Oh, please. I'm from East Tennessee. The friendliness is most often times insincere; the drug usage is immense, as well as alcohol abuse; I started smoking with my pastor's daughter who is now a coke addict and alcoholic, all while most of her time is spent in the church. Most of my "good Christian" friends of old are drug addicts, whether it's coke, oxycontin, or meth, among other things, and they all still consider themselves "good Christians". They go to churches all over Knox County.
My mom, who hadn't seen my dad in over a decade, came to his funeral to support my sister and me. Guess what she encountered at the church: most of the congregation ignoring her except to talk behind their hands about her.
There are a lot of reasons my last trip back to East Tennessee was to take care of my dad on his death bed. The biggest is that I have absolutely no use for the people there, for the most part.
My mom, who hadn't seen my dad in over a decade, came to his funeral to support my sister and me. Guess what she encountered at the church: most of the congregation ignoring her except to talk behind their hands about her.
There are a lot of reasons my last trip back to East Tennessee was to take care of my dad on his death bed. The biggest is that I have absolutely no use for the people there, for the most part.