Oh man....I'm a Jew from New York City who just moved part-time to Nashville and NO ONE HAS INVITED ME TO CHURCH!

I am super offended!!! Why am I being left out? (insert sarcasm as I don't know how to post the smiley face with the wink).

Good luck to you, Lilah! As someone who just voluntarily picked up and moved, albeit part-time with the intention of it being full-time in a year or so, life is too short to sit around if you have the opportunity to try living in other areas. Bless YOUR heart on your exciting new adventure

I think people often mischaracterize annoyance, frustration, dismay, etc. as offense. It's easy to discount another person's opinions or feelings by claiming that the person is "offended".

Skiergirl, you can come to church with me if you want... orrrrr we could just get coffee instead. Welcome to town!

I don't want to go to church but I would love to meet for coffee! What's your email?

And if people didn't pick up on my other post I was KIDDING about being offended. Jeez...

Sounds good to me! thompson dot jennifer at gmail!

Starrs-

"...Today, the Deep South is usually delineated as being those states and areas where cultural elements most often thought of as "Southern" exist in their most concentrated form.[3]"

I rest my case about Atlanta being in but not of the Deep South. When I moved here, forty years ago, it was. It is not any longer.

However, that's not a putdown of Atlanta, as I regard today's Atlanta as very much superior in just about every way (traffic excepted),

Starrs--

I do agree with this:

"Lilah, church attendance is pretty strong in the "Deep South".
It's very possible - if not probable - that someone will invite you to join them at their church.

IMO that's a very nice thing to do.
To others, it's very "intrusive" and a very bad thing to do.

Your response is up to you."

Asking someone to go to church with you is a sign they like you and care about you: they are offering to share something that is one of the --if not the-- most precious things they have.

Feel flattered, not offended. There are very few people I've invited to church.

Lilah--good choice to come to Atlanta. Check out Decatur, Georgia, a suburb that has a lot of the flavor of the Deep South, IMO. Lots of people like Marietta and Canton also.

"When I moved here, forty years ago, it was. It is not any longer."
I'm third generation Atlantan. We'll have to agree to disagree.


"Feel flattered, not offended. There are very few people I've invited to church."
I agree and agree.


Decatur is a great idea. It has a wonderful, small town feel with a courthouse square surrounded by fabulous restaurants and special events all through the year on the square, at the gazebo. It's an extremely liberal area with (probably) as many gay families as straight families. The intown neighborhoods are very popular too. Oakhurst, Old 4th Ward, etc. are great places with a lot going on.


skiergirl, there's at least one other Fodorite nearby. I'll give her a shout to check this thread.

skiergirl - I moved to Nashville from the West over 15 years ago and I still have culture shock (btw, starrs was talking about me up post)! I am Jewish too and I have been invited to church many times. I work with mostly Evangelicals and Baptists. I haven't gone though I have invited them to Shabbat services at my temple but they always look at me funny!

skiergirl - I moved to Nashville from the West over 15 years ago and I still have culture shock (btw, starrs was talking about me up post)! I am Jewish too and I have been invited to church many times. I work with mostly Evangelicals and Baptists. I haven't gone though I have invited them to Shabbat services at my temple but they always look at me funny!

trvgirlmq, I'd take you up on that offer the next time I'm up that way.

Hope it works out for y'all to have a mini-GTG!

Anytime starrs. I have a set of Catholic grandparents and spent my HS years in a predominately Mormon area of Nevada so have had my fill of church.

I had my fill of it for a couple of decades. Found one that matches me and love it. Even so, mine isn't for everyone.

trvgirlmq - I didn't know you were in Nashville as well! What temple to do you belong to? I am not religious at all, but have been advised I should join (The Temple) mainly for business purposes! I've only been there since late August and commute back to NYC so there hasn't been enough time to get invited to church just yet. I have met a lot of cool people and received other fun invites. Thankfully I went to Vandy so I already had culture shock and am now just adjusting to some other Nashville/southern quirks....like people who just don't show up to jobs I've booked them to do or no sense of urgency to get anything done in a timely manner! It's the Northeasterner in me....

Skiergirl - We belong to The Temple! We weren't into the organized part of religion when we moved here either but my oldest DS started coming home from school with some misinformation about being Jewish (i.e. a bit of bullying) so we decided to join. He went through religious school to Confirmation and even was the first one in the family to become bar Mitzvah. My sister and I taught for 7 years and my mom for 10 until some changes came about that we couldn't support. My youngest DS and niece stopped attending but we still go to services. The Temple is Nashville "old money"; the first Jewish families in this area who started the congregation are still present today. We aren't any kind of money and there is a distinct divide within the congregation but it's been our "home" for over a decade and with so little choice in the area we have stayed members without being as active.

From what we know about Nashville, that kind of "divide" you describe at temple is true throughout Nashville society.

Gretchen, I'm curious: when did you last spend a significant amount of time in Nashville? Seems a strong statement to make from someone who doesn't live here, but perhaps I'm underestimating your exposure.

I don't think there is any more divide in Nashville than there is in any other big city. There are areas of more affluence and areas of poverty. The people of each don't necessarily mingle with one another in social settings but the city functions like any other.

That's been my experience too, trvlgirlmq. I don't know what it was like, say, 30-40 years ago, but at this point it seems like there are so many newcomers in town that if anything, the "old money" has less influence than it used to (all relative, of course). The recent mayoral election seemed to reflect that to me.

Anyway, that's all off topic to the OP!