In my brief blogging career I have often referenced what it is like to be a non-believer in the evangelical stronghold that is the American South.  My remarks have always been anecdotal and are humbly offered to those who are not familiar with the part of this nation. 

In a more particular sense, I am from the great state of North Carolina – I am a native and proud to call it my home, well, most of the time.

Today I was disturbed by a story I read in the December 11, 2009 edition of the Charlotte Observer (locally known as the “Charlotte Disturber”).  Cecil Bothwell, an Asheville city councilman, has recently been the recipient of good ol’ self-righteous fury.  At least one of Bothwell’s opponents is threatening to sue the city of Asheville for allowing Bothwell to be sworn in.

Why?

Bothwell happens to be an atheist. 

The Constitution of the State of North Carolina prohibits atheists from holding public office.

Asheville councilman challenged as atheist

 I'm not sure what's more distressing: the story itself or the comments underneath it.  

Being from the South is like having parents who sometimes forget to wear clothes when they walk outside – you love your parents, you’re proud of them, but like any other child you don’t want to see them naked – you especially don’t want others to see them naked.  Your parents are very fat because they eat bags of sugar all day long – nobody wants to see what they would look like naked. 

Also, they do a lot of really stupid stuff and don’t mind tattooing it all over their bodies.

Oh, North Carolina, I love you.  I work for your public school system, I volunteer in your historic sites – I literally tattooed your goddamn motto on my left forearm.  I defend you against unfair generalizations and I even saw you break away from the “Solid South” bloc in the last general election.

I love you as the heart of college basketball and the place where my ancestors ran whiskey stills and ran (literally) from the police.  I glowingly refer to your ability to adapt (from cotton to tobacco to textiles to banking & scientific research).  The home of the first public university in the United States and one of the first highly publicized sit-in protests against segregation.

Sure, our contributions to the presidency haven’t been very hot (Jackson, Polk, A. Johnson), but South Carolina also lays claim to Jackson and no one remembers the other two.

North Carolina.

I love you, but sometimes I wonder if you’ll ever love me back.