Hello from the Heart of Dixie.

[williemack]

Hey y'all!

I am still closeted.  I grew up in a fundamentalist Christian home (Saved, sanctified, holy ghost filled, water baptised, speaking in tongues, and Jesus on the mind). 

As an adult,  I became more secular but still active in church.  I had doubts, but never really let my mind go to the place of pondering what if there is no God (partly because I was too afraid).  I guess you can say I literally had the "fear of God" in me.

So now, I am 40, and after several months on reading on the subject, I can not understand how I was so deceived for so long.  I feel liberated and even more concerned for making the world a better place.  I feel like I wasted a lot of time on dogmatic BS (although my time as a Christian was not a bad experience per se).

Not being a believer in Montgomery Al is social suicide; And my poor Grandmother would cry her eyes out; And my Sunday School friends would think I have a demon.  My wife is on board with me, but my daughters go to a Christian School and are being indoctrinated.  Sweet Jesus!! I am taking this one day at a time for now.  It is a complex situation that I am sure some of you can relate.

Anyway, I am glad to be here and hope to have good conversations in the near future!

God Bless...err...  I mean... Thanks!

[PickelledEggs]

Welcome, willie!

Sorry to hear about your situation living in Alabama, but I hope you can feel comfortable being yourself here!

P.S. if your wife is on board with you, why not put your kids in a regular public school?

[williemack]

Thanks PickelledEggs!  I appreciate the welcome.

They are building a new public school in my area and I plan to send the kids there next year.  I mentioned this to my 11 year old daughter and she said "I dont want to go there, they can't mention God, and they don't say 'under God' in the pledge".... SMH... I have a lot of un-doing to do.

[Mike Cl]

Hello, williemack, welcome from another noobie. 
I spent time in Alabama as a kid, from the 5th thru the 8th grade, and lived in a small town named Bynum, which is near Anniston.  I had my first taste of church then in a Southern Methodist church sunday school.  I also went to a couple of summer bible schools as well.  I could never make heads nor tails of what they were teaching, and since my parents were secular (agnostic--basically did not think about it much, and never talked about it) so they were not fountains of info about that stuff either.  But I did see from the inside church going families and what that looked like both on Sundays and the rest of the week.  Was not impressed.

I think you found a good place to vent, ask questions, make suggestions or whatever else you'd like to do.  I've found this place very interesting.  I think you will too.  Once again--welcome.

[PickelledEggs]

Thanks PickelledEggs!  I appreciate the welcome.

They are building a new public school in my area and I plan to send the kids there next year.  I mentioned this to my 11 year old daughter and she said "I dont want to go there, they can't mention God, and they don't say 'under God' in the pledge".... SMH... I have a lot of un-doing to do.

Oh man...  that's rough. I wish you the best of luck with that. I'm not the best person to go to for info about christian school being brought up in New Jersey. It's out my area of knowledge... but we have some members that, I know would be more than willing and able to help you out with helping them transition.

My advice would be move north....

[williemack]

Thanks Mike.  Glad to be here. 

Were you forced to root for Auburn or Alabama in your few years here?

[williemack]

LOL PickelledEggs... I need to move north or west I suppose.  Maybe Colorado or Washington for medicinal reasons.

[Mike Cl]

Thanks Mike.  Glad to be here. 

Were you forced to root for Auburn or Alabama in your few years here?

Well, Williemack, it didn't turn out that way.  I was asked many times by the kids, 'Are you a rebel or a yankee?'  I had not a clue what they were talking about, so I said 'I'm from Oregon.'  I was then labeled a yankee.  I had no idea what they were talking about. 

That summer I got into baseball and grew to love it.  That Oct. the World Series was between the Milwaukee Braves and the New York Yankees.  In those days we got to watch it on the school stage--what a hoot-the WS in school!  Anyway, almost everybody was rooting for the Braves--guess who I rooted for.  As luck would have it, the '57 Braves beat the Yanks in 7 games--never heard the end of it.  Well, until the next year at the same time.  The same two teams, the same school and the same stage.  The Yanks fell behind 1 win to 3 losses, and no team every overcame that much of a hole.  Except the Yanks did--and I let nobody forget!  Thought the Yankees were underdogs and I felt like one, so I have been a Yankee fan from then on. 

As for football, I began rooting for the New York Giants, since they were from Yankee-dom and I was a Yankee, after all.  I was not into college ball much, but I rooted against both Auburn and Alabama.  I even hoped that they would both lose the Auburn-Alabama game; not sure how that could happen, but I was rooting for it anyway. :)  I do hope this year that Alabama and Oregon finish 1 & 2 , so they can play again.  Oregon needs some revenge! :)

Irony time.--My mom did some ancestor research and found that we had family members in the Civil War--on both sides.  She unearthed a picture of a soldier in uniform--it was gray, and she learned he was a flag carrier (not a bright thing to do--carry a flag in battle; make a hell of a target!) and he was from Texas.  Can't get much more rebel than that!  On the other hand a couple distance relatives fought for the North, as well.   

[stromboli]

Welcome. Uh, roll Tide?

[DunkleSeele]

Hey williemack, welcome to the forum!

[PopeyesPappy]

Howdy from your neighbor to the north.

[PopeyesPappy]

Welcome. Uh, roll Tide?

lol

[williemack]

Welcome. Uh, roll Tide?

Thanks and uh no thanks.

[SGOS]

LOL.  The OP sounds so much like me, I could have written that.  Except I've never been in Alabama.

Welcome.

[SGOS]

Well, Williemack, it didn't turn out that way.  I was asked many times by the kids, 'Are you a rebel or a yankee?'  I had not a clue what they were talking about, so I said 'I'm from Oregon.'  I was then labeled a yankee.  I had no idea what they were talking about.   

I had a friend who loved to try and offend anyone who wasn't from the South by calling them Yankees.  He would call me a Yankee, but I kind of liked the term.  Years later, I was telling my wife about this guy, and it pissed her off that I somehow deserved the label of Yankee.  She was offended.  In no uncertain terms, she said.  You're no Yankee.  I'm from New England.  I'm a Yankee."  And indeed, I've met many people from New England who love the uniqueness of being a Yankee.  They even have publications that make a big deal out of it.  To the rest of us, it just means "from the North."  But when you meet a southerner that still carries the defeat of the Civil war on his shoulders, it comes out sounding like a vile accusation.