Here’s the weird thing - I’m hardly the polar opposite in religion in views. In my family tree we have Baptists, Methodists, Non-denominational, Catholics, Jewish and spiritual-but-not-religious and I myself am Episcopalian. All believe in “love your neighbor”, serve with kindness and compassion in your community, and treat others as you wish to be treated. We differ on the acceptability of playing cards, dancing and consumption of alcohol to name a few. I’ve also experienced every one of them (and myself) being both kind and unkind.
And, I’ve known incredible people who really lived out “love one another” who had absolutely no affiliation with any faith tradition.
I regularly defend the LDS when someone says something disparaging as people who live deeply from their faith and are good and kind. But when we speak together of spiritual matters I am always offered the Book of Mormon instead of celebrating what we already have in common ( did I not just share that I, too have a faith that I’m endeavoring to live out? I’m happy to accept you just as you are!)
I never anticipated this impact of culture in selecting a place to retire. For me, as it turns out, it’s actually more important than taxes or all the other financial considerations and I never realized this. The good news is that if it doesn’t work out, we’ve saved enough and are young enough we can make a different choice.
I must say, I would forever miss the grandeur of the scenery.