Having to constantly have Jesus thrown in your face is a common theme I see from people all over the United States, but this is especially so in the Bible Belt. As if to illustrate my point, just as I started writing this, my family in the other room started talking about a Bible study one has been attending.
I was in the same house as that much of my family because we were on a trip to Branson, Missouri. On the day we visited the part of town with all the touristy, gift shops, I encountered something I was not surprised to see, but it was still interesting to see it in that volume.
Jesus merchandise was everywhere I went.
This was just over a few hours, and it's not even close to all I saw. It's not even all the pictures I took. For several of the places, it's just about all they had. These were all found in private businesses, so there are no Church-State issues involved. I'm not writing this to say they should not be allowed to sell this much religious merchandise or even that they're wrong to do so. In fact, considering the fact that these are for-profit businesses in this place, they're right to do so.
This is merely a visual representation of what many atheists have to put up with. All the time. Around here, Jesus sells. It sells this way because Christianity is ingrained into every part of the culture in these places. It's even in their newspapers.
Just something to think about before you go all rageface at someone who comes from this environment and believes things that seem absurd to those who've been lucky enough to escape it. Something to think about before you call all Christians stupid or call closeted atheists in these places cowards.
Just because you were lucky enough to overcome something does not mean it comes easily to everyone. It couldn't hurt to keep that in mind.
I was in the same house as that much of my family because we were on a trip to Branson, Missouri. On the day we visited the part of town with all the touristy, gift shops, I encountered something I was not surprised to see, but it was still interesting to see it in that volume.
Jesus merchandise was everywhere I went.
This was just over a few hours, and it's not even close to all I saw. It's not even all the pictures I took. For several of the places, it's just about all they had. These were all found in private businesses, so there are no Church-State issues involved. I'm not writing this to say they should not be allowed to sell this much religious merchandise or even that they're wrong to do so. In fact, considering the fact that these are for-profit businesses in this place, they're right to do so.
This is merely a visual representation of what many atheists have to put up with. All the time. Around here, Jesus sells. It sells this way because Christianity is ingrained into every part of the culture in these places. It's even in their newspapers.
Just something to think about before you go all rageface at someone who comes from this environment and believes things that seem absurd to those who've been lucky enough to escape it. Something to think about before you call all Christians stupid or call closeted atheists in these places cowards.
Just because you were lucky enough to overcome something does not mean it comes easily to everyone. It couldn't hurt to keep that in mind.
