Are Christians ostracized in Seattle? (Geneva, Republic: home, income, taxation)

[Ira500]

Maybe this is just me being ignorant, or out of touch, but don't most people in Seattle consider themselves Christians? And aren't there a lot of churches around? And, are there boundaries where this anti Christian sentiment takes place? My across the street neighbor is a right wing, conservative Christian. He's a great guy, hilariously funny, and I always enjoy spending time with him. His wife is the youth Pastor at their church, and they're wonderful neighbors. But this is in Renton. Maybe it's different within the city, where you're not allowed to get along with people you disagree with politically?

[sean98125]

Only a little more than a third of Seattle residents think of themselves as Christian. Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitor sites is not allowed

[angelenogirl]

Originally Posted by Ira500

Maybe this is just me being ignorant, or out of touch, but don't most people in Seattle consider themselves Christians? And aren't there a lot of churches around? And, are there boundaries where this anti Christian sentiment takes place? My across the street neighbor is a right wing, conservative Christian. He's a great guy, hilariously funny, and I always enjoy spending time with him. His wife is the youth Pastor at their church, and they're wonderful neighbors. But this is in Renton. Maybe it's different within the city, where you're not allowed to get along with people you disagree with politically?

Ira, I think it goes back to the "rules" and "uptightness" you mentioned in another thread. As evidenced by this thread, it seems that people here are willing to, well, if not accept or tolerate you, at the very least ignore you...as long as you follow the rules and don't mention the word God, like, ever. But as soon as you do, watch out! We've already had a mention of spaghetti monsters, and it probably won't be long until someone pops in to ridicule the OP's "sky fairy." I've seen it happen many times.

Almost everyone who's responded has mentioned people "forcing beliefs" on others. I've lived all over this country, and have never encountered this forcing of beliefs anywhere. What I really think is that, again, any mention of faith is "forcing your beliefs on me." It really seems some people here actually feel faint if they see or hear the word Christmas. I just don't get it. I'm not a religious person, but it doesn't bother me to hear about what other people believe. And I don't spend my days hunting for ways to be offended.

[RotseCherut]

Originally Posted by remoddahouse

Christians get ostracized here if they're the type that try to shove their values and beliefs upon others. The city is also pretty smart, so when you say you're fighting against gay marriage because there's a few references to it in the bible and you want to force this upon others without your faith and you also believe in divorce then that's an issue. People don't typically flaunt their religion here like they do in the south. Opinions on other things, like being against medical marijuana when the diety you're worshiping like to drink wine with others gets an eye roll.

What gets hated on here is the stupid right wing/religion combo that gets generated by a two party system. Go into your average southern church and ask them what their opinion is of the President, healthcare reform, restrictions on assault weapons, etc, and you'll see a lot of universal opinions that have nothing to do with the church.

A lot of the tea party types will also whine about big government and big government spending, but when you bring up the idea of how the government subsidizes churches they think that's ok.

So, basically, if a Christian behaves the way to liberals/atheists in Seattle, the way the liberals/atheists behave to a Christian, they will be shunned, reviled and hated. Basically, if they don't think the way they do, they are chastised and treated like they are an inferior piece of garbage. This is the type of acceptance , open-mindedness and compassion I have experienced from the so-called, liberal, progressive, intellectual, freethinkers of Seattle. In my opinion, they are a bunch of pretentious, closed-minded, hard-headed, stuck-up, arrogant and judgmental bigots to an even greater degree than those right-wing, conservative bible thumpers in the South. But, don't tell them any of that, or they will hate your guts and insult you!

As a Jew, I have encountered a lot of people who don't like me because of my religion and culture. Just like you don't like if I shove my views condemning gay marriage down your throat, I am sick of you shoving your views promoting gay marriage down my throat. If my religion is against homosexuality, yet your religion or way of life supports it, why not just keep it to yourself , rather than chanting the inferiority and degrading of all those people who refuse to embrace the lifestyle you deem moral and right. There is many things of my lifestyle that I have had liberals make insult and mock, yet if I am to think something wrong of their lifestyle, I am a racist, evil and should be killed. The double-standard is sickening and obtuse.

In ancient Greece, they use to fight for the rights of men to have relations with young boys and those who opposed it were considered hateful bigots and could even be imprisoned. One man's morality is another man's immorality. What one society thinks is good and right, may be consider criminal and unjust to another. Perhaps, both atheists/liberals and right-wing conservatives can agree that what certain societies at one time thought was innocuous, was in fact detrimental to the well-being of humanity.

Since, ethics, morals, religion and politics can all be subjective and will vary on cultures, ethnic groups, upbringing, etc, I would say people should respect each other and stop attacking one another if their views don't coincide with the other. As long as what they do doesn't harm other people or interfere with the well-being or freedoms of another person.

I am tired of all the apologists and judges on both side of the spectrum. But, I will say I find Seattle to be one of the most passive aggressive and judgmental places to those who think differently. Basically, the people who claim to be champions of righteousness are in fact blood-sucking, back-stabbing hypocrites who look to hurt, insult, degrade and humiliate others to boost their own inflated sense of importance.

[RotseCherut]

Originally Posted by Ira500

Maybe this is just me being ignorant, or out of touch, but don't most people in Seattle consider themselves Christians? And aren't there a lot of churches around? And, are there boundaries where this anti Christian sentiment takes place? My across the street neighbor is a right wing, conservative Christian. He's a great guy, hilariously funny, and I always enjoy spending time with him. His wife is the youth Pastor at their church, and they're wonderful neighbors. But this is in Renton. Maybe it's different within the city, where you're not allowed to get along with people you disagree with politically?

Seattle has one of the lowest number of church attendance and church members in the USA.. So, I don't see how you can say most people in Seattle consider themselves Christians. There is no statistical information that would back up a fact like that; actually, it would be quite the contrary.

The farther you go from Seattle, the more Christians, churches and conservatives you will have. Where I live in the South Sound near Federal Way, I would almost call the area the Bible Belt of the Northwest. There are churches everywhere. However, the people who live here are totally different, night and day, from people in Seattle. It is mostly older people, families with children and people who grew up here, I've discovered. They are on the other side of the spectrum to Seattlites, as they pretty much shun anybody outside their churches. However, I have not found them as polarizing and degrading as I have found the atheistic/liberal people in Seattle who hold opposing views to them.

[fnh]

Oh good grief, it's a matter of degree. You can talk about something that happened at church on Sunday and no one will give you the stink eye, but come on, if you go on at length at the CSA recipe swap about how eating nutritious foods is necessary "for the glorification of God and His bounty" (true story) well then that's just awkward for everyone unless the recipe swap is taking place within the church group (which it wasn't). So if a zucchini recipe is a fit opening for proselytizing, then yeah, I'm going to sit next to someone else. Does that make me a hater?

[texastrigirl]

I am a regular church attender, Bible Study attender and generally a conservative person. I have friends all over the spectrum. I don't hide my beliefs and they don't hide theirs. I do however live on the Eastside and so that may be why I don't feel ostracized for my beliefs. I moved here from TX and had the same concerns until I walked through the door of a large church here and found it full. Same with the Bible Study Fellowship class I attend. Full class attendance.

One nice thing about going to church here is that no one feels forced to do it or does it for appearances as some did in TX as there is no social pressure to go. The people who are there genuinely want to be there.

DM if you'd like some suggestions on where to start looking should you end up here.

And don't worry, many people on CD like to make Seattle sound way worse than it really is in all aspects of life. You'll be fine!

[max.b]

Originally Posted by texastrigirl

I walked through the door of a large church here and found it full.

Were people praying for the rain to stop, or just waiting it out? That should tell you if Seattle is religious. I want to know too.

[GoneNative]

Originally Posted by kyled

Reading these responses it seems Seattleites are extremely tolerant of all religions, including Christianity, as long as you have the same political beliefs as they do, you're willing to be mocked and ridiculed, and you don't mention your religion to anyone, ever.

I thought the same thing while reading through considerably bigoted responses for folks who so enthusiastically embrace the mantle of tolerance.

To answer the question, frankly, I think that, as Archbishop Chaput has said, there is a latent hostility to traditional Catholic belief and morality throughout the country, and that is true in Boston as it is in Atlanta. I suspect that is true of other Christians, too. Is Seattle tough on believers? I don't know, but I doubt it is so much worse than other major US cities.

I might suggest that City Data is emphatically not the place to get a good response.

[billy98102]

I personally have not experienced any anti Christian bias in Seattle, however I do think that there is a lot of scorn for the Religious Right here.