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99 44/100% pure · 03-04-2003, 10:24 PM

When I moved from NYC to a small town in western PA in my senior year of high school, my universe changed from 8 million loud, outgoing ethnic people to 8,000 quiet blond Protestants.

In NYC, it seemed that the people I encountered were 1/3 jewish, 1/3 italian or irish catholic, and 1/3 some flavor of protestant (almost all of the latter group were black; the others almost exclusively caucasian). No one I knew was "religious" -- as in, attending church and having a healthy fear of/respect for God.

In the town of 8,000, there were 18 churches, one of which was catholic, all of which were full every Sunday. What does this have to do with this thread? Well, my new friends decided to save me from the everlasting damnation guaranteed by my jewish birth and insisted that I attend "Young Life" meetings. I had never heard of this group before, but soon found that it was an interdenominational christian youth group that met in the high school and led daily schoolwide prayers before class each morning. (Like thatwould ever fly at the rad-lib single-sex magnet high school I had attended in NYC!) So, what did these earnest young people pray for, with all their idealism and fervor? Victory for the football team!

Somehow, I don't think this was what my rabbi had in mind when he wished that I, an agnostic from early childhood, could find a relationship with God!

But, yes, there are large pockets of the US population that mix their religion and sports with great energy and seriousness.

03-04-2003, 10:24 PM	#2
99 44/100% pure Infrequently Astonished Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Baltimore metro area Posts: 324	When I moved from NYC to a small town in western PA in my senior year of high school, my universe changed from 8 million loud, outgoing ethnic people to 8,000 quiet blond Protestants. In NYC, it seemed that the people I encountered were 1/3 jewish, 1/3 italian or irish catholic, and 1/3 some flavor of protestant (almost all of the latter group were black; the others almost exclusively caucasian). No one I knew was "religious" -- as in, attending church and having a healthy fear of/respect for God. In the town of 8,000, there were 18 churches, one of which was catholic, all of which were full every Sunday. What does this have to do with this thread? Well, my new friends decided to save me from the everlasting damnation guaranteed by my jewish birth and insisted that I attend "Young Life" meetings. I had never heard of this group before, but soon found that it was an interdenominational christian youth group that met in the high school and led daily schoolwide prayers before class each morning. (Like thatwould ever fly at the rad-lib single-sex magnet high school I had attended in NYC!) So, what did these earnest young people pray for, with all their idealism and fervor? Victory for the football team! Somehow, I don't think this was what my rabbi had in mind when he wished that I, an agnostic from early childhood, could find a relationship with God! But, yes, there are large pockets of the US population that mix their religion and sports with great energy and seriousness. __________________ Overcompensating for the 0.56% that is irredeemably corrupted.