Mississippi wants Bible as the official state book

[Full Circle]

Oh - and Mississippi? Way to lead the race to the bottom! You go!

Hell, there's no race to be had. Mississippi is at the bottom and has been. We're constantly setting astonishing new lows around here.

Strider, I’m astonished there’s even one atheist in Mississippi! Congratulations, you alone are responsible for raising the State’s IQ by several points.

I’ve been visiting Alabama for 28 years (in-laws).

Alabama State Motto: “At Least We’re Not Mississippi”

[Faith No More]

Um, what?

You know what's horrifying? Stepping on Legos without shoes on.

Perhaps it's just a Mid-Western thing then. My relatives refer to it as a Northern thing, but I should know better than to trust their understanding of demographics.

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People in the north aren't used the the bugs we get down here. You know, like the mosquitos the size of pterodactyls and the roaches resembling the little aliens in Men in Black.

You'd wear shoes all the time too.

Oh, I know. When I would travel to the panhandle of Texas to see relatives, they always told you not to leave without shoes. Their biggest concern, however, were prickly things that would stab your feet. The whole region is pretty much inhabitle for most species due to the fact that is nearly a desert, so you only those few species that can live in that type of environment. Your biggest problem with animal wildlife is the armadillos in the road, because if you honk at them, they jump just the height of a car winshield, or so they tell me.

[thesummerqueen]

Perhaps it's just a Mid-Western thing then.

I'm 'talking' to a guy who is from the mid-west. He's having a personal existential crisis over the fact that he wants me to wear high heels for him, but never lets anyone wear shoes in the house.

[Strider]

That's a southern thing. It horrifies Americans that live in the north.

I can't speak for everybody in the south, but I will come unglued if someone steps in my house with shoes on.

Oddly enough -- perhaps as some sort of compensation for being the bottom of the barrel in so many other ways -- Mississippi has some of the nicest roadside rest areas I've ever seen. I'm surprised people in that state aren't trying to move into them.

Really? I haven't seen enough rest areas in other places to compare. I wouldn't expect them to last. The rise of the "fiscally responsible" Tea Party nutjobs here has wrecked governmental spending...except when it comes to bribing industry and big business to locate here to exploit the cheap, uneducated workforce.

Strider, I’m astonished there’s even one atheist in Mississippi! Congratulations, you alone are responsible for raising the State’s IQ by several points.

I appreciate the compliment, but I wouldn't go that far. I'm a fairly dim bulb.

Speaking of Alabama, I visit Florence up in the northwest corner of the state very often. Compared to where I live, it is a cultural oasis. Let that sink in for a moment..

[Full Circle]

Strider, I’m astonished there’s even one atheist in Mississippi! Congratulations, you alone are responsible for raising the State’s IQ by several points.

I appreciate the compliment, but I wouldn't go that far. I'm a fairly dim bulb.

Speaking of Alabama, I visit Florence up in the northwest corner of the state very often. Compared to where I live, it is a cultural oasis. Let that sink in for a moment..

You know how to type on a computer, this alone puts you miles ahead of the competition

My in-law lives on the Eastern shore across from Mobile, beautiful area. However the local coffeehouse/bookstore, bastion of Liberal Thinking, has Fox news on 24/7. There are also 2 churches for every inhabitant.

The only thing that is more taboo than talking about religion to a stranger around here is talking about college football. I once congratulated someone on the Alabama Crimson Tide winning a game...oops...Auburn Tiger fan, nearly got into a fist fight.

[Davka]

Folks in the north don't have to deal with sandspurs or cottonmouths, people in the south don't have to deal with sloshy muddy snow and shit. The shoes stay on (if'n you can afford em, eh Cletus).

Oh, I know. It's just entertaining to see it in action, like when my southern relatives visit my house in the north. Having been raised by southerners, I don't see shoes in the house as a big deal, but my wife and in-laws are always flabbergasted that my relatives don't take off their shoes.

You should check out the Big Island of Hawaii. Flip-flops are standard wear, and *everyone* takes off their flip-flops in the house. At parties there's always a huge pile of the things in the entrance-way or out front on the Lanai.

It's a combo of integrated Japanese customs and the ease of kicking off sandals. I miss it.

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Strider, I’m astonished there’s even one atheist in Mississippi! Congratulations, you alone are responsible for raising the State’s IQ by several points.

I appreciate the compliment, but I wouldn't go that far. I'm a fairly dim bulb.

That is such a Southern thing to say! Maybe it's midwestern too, I've never lived there...

But the whole "aw shucks I ain't smart, jist plain folks is all!" attitude floored me when I first moved to the South. If you ask a roomful of people how to spell something, chances are good that none of them will admit to knowing how to spell. Not because they're stupid, but because that would be showing off. In fact, you're more likely to spark a flurry of "dumber than you" one-upsmanship than to get the accurate spelling of the word.

After I'd been there for a year or more and learned how the game is played, I remember a woman who lived around the corner introducing me to a friend (it was a computer-repair recommendation). She said "this is Sean, he's real smart but you'd never know it to talk to him!"

And she meant it as a compliment.

Garrison Keillor did a show at the Ryman in Nashville a few years back. he said something that I'll try to paraphrase (and probably botch) - "I came down here from New York City, where it's common practice for the average person to pretend to be much smarter and better-educated than he is. It took a while to figure out that the exact opposite is the case down here in the South."

[watchamadoodle]

Here you go, @Strider: "The Bible for Dummies". That should make everybody happy - atheists and Christians alike.
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/bible-fo...0764552960

[The Grand Nudger]

@Davka....you mean country doe? Hell yeah, we learn that real early. We're -all- in on it together too...............

[Jaysyn]

Mississippi State Motto:

[Gawdzilla]

Mississippi State Motto:

Thanks! My wife got a laugh out of that.

She's from Jackson.