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The Atheist Alliance 2.0

Hey. Relatively new to the site and stumbled upon this! So, hi! I am an atheist. I live in Oklahoma, the notorious "buckle" of the Bible Belt. While atheism is underrepresented for the most part, there are a few groups that I have joined, such as Oklahoma Atheists, so I do not feel alone as I did while a teenager amongst my peers.

My family is spiritual and not religious, but as far as I know, I am the only one who doesn't believe in the divine. Fortunately, they aren't judgmental of other people. I've met a fair share of incredible Christians, Catholics, and Mormons who have absolutely no hateful bones in their bodies. On the other hand, I have faced public ridicule by complete strangers for not believing as they do. I tried church. I really tried to experience God. It ended pretty quickly when one of my friends came out as gay any not only got kicked out of church, but they ridiculed him behind his back during services. It was cruel and hateful. I did some "soul searching" and did heaps of reading before I came to my own conclusion.

I keep my views to myself these days unless asked, so issues rarely spring up. c:
 
I've identified as an atheist since I was 15, so seven years now. Before that, I can't say I ever really believed in anything. I just sort of parroted the religious nonsense and platitudes everyone else was spewing. George Carlin was the one who started my brain in the counterculture way it's been spinning for some time now, and he taught me how to question everything, especially religion. Seems kind of silly to some of you, but I never had a "father figure" or anyone in my life to guide me in my youth.

I'm one of the biggest skeptics you'll ever meet, and an even bigger cynic. I don't tolerate the mixing of science with religion, and I have an even lower tolerance for religious folk who castigate me for talking about my lack of belief, yet find it perfectly OK to lull me and anyone else to sleep with their drivel.

All in all, I'm glad to be here, and I hope to have some nice discussions.
 
I'm not an atheist but I get on well with them, so here I am!
 
Shiny Bunnelby said:
Hey. Relatively new to the site and stumbled upon this! So, hi! I am an atheist. I live in Oklahoma, the notorious "buckle" of the Bible Belt. While atheism is underrepresented for the most part, there are a few groups that I have joined, such as Oklahoma Atheists, so I do not feel alone as I did while a teenager amongst my peers.

My family is spiritual and not religious, but as far as I know, I am the only one who doesn't believe in the divine. Fortunately, they aren't judgmental of other people. I've met a fair share of incredible Christians, Catholics, and Mormons who have absolutely no hateful bones in their bodies. On the other hand, I have faced public ridicule by complete strangers for not believing as they do. I tried church. I really tried to experience God. It ended pretty quickly when one of my friends came out as gay any not only got kicked out of church, but they ridiculed him behind his back during services. It was cruel and hateful. I did some "soul searching" and did heaps of reading before I came to my own conclusion.

I keep my views to myself these days unless asked, so issues rarely spring up. c:
Click to expand...


Welcome, and added.

UndertakerFreak1127 said:
I've identified as an atheist since I was 15, so seven years now. Before that, I can't say I ever really believed in anything. I just sort of parroted the religious nonsense and platitudes everyone else was spewing. George Carlin was the one who started my brain in the counterculture way it's been spinning for some time now, and he taught me how to question everything, especially religion. Seems kind of silly to some of you, but I never had a "father figure" or anyone in my life to guide me in my youth.

I'm one of the biggest skeptics you'll ever meet, and an even bigger cynic. I don't tolerate the mixing of science with religion, and I have an even lower tolerance for religious folk who castigate me for talking about my lack of belief, yet find it perfectly OK to lull me and anyone else to sleep with their drivel.

All in all, I'm glad to be here, and I hope to have some nice discussions.
Click to expand...

Welcome, also added.
 
Phantom said:
Have you ever run into an issue because of your disbelief? Discrimination?
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My ex-girlfriend's parents really resented the fact that I was an atheist dating their Protestant daughter. At first, they blackballed me from their house, and then I had a discussion with them about the ordeal and they became a bit more tolerant.

When I was living in Texas, a secular humanist group wanted to put up a billboard that stated "Don't believe in God? You're not alone." That's all. A group of radical Christians got together to pressure the advertising company to take it down. Sure enough, about a mile down the road there was a billboard with an ad for some megachurch.
 
Phantom said:
Have you ever run into an issue because of your disbelief? Discrimination?
Click to expand...

It's silly when you say you're a non-believer and the first thing the creationist say is "No you're not!" like just being a non-believer in and of itself is worse than paedophilia. What I'd like to know is where the obsession with praying comes from. I know a Buddhist (great people, religion isn't even a religion) who was told to pray about their issues. I thought humans were responsible for their own lives. Maybe I'm wrong though. I am insane, after all.

If you're interested, the conversation went a little something like this (Buddhist acquaintance in blue; Baptist/Jehovah's Witness in green).

"But you believe in a god, right?"

"No. Buddha isn't really seen as a deity."

"Yeah, but people pray to him. So pray."

"I don't see the point."

"Just pray. The point is prayer. Talk to god -- whatever god you believe in."

Are they trying to change the foundation of every religion now? Buddhism isn't even a religion and they want to change it! Why?!
 
Hackenfall Backslash said:
"Just pray. The point is prayer. Talk to god -- whatever god you believe in."
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That is pretty silly. Why would someone tell another person to pray to a deity that they themselves don't believe in?

I do know a lot of people of faith who aren't "obsessed" with praying, though. It's one thing to believe in some thing, and another to try and force it down someone's throat.
 
Hey there atheist joining in! Just coming to say there are more Atheists in the world than what some people think.
 
nesinomics said:
Hey there atheist joining in! Just coming to say there are more Atheists in the world than what some people think.
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Raging Umbreon said:
Hi there I'm an Atheist and I'd like to join this club.
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Welcome to both of you!

General topic question, away~!

Are you 'out' with your atheism? Do you mention it in your real life, outside the internet? Or are you a closet 'internet' atheist?
 
Phantom said:
Are you 'out' with your atheism? Do you mention it in your real life, outside the internet? Or are you a closet 'internet' atheist?
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Every person, who knows me well enough, is aware of my stance on religion. Otherwise, I won't mention it unless it is relevant.
 
Normaly I'm quiet about it. But if someone starts a conversation about why I should beleive in god I usualy tell him where I stand on the matter.
 
Raging Umbreon said:
Normaly I'm quiet about it. But if someone starts a conversation about why I should beleive in god I usualy tell him where I stand on the matter.
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I love when a Christian jams their beliefs down the throats of anyone they can and claims their religion is being attacked daily.
 
I hate it when Christians do that. It's scary how many of them will attack someone simply for having a different opinion. Many of them think everyone should beleive in god simply because they beleive in god. But we are all individuals and we each have our own beleifs and different ways of thinking and seeing things. Some of them don't seem to understand this and respond with anger when someone other then them does not beleive in god.
 
Christians are too dramatic for me. I went to one of their schools once. I couldn't mention Pokemon without being seen as a "demon summoner".

"Don't summon those demons here!"
 
A friend of mine is Jewish/Christian. Well, he's more agnostic, he's told me, but his family is very religious. His mother burned his Yu-Gi-Oh cards when he was a kid, and to this day she thinks Dungeons and Dragons is evil. Just D&D though, so when we play there we just use Pathfinder sheets instead and she never knows the difference.

Oh, and she's fine with Call of Cthulu for some reason. :\
 
Yeah, my mom took all of my pokemon stuff away when I was a kid because they use the word 'evolution'... and yet she took me to see Harry Potter not long after, even though I assumed I wouldn't be able to, so I never asked.
 
Are you 'out' with your atheism? Do you mention it in your real life, outside the internet? Or are you a closet 'internet' atheist?

Why of course. I wouldn't hide what ''path'' I chose, just like a religion person wouldn't. It's no one's concern what I (don't) believe in. Only if it's relevant to the current topic, though. I wouldn't just jam it down other people's throats. I'm not that kind of a person.
 
Phantom said:
Are there any atheist groups or 'leaders' you follow?
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Simply put, no. I don't believe Atheists need to be a solid group, nor need authority figures. We aren't a religion, but a lack of. Whilst religions have some need for 'leaders' and such (to guide people towards God, for teachings, etc.) Atheists have no such need.

Some people I keep track of may be Atheist, but that's not the deciding factor. :P
 
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