A Report From the Bible Belt [View All]

[burythehatchet]

First a little background. I have lived in many of the world's capitals over the course of my life. Now in my mid 40's I find myself working in a small southern town that is very much a fundamentalist hotbed. I chose to be here, knowing full well that my world view would not be appreciated, let alone understood, here.

A year has passed and I would like to share some of my experiences and observations.

About Children
My son (16 y.o.) lives with me. He goes to one of the better high schools here. While he is not a straight A student, he is very intelligent and observant. He relates to me that he thinks 90% of the students in his school have no desire for higher education. They talk about the factory job that will be waiting for them when (if) they graduate. Discussions about college are rare. There is one child who scored over 1500 on his SAT and has no plans to continue to college. In my company, most of the employees could do far more than they are currently doing if they had a college education. When I discuss their career paths, and even when we talk about their kids, the consistent theme is a basic disregard for the benefits of education.

About the Workplace
Every meeting, every meal, every celebration begins and ends with prayer. Sectarian Prayer. Every address to the employees includes some tribute to George Bush. There is never even a mention of alcohol. While I suspect that managers certainly imbibe, the rank and file most certainly do not. The biggest annual charitable drive is conducted on behalf of Franklin Graham's organization. On that issue I refuse to cooperate.

About God
There is a church on every corner. The single consistent basis on which one discusses social interaction is the church that they attend. There seems to be no other frame of reference.

Other Observations
Very few people seem to have ever traveled north of Virginia.
Vacation getaways are to Pigeon Forge or Dollywood
It is rare to find anyone who would consider NOT voting for George Bush.
It is rare to find anyone who knows anything about the war in Iraq.
Almost everyone trusts Mr. Bush because he is a believer.

The underlying theme seems to be ignorance. More disturbing though is my conclusion that the this culturally deprived population is kept in that state by the church. It disturbs me to think that the power of the religious institutions is so great that an entire population is controlled and subjugated to a life of ignorant bliss for the sake of maintaining political and economic control.

What am I doing here?