[adrianhoward]

One thing I remember from a long road trip I took in the nineties across the US was, on multiple occasions, being told that I was "brave" or "courageous" when it came up in conversation that I was an atheist (okay - technical agnostic, working atheist if you want to be picky :-)

Everybody was nice. Nobody was mean about it (I got a lot of hassle over being a vegetarian though) but it was felt odd for two reasons.

First that it came up. I'm from the UK and we just don't get onto the topic of religion that much. Especially with complete strangers from other countries that you've just met.

Second the "brave" thing obviously... I've occasionally found some of the more extreme ends of the religious community over here annoying... but never anywhere close to the extent that I would feel stating my (non)religious views would be any kind of brave or courageous thing...

An odd difference.

[woodpanel]

When I asked the guy running the local tourist/visitor-center in some small town in PA what to do out there, his second question (after 'where you from?') was: 'So how are you baptised?' It took me some time to think about an answer. This question was odd to me for a couple of reasons:

1) I have never been asked that question in my whole life.

2) I haven't been baptised.

3) I didn't want to offend him, so after some time I figured it would be more offensive if he caught me lying.

4) It still was uncomfortable because the german stereotype of the religeous american is one of a superficial radical. This stereotype would be tested the moment I'd answer him. Would he drop his friendlliness towards me? Would he treat me differently?

He was strucked by my atheism in third generation. His mood went down. He was honestly concerned for me. I think I ruined his day.

In conclusion: My impression of the religious american (the most religeous one that I've met so far) was a good one. He was open about his believe, believing it consequentially (from what i've saw) and not a bigot (he didn't drop his friendliness).

[ScottBurson]

I am an American, and not an atheist -- but I'm also not a Christian, and that question would have taken me aback too. In fact I'm quite sure I've never been asked that in my life. I would have been tempted to say something sarcastic like, "you really should get out more; there are people in this world who aren't Christians" but really, the guy was just trying to answer your question -- the reality being, I suppose, that everything there was to do in that town was organized by sect.

[arethuza]

Actually, I suspect there is a chance that those people were concerned for your immortal soul and therefore regarded your position in the face of impending endless torment as "brave".

But I'm also an atheist and British... and despite growing up in an oppresively religious community I don't really understand these things.

[adrianhoward]

Nah. It was definitely just being open about being non-religious. The reaction came from the religious and the non-religious. It also wasn't a north/south thing (I know you didn't mention that - but it's something that's come up when I've commented on this before).

[glhaynes]

That sort of usage of "brave" (to compliment while sending mild sarcasm/bemusement/disapproval) sounds distinctly British to me. :)

[Cieplak]

This reminds me of the episode of top gear where they paint offensive remarks on each others cars and drive across the southern US.

[Cieplak]

http://www.topgear.com/uk/videos/southern-discomfort

[_b8r0]

When I was last in the US (in 99) I was told I was brave for walking to the mall. It was only a few miles, for some reason this concept of walking was somewhat weird to the locals. To be fair, I was in Jacksonville NC, but I found it odd that they found it odd.

[tptacek]

Jacksonville is on the small end of midsized towns in the US, and most cities in this size bracket are not at all walkable. Your couple-mile walk to the mall is obviously totally reasonable once in awhile, but it would be hard to manage day-to-day life in a midsize US city without a car, and the car is integrated into daily life.

The same is true of most suburbs around major cities.

[khuey]

In some places in America sidewalks and crosswalks are virtually non-existent, so they may have been concerned for your safety. Walking a few miles (especially in hot, humid places like NC) is a bit unusual here though.

[lambda]

Yeah, I'm American (from New England) and I've gotten that. I was on my way to a small town in Pennsylvania, and my car broke down part way. It was late, so I had it towed to a garage and found a hotel for the night. In the morning, I decided to walk to the garage (it was a couple of miles). The guys at the garage looked at me like I had two heads for walking that far.

[specialist]

There are many, many Americas.

City folk like to walk. The others not so much. Suburbanites DRIVE to the gym.

We had some visitors from another office, took them to lunch, made it to the crosswalk (200ft), they asked "How far away is this place? We should have just driven."