How to survive in the Bible Belt

Thankfully, we don’t often have to deal with this in the Seattle-Tacoma area, but having lived in Texas, Florida and Virginia, I know wherof Shelle Stormoe speaks.

She grew up in a very religious town, and is a bit of an “evangelical magnet.” So, she’s devised some strategies for coping with being approached by people wanting to convert, or make sure you’re already converted, which tend to come in handy around this time of year. 

1. Learn Tolerance.  

So you’re an agnostic liberal, or a Wiccan, or a Muslim, or Jewish, or you’re just a secular humanist. Whatever you are, if you aren’t openly a Christian, you’re probably in the minority anywhere in the Bible Belt. The best way to survive this experience is to simply learn to tolerate the religion of others. Actually put it into practice by simply not allowing yourself to get annoyed at all the daily reminders of your minority status.

Learn to translate what people say into something useful. If someone at work says, “Jesus will help you through it,” understand that what they really mean is “I know you’re going to be okay because I believe in you.” If someone offers to pray for you, simply say “thanks” and take it as “I’ll keep you in my thoughts and I have sympathy for your situation.” Don’t hold their preachiness against them, it’s their cultural context. You can’t force other people to remove themselves from their cultural contexts. It takes an intellectual and philosophical leap that a lot of people simply can’t make. 

2.  Calm down, already. It’s not worth getting yourself worked up into a hissy fit over every expression of religious belief around you, even in public places. Learn an old writer’s trick, “If the comment doesn’t apply, ignore it.” You wouldn’t go to Mexico and take offense at every religious icon you saw, right? It’s part of the landscape, part of the way people explain themselves to themselves. Learn to step out, and away, from the tendency to take personal offense unless someone personally offends you. READ MORE