[johnspecial]

Here is a simple list of facts about our state you should know

-we are the buckle on the Bible Belt. Only Mississippi and Alabama has a higher concentration of Southern Baptists.
-We are the reddest state in the Union. All 77 counties in Oklahoma are hard core Republican.
-The dominant culture in OK is southern. This is especially true in the Southeastern quadrant of the state.
-We are salt of the earth people with a rich history of overcoming adversity.
- Our winters are cold and our summers are hot and humid.
- We have weird alcohol laws.
-Most of Oklahoma is not situated in the Great Plains.
- You will not find a better steak, burger or real BBQ anywhere on the planet
- We are some of the nicest people in the world.
- Our public schools rank about 40th in the nation
-We have the highest concentration of tornadoes on the planet.
-We have earthquakes
-Our severe weather will make you crap your pants
-Our taxes are very low.
-We love our college football
-People in Oklahoma help those less fortunate.
-When there is a crisis, we all pull together.
-We welcome you if can accept our state for what it is.

[GrandviewGloria]

Except for the college football, it all sounds really wonderful.

But be careful. These days, if you live in a nice place, the very LAST thing you want is people from the rest of what used to be America moving to where you are.

If you make Oklahoma sound like a great place to move to, you won't be getting Ward and June Cleaver. You won't be getting the Huxtables. You won't even be getting Honey Boo Boo Child's Family.

What you'll be getting will make even the Kardashians look good.

[johnspecial]

Originally Posted by GrandviewGloria

Except for the college football, it all sounds really wonderful.

But be careful. These days, if you live in a nice place, the very LAST thing you want is people from the rest of what used to be America moving to where you are.

If you make Oklahoma sound like a great place to move to, you won't be getting Ward and June Cleaver. You won't be getting the Huxtables. You won't even be getting Honey Boo Boo Child's Family.

What you'll be getting will make even the Kardashians look good.

I agree. I would prefer our state stay off the radar.

[eddie gein]

Originally Posted by johnspecial

Here is a simple list of facts about our state you should know

-we are the buckle on the Bible Belt. Only Mississippi and Alabama has a higher concentration of Southern Baptists.
-We are the reddest state in the Union. All 77 counties in Oklahoma are hard core Republican.
-The dominant culture in OK is southern. This is especially true in the Southeastern quadrant of the state.
-We are salt of the earth people with a rich history of overcoming adversity.
- Our winters are cold and our summers are hot and humid.
- We have weird alcohol laws.
-Most of Oklahoma is not situated in the Great Plains.
- You will not find a better steak, burger or real BBQ anywhere on the planet
- We are some of the nicest people in the world.
- Our public schools rank about 40th in the nation
-We have the highest concentration of tornadoes on the planet.
-We have earthquakes
-Our
severe weather will make you
crap your
pants
-Our taxes are very low.
-We love our college football
-People in Oklahoma help those less fortunate.
-When there is a crisis, we all pull together.
-We welcome you if can accept our state for what it is.

We also have people who aren't like the above and you are welcome to hang out with us if you move here and you don't care to hang out with them.

In fact we are having an atheist meet up at UCO on February 21st with Oklahoma's own "Thethinkingatheist" Seth Andrews as our guest speaker.

So we welcome godless heathens to Oklahoma too.

[johnspecial]

I was hoping you would stop by and make yourself look silly. ^^^^^

Why did you repost all those youtube videos?

[Atlguy39]

Well, after 4 months here, here are some of my observations:

People here are very friendly. I work for the best company I've ever worked for.
The weather is absolutely AWFUL
Its one of the fattest states in the country. As a healthy guy, I don't like that.
Its the single mother capital of the U.S., which makes it terrible for a man trying to date.
Its conservative, which I mostly agree with, but a little too conservative for me personally. But really, a non-issue. Coming from GA, I'm kind of used to it.
The food is surprisingly good.
Great place to start a family if you're married.
People get married here way too young.
There just isn't much to do here. People are all about OU football and the Thunder. Shame there's not a baseball or pro football team here.

Just my observations...

[eddie gein]

Originally Posted by johnspecial

I was hoping you would stop by and make yourself look silly. ^^^^^

Why did you repost all those youtube videos?

I think you live in Edmond, why don't you come to Seth's talk, or at least come protest it.

Point is, not all of us are like you. Unlike yourself, we would welcome anyone who would be interested in coming to Oklahoma be they conservative, liberal, Christian, Muslim, atheist, whatever. We would hope they would feel welcome here and find folks that they relate to.

And on the You Tube videos? I think you posted your text first and you must have put the videos in when I was quoting your text.

[johnspecial]

Originally Posted by eddie gein

I think you live in Edmond, why don't you come to Seth's talk, or at least come protest it.

Point is, not all of us are like you. Unlike yourself, we would welcome anyone who would be interested in coming to Oklahoma be they conservative, liberal, Christian, Muslim, atheist, whatever. We would hope they would feel welcome here and find folks that they relate to.

And on the You Tube videos? I think you posted your text first and you must have put the videos in when I was quoting your text.

Never heard of it. I have little respect for atheist organizations that actively recruit. They are no different than the religions they hate. People are welcome here as long as they don't try to change what our state is. I made an honest post about Oklahoma. It is a result of watching countless Oklahomans desperately try to sell our state off as something it is not. "oh yeah the weather here is not bad at all. It just the media." or trying to downplay the very realistic conservative stronghold that is statewide. Look, people want honesty when they are looking to relocate. This is their life and they want honest answers to life changing questions. People should at least have the decency to tell them what it is. We cannot pretend that Oklahoma is some kind of little San Francisco. It's Oklahoma for Christ's sake. I'm sorry, but atheism and Islam is not a dominant or even widespread occurrence in Oklahoma. That's not saying that those people are not welcome here. But we must stop selling it so they come here and are disappointed. It is what it is. Not what a small minority wants it to be.

[eddie gein]

Originally Posted by johnspecial

Never heard of it. I have little respect for atheist organizations that actively recruit. They are no different than the religions they hate. People are welcome here as long as they don't try to change what our state is. I made an honest post about Oklahoma. It is a result of watching countless Oklahomans desperately try to sell our state off as something it is not. "oh yeah the weather here is not bad at all. It just the media." or trying to downplay the very realistic conservative stronghold that is statewide. Look, people want honesty when they are looking to relocate. This is their life and they want honest answers to life changing questions. People should at least have the decency to tell them what it is. We cannot pretend that Oklahoma is some kind of little San Francisco. It's Oklahoma for Christ's sake. I'm sorry, but atheism and Islam is not a dominant or even widespread occurrence in Oklahoma. That's not saying that those people are not welcome here. But we must stop selling it so they come here and are disappointed. It is what it is. Not what a small minority wants it to be.

Do you honestly think anyone considers Oklahoma a "Little San Fransisco". Liberal types are not going to be attracted to Oklahoma because of what you stated. However if they do come, they will find some like minded people (at least in the metros).

I'm not surprised you have little respect for atheist organizations the "actively recruit". My point is that if you are an atheist you can come to Oklahoma and find other atheists. And if having meetups with other people who are "like minded" is "recruiting" well. Too bad for you. How do you feel about sewing clubs that meet up, or Bonzai tree enthusiasts who meet up?

It is my hope that if someone wants to come to Oklahoma they can find others that they enjoy being around.

So everyone!! Come to Oklahoma.........The weather is fine.

[bchris02]

I think the truth is somewhere in between the two viewpoints stated here.

Oklahoma is significantly more conservative than other Southern states and it has the most conservative metro areas in the nation.

Atheists and liberals will be able to find like-minded people in Oklahoma but they can't expect everybody to be tolerant of their beliefs. Liberals in Oklahoma City will probably have a more difficult time finding their niche than in other cities of comparable size. They will need to keep their views to themselves when they aren't around like-minded company to avoid unpleasantries. However, there are liberals and atheists here. They are just a smaller percentage of the population.

It's the same way with the LGBT population. From what I understand OKC has a rather large gay nightlife district for its size, but when you are in mixed company its something you keep to yourself for your own protection.

As for the weather, its definitely something to be concerned about, but there aren't tornadoes touching down daily either. Ten months out of the year aren't much different from anywhere else at this latitude, but April and May can be violent.