"I was raised in a Baptist household, went to a Catholic church, lived in a Jewish neighborhood, and had the biggest crush on the Muslim girls from one neighborhood over"
About this Quote
The setup moves from “raised” to “went” to “lived,” charting how belief can be inherited, practiced, and merely adjacent all at once. That’s the subtext: religion isn’t just doctrine; it’s the neighborhood you grow up in, the school you attend, the rituals you absorb by proximity. Then he swerves into the punchline: a crush on “the Muslim girls from one neighborhood over.” It’s youthful, slightly mischievous, and strategically humanizing. Romance becomes the bridge that makes difference feel less like a headline and more like a lived fact.
In the context of Smith’s public persona - the affable mega-celebrity who sells optimism without sounding naive - the quote reads like brand coherence. It’s multiculturalism without the lecture, diversity without the corporate gloss. It also quietly pushes back against post-9/11 suspicion of Muslims by embedding them in the most ordinary, universal-seeming teen experience: wanting to impress someone you don’t quite have access to.
The intent isn’t to claim moral superiority; it’s to normalize complexity. Smith’s point lands because it’s not framed as tolerance. It’s framed as life.
Quote Details
| Topic | Romantic |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Smith, Will. (2026, January 15). I was raised in a Baptist household, went to a Catholic church, lived in a Jewish neighborhood, and had the biggest crush on the Muslim girls from one neighborhood over. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-was-raised-in-a-baptist-household-went-to-a-172593/
Chicago Style
Smith, Will. "I was raised in a Baptist household, went to a Catholic church, lived in a Jewish neighborhood, and had the biggest crush on the Muslim girls from one neighborhood over." FixQuotes. January 15, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-was-raised-in-a-baptist-household-went-to-a-172593/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"I was raised in a Baptist household, went to a Catholic church, lived in a Jewish neighborhood, and had the biggest crush on the Muslim girls from one neighborhood over." FixQuotes, 15 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-was-raised-in-a-baptist-household-went-to-a-172593/. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.




