So....How do you deal with the Bible Belt?

[MiiriChan]

Because I really have no idea.  I'm terriefied to go back to school and face another year of lying to everyone and listening patiently to their church discussions and politely declineing going to youth group or other chruch related things with the because I'm just too busy.
Should I tell them I'm not Christian?  Should I stick it out and stay secret until I get out of here?(After High School.  I'm going into 9th grade. 0.o)
Is there another option that I'm just not seeing here? 
Plus there's no possibility of my Dad getting a new job(his is the highest paying) no homeschooling(both parents work) no online schooling (neither wants me to miss out on social interaction even though I have firmly stated that I don't want social interaction with these inferior life forms.) and no boarding school (ix-nay from arents-pay) same for my so called college application that I was sending in to a liberal arts school and my parents told me to go and throw it away and that I wasn't going to college this early.
Please help me!

[Tank]

I wish I could offer some useful guidence other the RUN FOR THE HILLS!!! I was your age in 1974 and in the UK we never had problems you are going through now. I find both unfortunate and amazing in equal amounts.

[Whitney]

What part of the Bible belt? It gets worse the further south east you go..

Small town?

Are your parents willing to talk to the school for you if you experience problems being open about your views?

I agree that it's too early for you to go to college...plus you don't have the entry requirements for a real degree anyway; the earliest most are able to graduate is their junior year and even then some states (like oklahoma) don't allow for early graduation.

[MiiriChan]

I live in central Arkansas in a small town.  It's a nightmare.  The first question out of anyone's mouth down here is "What church do you go to?".  My parents would go to the school, but I don't think it would help.  We've thought of everything....Even moving in with my Grandparents, but I don't want to leave my parents.  I would miss them too much.  My mom has to stay down here for her work and the same for my dad.  I know that I sound like a pessimest right now, but I just can't think of anything else.

[xSilverPhinx]

I can't imagine living in a place saturated with people who ask what church others go to as a first question.

Are there any atheist, skeptic, freethinker or humanist groups you could join? Sometimes finding like-minded people can be helpful in enduring such things.

[MiiriChan]

To be honest, the only other atheists, freethinkers, etc., that I know are angry, vengeful, and are out to try and harm the people who are causeing us problems.  I don't think that's the answer.  They all get so angry when I want to talk calmly about the situation that I'm in that they don't listen to my point of view, and go off on a wild rant about some person that slashed their tires or something like that.
I will try to find some groups though.
Thank's for the idea!
Being on this site has helped me a lot, so why not meet people in person and be friends with them?  I just hope that I can find some people down here that aren't Christian....or Buddhist.  I have nothing against Buddhists.  In fact my Uncle is one.  They're just not the right people to vent to about the situation I'm in.  I've tried with my Uncle and sometimes his ideas are just much too...sit back and take it.
What about this Unitarian Universalist Church in my area?  Would that work?  I don't really know what the Universalists are like so can anyone tell me that too?

[xSilverPhinx]

Yeah, maybe the quieter and less frustrated atheists are put off by those types of groups...I don't see how joining one which is only an anger venting machine is much help in the long run too. But you could give some a go, and see if you feel less alone at least.

IMO the next best thing are online groups and forums.

[MiiriChan]

xSilverPhinx you are the best!
I never thought to try and find an actual group outside of this site!
Arkansas Atheists/Freethinkers group is what I just found.  I may as well give it a go and see if it improves things. If not, back to the drawing board.
Thanks a bunch.
Online sites are a good thing.  Do you have any others that you may want to recommend? 

[xSilverPhinx]

Let us know how it goes

I registered at the first links that appear in a google search for atheist forums, but don't really frequent them. This one is way more civil and well kept. I never looked at forums for skeptics and freethinkers though.

The internet is a good thing

[Whitney]

What about this Unitarian Universalist Church in my area?  Would that work?  I don't really know what the Universalists are like so can anyone tell me that too?

The UU church use to be a place that was accepting of anyone who walked into the door..these days I've heard that christians are starting to run it over.  But try it out, some of the UU churches are still very much open to atheists while others aren't as open; you can't know without going.  I've never heard of anything bad happening to an atheist who visited a UU church so even if it isn't a good fit for you it still shouldn't be a horrible experience.

When meeting people from online in person please either bring your parents or a trusted friend...it's just a good idea for safety in general and even more so if you are going to be openly atheist in a small bible belt town.

I'm glad you've decided not to take the vengeful approach, I agree that is not the way to go....though I think you'd still get a wild rant out of me if I knew a Christian slashed my tires so maybe give some of them more time to show their nicer sides.

[fester30]

I live in a central Arkansas town.  It really is that bad.  I'm an adult in the military, so in some ways it's worse, in some ways better.  I couldn't imagine being in high school in one of the small towns around here.  I've never seen so many churches or so much religious influence on every facet of society.  I feel for you.  Wish I had some advice but after six years of living here I really couldn't come up with anything intelligent to tell you.

[MiiriChan]

I live in a central Arkansas town.  It really is that bad.  I'm an adult in the military, so in some ways it's worse, in some ways better.  I couldn't imagine being in high school in one of the small towns around here.  I've never seen so many churches or so much religious influence on every facet of society.  I feel for you.  Wish I had some advice but after six years of living here I really couldn't come up with anything intelligent to tell you.

Thanks for your support.
There's like a church on EVERY corner!  My only question on that is - HOW MANY FIRST BAPTIST CHURCHES CAN ONE TOWN HAVE???????
I mean seriously!  Which one is the true first church?  These people are crazy.  Have you seen what my family calls "Fort God" in Little Rock?  That really huge church with all of the pillars that you can see for a mile on every side?  Crazy.

[Xjeepguy]

I lived in South Alabama for 3 years, those people are nuts. Theres a cult on every corner. Every one of them tries to preach to you, or tries to drag you to their church. I was never so happy as I was to leave that place. I was not a full blown atheist at that time, but was pretty much on my way to it. I will say those idiots actually helped me make the decision lol.

My advice: Dont drink the kool aid......lol

[Tank]

I find threads like this horrifying. Before I came online I had no idea how bad some areas of the USA are.

[OldGit]

Same here.  In most of the UK such madness is unimaginable.  But we mustn't be too smug: there are still large areas of Northern Ireland and southwest Scotland where being catholic or protestant is the most important aspect of your identity and violence across that divide is still common.