Protestants with Southern Accents

[madavis]

pnewton:

It looks like the South has risen.

If the same prejudice had been addressed wth the same rhetoric toward blacks or hispanics, this thread would have been closed and deleted. Look back over Xenon’s posts (and others) and substitute some other group and see what I mean.

exactly… if he started circulating some stereotypes about blacks, he would be kicked out of the forum. His post is bigotted and offensive to me as a Southerner. I grew up Protestant and my father is a ordained Baptist pastor, so this post is very personal to me… I have just recently moved to the North and have had to hear these ignorant and infactual stereotypes and slanders about the South from all kinds of people, and quite frankly I am tired of it.

 

[asquared]

If you object to the accent and vocal style of an apologist for fundamentalism, then debate him on the internet, not in person. If you object to the message of a fundamentalist preacher, don’t listen to him. If you don’t believe in the doctrine of any church or preacher, why on earth are you listening to it in the first place? If you suffer from regional xenophobia and are truly ignorant of the reasons and background for the oratorical style of some Southern preachers, just thank yourself that not everyone has been used to boring monotone sermons since birth. Most of all, if any preacher or apologist arouses you to such a hyperbolic frenzy of uncharitableness, by no means attempt to argue with him or defend your Catholic faith to him. You will do more harm than good, and merely confirm him in his belief that Catholics are not Christians.

 

[dream_wanderer]

I’m a southener and I didn’t take offense…

dream wanderer

 

[mark_a]

Xenon-135:

Hey now, lets not make this a Southern Accent bashing endeavor

Sorry you took my post seriously. I was joking around, but I do have a little more of an accent than Martignoni.

Xenon-135:

The issue is that I have a personal predjudice for folks with that particular Drawl and I automatically brand them (no pun intended) as fundamentalist, KJV onlyist, etc.

Which drawl do you mean?

The “elite” drawl sounds kind of like the one that actors sound so terrible trying to do (like Marlene on Seinfeld).

The “good ol’ boy” drawl sounds like the sheriff in Cool Hand Luke.

The most common one is like Carl in Slingblade.

By the way, did you know “Y’all come see us” really means “Y’all come see us some other time, just not right now”?

 

[mark_a]

madavis:

… I have just recently moved to the North and have had to hear these ignorant and infactual stereotypes and slanders about the South from all kinds of people, and quite frankly I am tired of it.

I was ridden hard too when I lived in NJ.

 

[mark_a]

JGC:

Just a thought…to reverse the question…

What do Catholics generally think of those with Northern Accents?

They are the norm.

 

[mark_a]

asquared:

If you suffer from regional xenophobia and are truly ignorant of the reasons and background for the oratorical style of some Southern preachers, just thank yourself that not everyone has been used to boring monotone sermons since birth.

I personally just love to listen to Dr. Tony Evans on the radio. Someone in another thread says the radio doesn’t even need to be on to be able to hear him.

 

[mark_a]

The Old Road:

You will see Confederate flags in lower-class areas of Pennsylvania, Ohio, etc. So it is not some much a regional phenomenon as it is a cultural and class phenomenon (i.e., not so much Southern as redneck).

I think this hits the nail on the head. It’s our own brand of fundamentalism.

 

[kfarose2585]

I’ll admit that I didn’t read the whole thread, but as an Ohio-born Catholic resident of Georgia and South Carolina, I think I have a unique perspective on this.

First, Maccabees–you are awesome. I attend Furman University, which is about 15 minutes away from Bob Jones University. BJU students make the ultra-conservative, predominately Protestant population of Furman look like a bunch of liberal atheists. I mean, we actually have science classes at Furman–and not the kind that teach that evolution is the instrument of the devil, or that the Pope shares the anatomy of Satan. And our girls wear pants, which apparently is a sin at that backward place. If any of you ever happen to be in the Greenville area, I recommend visiting the BJU Art Gallery (and wear pants if you’re a woman–they’ll still let you in =). There are captions beside paintings of Mary that basically say, “The Catholics were too afraid to go to Jesus, so they would pray to Mary, who of course is not our Lord and Savior. Thank God we know better than to continue this today.” When I saw that, I said rather loudly, “Now why would Catholics pray to Mary? She’s only the MOTHER OF GOD. I mean, geez.”

Being a Catholic in the South is tough. Many people whom I have met have tried to “witness” to me, thinking that Catholicism isn’t even Christianity! How absurd that the original Christian Church would not be regarded as being authentic! But, that is how it is in some parts of the South.

Unfortunately, it seems that the concept of Catholicism being a warped version of Christianity is widespread. I once made the mistake of attending a Reform Baptist Church. I told some of the members of the congregation that I was Catholic, and that I was just visiting to try to understand other denominations better. Everyone to whom I spoke offered to pray for my soul, that I may see the true path and leave the “corrupt” church to which I belong. I honestly couldn’t believe that such people existed until that visit. My favorite part was when the preacher explained that many South Americans “worship statues of Mary ‘and other virgins,’” and that this particular church was working hard to pull these South American people away from their rich Catholic heritage. That’s right, they weren’t ministering to people who had never heard the Good News–they were trying to convert Catholics! This was an especially arduous process for them because they have many female volunteers, but of course, women cannot lead, and they certainly cannot teach men. That’s right. Even if a man on his deathbed asks a woman to tell him about Jesus, she can’t; because after all, that was Paul’s intent.

About all I can say is that I’m glad that not all Protestants are like that. The Southern ones can be especially frustrating, though I don’t think that it’s because of their accents. I think it has more to do with our (often but definitely not always true) stereotypes of Southern Protestant preachers being closed-minded, anti-Catholic intimidators.

The best way to combat such people is simply not to. Gently explain your Catholic faith if they are curious, but otherwise just don’t bother. People get set in their ways, and the only way to change them–and to change ourselves–is through God. So, as I’m sure others have told you, pray. Pray for the anti-Catholics, the apathetic Catholics, the ignorant (Southern) Protestants, the faithful (Southern) Protestants, and for your own patience in loving and accepting them all.

 

[SojournerOf78]

catholicbudgie:

Oi! Lighten it up! I used to be a proddie with a funny accent then I bacame a “mick” still with a funny accent!

To explain it: Check my location, top right. I’m really, really southern, mate! And, the term “mick” is one Aussie proddies use for Catholics.

They call me a Mick too but its not because Im a Catholic in Australia.

Its because Im Irish.

You know, Mc?

Fair dinkum eh mate? Now pass the Fosters please and watch out for them mozzies.

 

[SojournerOf78]

StacyS:

Being raised (Catholic) right in the heart of Dixie, I know the accent can be tough to take, but sometimes it is quite beautiful. And, I know many highly intelligent people who twang quite a bit when they speak. (I’m an engineer. )

I have had the pleasure of hearing a Southern priest give a homily. He was born and raised Southern Baptist, I believe. He came to visit a Church in a more, how do I say it, *up scale *part of town. My husband and I had a great time, but you should have seen the folks shifting in their seats when he asked, “Can I get an amen?! I know you can do it! Lemme have an amen!”

As Xenon himself said and as I pointed out earlier, he didnt say he hated Southern accents…its the drawl, the terribly ignorant sounding, sometimes slower than molasses noise that comes out of many of these preachers’ mouths, theres a WAY BIG difference between a Southern accent and a Southern drawl. Its comparible to the difference between a Univerisity student who lives in California that is speaking proper english and a California surfer living in the same mneighborhood speaking in surf language. The two have totally different ways of saying things along with certain buzzwords and a different vernacular…

U Student: How are you today my good man??

Surfer: Dooooood, whats up??

U Student: I thought I would relax at the beach before going to class.

Surfer: Oh righteous braaaa, the tubes are gnarly today…not to mention the bettys.

And as Pauly Shore told the father in Encino man…

“Mr Morgan, If youre edged cuz Im weasin off your grindage just chill…cuz if I had the whole Brady Bunch thing happenin over at my pad…Id go grind over there…so dont tax my gig so hardcore cruster!!”

You get the point.

When my grandparents moved out here from Branson, Missouri they both came with the drawl, after a couple months my grandfather had completely lost his but my grandmother retained hers…

Finally after a couple more months she was still speaking in that drawl and one night during a conversation he lost it and shouted at her “WILL YOU STOP THAT!!!”

And that pretty much ended that.

 

[SojournerOf78]

pnewton:

It looks like the South has risen.

If the same prejudice had been addressed wth the same rhetoric toward blacks or hispanics, this thread would have been closed and deleted. Look back over Xenon’s posts (and others) and substitute some other group and see what I mean.

Ummm NO, but ok, weve only covered this a few times before as well as tonight…

The only “stereotype” or “prejudice” that has gone on here is people that sound stupid, well, sound stupid!

Nobody has said anything about “being southern” or “southern accents” for that matter, its the Southern drawl accompanied by the annoying protestant slogans and buzzwords…its hoaky and not very professional…like my previous post addressed, it is akin to having the surfer dood speak in his surfer talk while giving a sermon…HE CAN HELP IT YOU KNOW. It would be…uhhh “bogus”.

My family is from the south and the midwest…as well as our earlier relatives being from Ireland…weve been bagged on for centuries because of our accents.

Every area has people who speak correctly and those in the same area who speak in a “slang” or “drawl” or “ebonic” type of way. Its wrong whether youre in the South or living in Europe, there are those that speak as grown up gentleman/ladies…and those that speak like fools. Xenon was bringing up the fools.

So stop making this a “Southern Accent” debate, thats not what it is.

 

[pnewton]

Just so you do not mistake my intent, I do find the attitude that a sound or tone of voice can be “stupid” or provoke one to anger both offensive and naive.

I had hoped most people in this day and age were intellegent enough to transcend such petty prejudice. It would never be safe to assume that a black man “spoke like a fool” because he used English differently.

To reiterate, I do find these snotty, uppity, and arrogant attitudes towards others offensive.

 

[SojournerOf78]

pnewton:

Just so you do not mistake my intent, I do find the attitude that a sound or tone of voice can be “stupid” or provoke one to anger both offensive and naive.

I had hoped most people in this day and age were intellegent enough to transcend such petty prejudice. It would never be safe to assume that a black man “spoke like a fool” because he used English differently.

To reiterate, I do find these snotty, uppity, and arrogant attitudes towards others offensive.

Do me a favor…do a Bible word search on how many times the Lord calls people fools or foolish in the scriptures in the OT…

then do one on how many times Jesus uses the word fool or foolish to describe people…

then do a word search on how many times the apostle paul uses them…

Do we have to be disgustingly politically correct or can we, in this day and age, admit that people can still act like fools…and have a following???

 

[AlanFromWichita]

Xenon-135:

Ahimsaman,

Thre is no jest here. Such matters have always been a cross for me to bear as well as anger, lust, and hate.

You can take a family outta the Highland, but you can’t really take the Highland out of them. I don’t exactly like having such reactive inclinations; it often results in ways that I had rather it not. This is why I don’t own a handgun. I would rather apply a minor amount of sensibile restraint than a maximum amount of prision sentence.

Dear Xenon-135,

I suppose voodoo is out of the question? (just kidding)

OK, kidding’s over.

First, I really liked jmm08’s response in post #33.

Second, here are a couple techniques you might consider, more psychological than spiritual…

As far as anger, I felt angry for a long time to people who thought they were right and I was wrong, and treated me like dirt. I was actually right, as time revealed, but of course there is no way to get “I told you so points” out of them. Once I uncovered a book I had, “2000 insults for all occasions” and started looking up insults that might apply to them and making a list. (Example: he’s the type of guy who would throw a drowning man both ends of the rope.) After I got some seriously exaggerated insults listed, I wrote a very cynical letter to them, trashing them beyond belief. Then I looked back at the insults again and begun to get amused by it all. I shredded the letter and the list of insults. After that, I had fed my desire for control over them, as I felt like I had some mastery over them even though I would likely never communicate that to them.

Another technique I saw used in a Catholic Charities counseling center for a child who had anger problems was to draw a picture of the thing she was angry at and hang it on the wall. She then proceeded to fling wet facial tissues at the picture as hard as she could. It was a lot of fun, and gave her a method to relieve her stress.

Neither method corrected the misunderstanding or “fixed” the other person, but both provided a safe outlet for anger and eventually led to more control over future anger.

Come to think of it, maybe those techniques are a bit like voodoo?

Anyway, take it for what it’s worth. It’s best to learn not to be angry at all, but these methods have both led toward less anger, acceptance, and an ability for me and the child to face those people who were making us angry.

Alan

 

[pnewton]

SojournerOf78:

Do me a favor…do a Bible word search on how many times the Lord calls people fools or foolish in the scriptures in the OT…

Do we have to be disgustingly politically correct or can we, in this day and age, admit that people can still act like fools…and have a following???

What would such a search accomplish or do you really think God every considered people foolish for their accent?

If you chose to be offensive then you will offend. Sometimes we need to offend, but the cause should be worth it, ya’ll.

 

[catholicbudgie]

SojournerOf78:

They call me a Mick too but its not because Im a Catholic in Australia.

Its because Im Irish.

You know, Mc?

Fair dinkum eh mate? Now pass the Fosters please and watch out for them mozzies.

Oh yes, Of course! The greatest of catholics in Australia had their roots in Ireland so the term “mick” got transported over as well.

What’s really weird is that my surname starts with a “Mc”, too. Though I prefer Victoria Bitter…

 

[SojournerOf78]

pnewton:

What would such a search accomplish or do you really think God every considered people foolish for their accent?

If you chose to be offensive then you will offend. Sometimes we need to offend, but the cause should be worth it, ya’ll.

Youre not understanding…and youre completely missing the point…if you want to keep arguing a non issue then you will argue a non issue, right?

 

[ATeNumquam]

catholicbudgie:

Oi! Lighten it up! I used to be a proddie with a funny accent then I bacame a “mick” still with a funny accent!

To explain it: Check my location, top right. I’m really, really southern, mate! And, the term “mick” is one Aussie proddies use for Catholics.

Gidday, Catholicbudgie!

I’m even more southern, mate! You know the old Kiwi accent (we’d be “mucks” rather than “meeeks”, right???
As well as the term “micks” for Catholics, we have the term “left-footers”. Is that universal or just confined to Down Under?

 

[Cat]

I don’t blame you for being upset.

Since I joined the Catholic Church April 10, 2004, I have met and gotten to know so many good Catholic Christians.

It hurts me terribly when I hear someone with any accent say a bad thing about my “family.” I don’t mind if they ask questions about my Church and our beliefs, but I get so upset when they just lash out at us.

It really bothers me because I think of all the Catholics who have been martyred for their faith in Jesus.

Just this week, my husband heard a disgusting Southern Gospel song (one of my personal least favorite styles of music, BTW) that tore Catholicism apart and used all kinds of incorrect statements about what we believe. It was so frustrating to hear these hurtful things, and not be able to confront the writer and singers and say, “Hey, leave my family alone! And while you’re at it, write about something wholesome and inspiring instead of insulting other Christians.”