentality of the South is nothing more than a gang, and it completely screwed me over.
I'm an atheist, politically liberal, and a bisexual. Two of those could get me disowned / cut off from my family. All three have been the cause of great internal stress.
And I've had a few close calls.
My parents got "advice" from friends whose son turned out gay, and took my phone and searched through messages and everything. Another time all of my emails. Another time my computer when I had left it unlocked. It makes you nervous / constantly cautious. I was only safe in my head.
The only thing I could potentially find funny is how I somehow turned out to be all of these things.
