Presumptive at mom's rehab....

[Brian37]

That might work in a blue state, but I am in the south full of religious nuts. I am not going to do anything to jeopardize her safety. She and I don't even share our social media pages, not that she uses hers much. I see her everyday and call her every day anyway. Yea but I agree, religion preys off the vulnerable.

Well, you do what you need to do to help your mom get better. As I mentioned, I'm sure this is your paramount concern, as it should be. You might be surprised though - I'm sure you're not the only atheist staying under the radar in your red state.

Atheists are in every state and every nation in the world and we come from all classes and skin tones. But in some places, even in more open societies like the west, there still are risks to being open about it. I will say this though, even outside the issue of religion, I have found some comfort from others knowing that they go through the same thing taking care of the elderly.  The mental stress wears you out and at the same time, you also know compared to the physical stress they go through trying to get better, isn't easy one bit for them.

[Brian37]

Oh NC is changing, it is at the state level still leaning Red, but has gone blue in presidential races. I do think because of the age of social media, and especially with younger generations, red is having a much harder time now hiding it's bigotry and corporate protectionism.

But my mom is still even with her great pension and insurance, still under a corporate health care system, and even now, I can see the affects of the business owners trying to save money on labor where she is at, and it pisses me off. A nursing home rehab center is not a fucking McDonalds where you should run short staffed or not have enough supplies. But it's everywhere like that. We have to break the backs of corporate monopolies in all businesses, but especially health care.