Ha, yes that was my thought too.......

...how bout driving toward the nearest larger town and eating there..?

Its asking for trouble to "pop into" any church around here - they instantly swarm all over you to make you feel "welcome" and then do everything possible never to let you go. I attended a church a couple times and some members started "popping into" my house unannounced with church literature - the 2nd time they did it I never went back. I have a friend who joined a church to get financial help for a dying relative - she told me the ENTIRE CONGREGATION showed up at her house unannounced and just barged in! No more invasion of zombies trying to suck me into the Borg, thanks!

@exilesky I am truly happy not to be living in the US then. Here in Australia it is unheard of to do such a thing, even for deeply religious people. They do "welcome" you when you attend church but coming to your house unannounced that is a no no.

Could miss out on some retry wonderful Eastern food. A lot of Buddhist restaurants are pretty to notch. Well in London anyway!

@Geoffrey51
Good point. In fact I do go to Asian restaurants and the often display artwork depicting Confucius or the Buddha. However, I do not consider them tp be religious figures. For me they symbolize secular philosophical traditions. Both were mostly concerned with practical issues, not supernatural ones. In this I am focusing on what the men themselves said more than what some of their followers have said and done in the intervening millennia.

I miss my UK buddy who’d moved to Oregon.. I was one of few he could vent his disgust over ‘American ways’ to … and I loved it! Other than a long lasting marriage producing a talented son, I’d often wonder how he stood it ‘over here’

The general trend over the last few hundred hears has been away from religious belief. So there is reason to be optimistic about the long-term outlook. ?

@Flyingsaucesir Heretics unite! LOL!!!

I can't believe you think it's "no biggie". Maybe it's because you've never known anything else, like you say. I don't feel the need for a tribe, especially such a disgusting one as any relgion.

Tribes. That's a good way to put it. Seems that many people have a need of tribes.

It reads like discrimination, to me.

@GoldenDoll maybe "no biggie" isn't the best phrase, it's natural and I choose not to allow my mind to be negative about something I can't impact.

It annoyed me a ton when LDS help each other clear snow with their fancy snowblowers, but skipped non LDS houses as we slogged through with shovels. Hey I got some extra exercise and found out which neighbors aren't LDS as we helped each other.

Ok, non LDS helped each other. I get free mechanic advice from a neighbor, he tested my alternator gratis. I went to 2 fundraiser at a diner owned by gay people for a gay couple with medical bills, now I get a 10% discount on most meals there. I haven't done any analysis if my $20 donations have evened out with discounts but I also gained a few great acquaintances and have random fun chats with cool people I met at the fundraiser. Hey I'm known as a gay friendly guy and I bet some LDS think I'm gay so give me a little more distance. This is a win-win!

Religion disgusts me when it interferes with my life or other peoples' lives directly, but saving two dollars on a meal, meh I can go to my gay friends diner or last night I went to a free wine tasting put on by a UU friend. Six hours of kick ass conversation, $50 of free wine and gourmet snacks that no religious person would EVER get invited to!

TBH religious disgusts me most when I meet cool people trapped by the insanity of their upbringing and I'm crazy thankful (to Athena) I escaped the idiocy. I'm free and I'll take that over saving $1000 and having to hob-know with delusional peeps.

@Varn by the dictionary definition, sure it's discrimination, just like my mechanic neighbor discriminated in my favor and I saved $80 getting my alternator tested, he despises religion and won't even work on some peoples' cars.

I guess he stays busy enough by refusing money based on religion.

It's not discrimination in any legal sense, just a private business that's likely done an ROI and figured out they'll make more money offering a discount and they profit by volume. Businesses do that all the time for groups of people. Denny's offers a 20% discount to all senior citizens, 10% to all military and vets...

Personally I'll save my emotional upheaval for crazy shit like abstinence only education...lol and UU's OWL is seeing a small surge in Utah after the state idiotically mandated abstinence only. They're literally pushing some people into my atheist church. Unintended consequences are a bitch

Living in Indiana, you might enjoy this blog. She lives there and talks a lot about happenings in Indiana.
[sheilakennedy.net]

Interesting article. Yes, one could argue that any business is "discriminatory" when they offer discounts for some and not others (i.e. "Veterans Eat Free with proper ID" ). However, when you are in an environment that is very "pro" whatever they are promoting, be it religion, "patriotism", etc. the only backlash will be towards anyone complaining about it.

I just ask the server if they have to bribe customers because the food is so bad and if I should go someplace else.

I'm outspokenly anti-religion with everyone and everywhere.

If I knew I wouldn't be going back, I'd make sure they knew why.

@KKGator I’m not totally new to small town politics … but alone in an alien world, I’m less militant locally..

@Varn I understand that I'm definitely in the minority here. I appreciate that not everyone is going to have the same attitude toward this stuff that I do. I honestly don't care about pissing these people off. I feel like they need to know that they're being assholes. It's understandable that others have their reasons for being quiet about it.

@KKGator I often speak up, and the places I frequent have no doubt noticed my always-marked Atheist Money bills. But I’m now in what some call ‘the south,’ and plan to stay here. My political lawn signs, walking in the gay pride parade and money marking often seem enough.

Actually, I’d likely ask the closest to management about the ‘religious deal,’ hand them the menu and leave.. They’d figure it out

@Varn Everyone does what they feel comfortable with. I wasn't judging you, Varn.