Congratulations on the upcoming addition to the DC85 family.
I was born in the North but raised in the South, so I know what you mean. It took us a few years of planning, but we left the South and I never regretted it one bit.
The vocal religious are everywhere in the US, but there really is a tremendous difference in attitude when you get out of the bible belt.
One difference I noticed right off was: Where I was raised, the older church women felt it was their duty to be present in the court house every Tuesday. This was divorce court day. You don't find that up here. Another is the church gossips in the south will literally plug up isles in the store gossiping.. I've never seen that here either. Don't get me wrong, church gossips are some kind of standard thing I guess and we have them too, but up here, they gather at somebody's house or off by themselves. Not in public like in the South.
There is a major difference in the kind and intensity of religious persecution once you get out of the bible belt. The big explosions like what I went through after 9-11 can happen anywhere.
What will increase in the North is the door to door neighborhood canvassing from the Mormons and J. Witness. I was not prepared for that when we moved here. But putting up a good No Soliciting sign takes care of 98% of that, and those that ignore the sign anyway get to hear me make a call to the cops. And that will stop it.
I'm with you though, until this thread started, I had no idea that the persecution from the vocal religious wasn't a world wide standard that was taught to all ministers and reverends. But this thread has got me real curious to find out why.