I don’t know if you consider Texas and Oklahoma “the South”, but that’s my area of experience, so that’s what I was referring to in the previous post. I also compare that to Oregon, in one of the most unchurched areas of the country.
They are definitely two different cultures, but in terms of Christianity in each of those areas ... I find that in Oregon (in the Willamette Valley) that the overall culture is not Christian and the Christian Community itself is dedicated and committed.
On the other hand, the culture, itself, in Texas and Oklahoma is definitely Christian in appearance overall, but it’s not ...mat the core of salvation itself. It’s “assumed” ... almost by simply “being there”. There’s a lot of talk about Bible things, but it’s shallow and many don’t really realize what salvation is about. That’s not to say there are not dedicated Christians, because there are, but they are still a subset of the larger community.
There are a whole lot of people in this area (I’m in Tulsa, but also from Texas, too) who think they are “good people” (in relation to other losers and bad people) and are, as a result, “saved”.
So, the larger community in these states are behaviorally “Christians” which would be in their cultural values and actions, and these actions do make for a good society overall (so no complaints there) ... but so many are not really Christian. They are people who have good values for our society.
It’s quite amazing to see this, but the term I use is that the majority of the society in those areas are “cultural Christians”. I would say that perhaps 20%, maybe 25% are saved, per the Bible, in the area I’m in. And in Oregon (where I was in the past), perhaps 10%, maybe 15% are saved. The cultures in the two different areas are quite different though.
This is simply my own direct experience and observations and how I would put “numbers” to it.
I spent a lot of time in Oregon, and it was always quite nice to be around committed and truly saved people there, as in the general population you would not have casual conversations about things of the Bible (your coworkers, neighbors, people on the street, going out on “visitations” etc.).
But in Texas and Oklahoma, you can be at MacDonalds or Target or Kohls or Neiman Marcus and people will be talking about praying for you or what’s going on at church, or talking about Jesus. The only thing about that, is that with many, if you dig down a little bit, with some conversation, you find out that they don’t know the Gospel, don’t realize why they are saved, if they are ... and what the basis of salvation is (namely only in Jesus, the Messiah of Israel, solely ... and not on being good or doing good things for others, or simply “trying to be good” or other variations).
I’ve gone back and forth between these two areas and it’s amazing for me to see the “cultural Christianity” in Texas and Oklahoma (in which there are people with good cultural values, but no salvation - again, not all) as compared with the Pacific Northwest. Someone ought to do a study on it ... :-) ...
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As far as being in or from Cupertino, I’ve only visited down in San Francisco. I’ve had fun seeing the sights and riding my bicycle around San Francisco and even over to Sausalito. I wouldn’t want to live down there, but visiting is all right. I do like the Pacific Northwest though. And I always found dedicated and true Christians to be around, in that area.
Here in Tulsa, it’s a little bit more troublesome, though, in finding the true Christians, because a lot of people talk casually about Jesus. It takes a bit more work and investigation here. I have to talk a bit more, here in Tulsa, before I find out.
As far as Jews, well I’ve primarily mixed with Messianic Jews, although I was looking at going to a Jewish Center here to get some conversational Hebrew down, while I also learn some Biblical Hebrew. I understand that the Jewish Center does something like immersion Hebrew.
And ... being from Oklahoma and Texas, I know about the gun culture. In Oklahoma we’ve got Open Carry here, while Texas is still working on it, I hear.
BUT ... when you talk about “droid” the only thing I think is “Star Wars”. I have an iPhone and an iPad, two excellent and great devices ... the best quality you can get, with great customer service, unmatched in the industry.
In my experience the only folks who pretend Oklahoma and Texas aren’t southern are some Yankees who’ve moved there for work and have superiority complexes
As usual
As proof.....drive from leave Texas or Oklahoma into New Mexico or Colorado or Kansas and watch the accent change at state lines
And sweet tea disappear
Or go to almost any county seat square and tell me why that CSA statue is there
You know I had barely been on this forum a month when a Yankee in Houston lectured me Texas ain’t southern
Lol
And Oklahoma. I got books on Oklahoma as southern stock
That Grissom guy
Census bureau as well
Again the accents don’t lie