An Introduction to the Bible Belt

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     Like the local bar-b-que, living life in the south for the past 5 years has been a sweet and savory experience. LA may have a Starbucks across the street from each other, New England may have have a bar on every corner, but here in Georgia we have churches right next door to each other! Although I wouldn't mind a Starbucks on every corner... Here there is no terrible rush, unless you're on the interstate, but overall there is a more relaxed pace of life. Perfect strangers are friendly enough to wave at you while you're walking by and small talk is an art form. The summers may be hot and humid, but most every place has a/c. The winters are just cool enough to give you the taste of the season and it rarely snows (despite the recent snowpocalypse). 

     There, now that I have the staples of the South out of the way I can talk normally. Everything that I mentioned above is true, but there is much more to the South than the things listed. Coming from New England to Georgia was definitely a new experience as far as personal interaction goes. In Massachusetts particularly I was use to people talking to each other like they in an argument. In fact, when my wife (who is a southerner) and I were visiting up north she witnessed two people yelling each other in a Walgreen's parking lot, she looked at me with worried eyes. I told her to just wait a second and sure enough the people started laughing. Her worried look turned to one of down right confusion, but I told her that that is just a normal, everyday interaction between people. I also told her that people are a lot more blunt and are less likely to beat around the bush. 
    
   Like her, I also had the same kind of experience when I first moved to Georgia. Her and I were just taking a walk around the neighborhood on one of many beautiful spring afternoons when a car passed and the driver waved at us. That was not a big thing, but then another driver did it, and then another, and then another, then people sitting on their porch waved hello. I asked my wife if she knew any of these people, but she told me that that is just the way people are down here. Even after five years the politeness of people in their everyday interactions still take me by surprises once and a while. Most people seem to be more patient and genuine in their acts.

    I don't know if religion plays a part in why most people are friendly down here or what. As you can see from the map, Georgia and the rest of the southern states are the most religious in the country hence the name "Bible Belt." Indeed religion plays an important role the south, as it does in my life, and it seems that the Baptists claim the most congregants (I'm non-denominational). I really wasn't kidding when I said that there are churches right next door to each other. If you don't believe me than come down and visit and we'll go for a drive. Christianity in the south I think is a pretty good thing. It is nice to see families not afraid to pray over their meals at a popular restaurant. It is nice to drive by and witness people laying hands on other people and praying for them in public. People aren't afraid to profess their faith, people aren't afraid to talk about God. There are a lot of good things happening with religion and yes there is some bad things, but that will be covered in a more specific post.

     There is one more thing that surprised me about the south when I first arrived. There are a lot of transplants from New England, especially in Georgia. Just the other day I met a guy at my brother's doctors office wearing a Patriots jacket who had moved down here in 1963 for the Air Force. And I LOVE to see all the sports decals on the cars supporting the Red Sox ( The Yankees stink)! Although, I'm also thinking this explains the terrible drivers plaguing the south. I have never met such distracted or impatient drivers in my life. It's like people suppress all of their emotions and then release them when they get behind the wheel. Sometimes I actually need Jesus to literally take the wheel because supernatural driving abilities are the only thing that will keep me safe from some of these drivers. Kidding aside, it is a great place to live and sometimes I feel like I should have been born here because it matches my temperament so well. I hope you enjoyed this first post, I hope you found it interesting. I look forward to writing and sharing more.

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