"Which Church Do You Attend?"

Moving to the south from the north was a new experience altogether. The people are nicer, all the food is fried and there are churches everywhere. The first time I came to Wilmington to visit the University my mom warned me about the presence of religion in the south. She is involved in our Episcopal church in Virginia and went to church every week where she grew up, in Nashville, Tennessee so she has been religious all her life. My mom knows that as much as I respect her views, I’m not much of a church-goer. Its not that I’m not religious, it just doesn’t play a big role in my life. She told me that I was going to meet “a new breed” of religious people down here because I was now living in the Bible belt. She warned me that religious southerns will look at me as an atheist because I'm not active in any religion. She was right.

“Which church do you attend?” is now just a normal conversational question to me, although, when I first got asked, I was completely caught off guard. The first time I was on the bus going from my off-campus apartment to class. I was trying to meet people since I had just gotten to Wilmington and so I initiated conversation with the girl sitting next to me. It went from “Hi” to “Where are you from?” straight to the question, “So, which church do you attend?” Not sure if my honest answer was going to create for an awkward situation, I lied. “Oh, I haven’t found one that’s right for me yet.” This has remained my answer to that question ever since.

I know it sounds silly to lie about something that I do or don’t do, but after seeing the faces on people when I tell them I don’t attend church almost merits a white lie or two. I have been asked if I want to go to heaven, why my parents didn’t make me go and most of all, why I am an atheist.

When I hear the word atheist, I think about someone who has no faith in anything. Those of us that believe in Him have our own unique depiction of who God is. Religions differ from country to country and neighbor to neighbor. People express their faith in all sorts of ways from abiding the Ten Commandments to murdering those who don’t believe in what they do. However in the south, especially if you are religious, you go to church.

I believe in a heaven, I believe that there is someone up there watching after me and making sure I’m safe. I have faith in a higher being. I go to church on Christmas and Easter and I pray at night and sometimes before I eat dinner. I don’t, however, regularly attend church because my religion is my own. I can’t tell you what I am, but I can tell you that it’s not atheist.