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I wear my FSM or pirate fish tee shirts a lot - especially when I am out doing something I like to do. People who recognize what it is usually turn out to be okay. I would like to get a tee shirt with the graph of pirate attacks vs. global warming to add to the collection.
I'd rather meet people for who they are, common interests, ect. Getting people together just for atheism sounds too much like "religion" to me.
Their religious preferences mean little, ESPECIALLY when their lives don't revolve around religion.
Agree 100% Unless forced on me, I usually don't know or care what another persons beliefs are. Are they decent and interesting is all that really counts to me.
I live in the south as well, and I simply don't meet other atheists. The only other one I know is my brother, and he's actually about the only person I care to hang out with anyway around here. I'm sure there are other atheists in my town, I just don't go around meeting new people much in general. I work with one lady who may be atheist/agnostic, though I haven't prodded. I get along great with her regardless of that so I just haven't seen a need to bring it up.
I live in the south as well, and I simply don't meet other atheists. The only other one I know is my brother, and he's actually about the only person I care to hang out with anyway around here. I'm sure there are other atheists in my town, I just don't go around meeting new people much in general. I work with one lady who may be atheist/agnostic, though I haven't prodded. I get along great with her regardless of that so I just haven't seen a need to bring it up.
Not sure what it's like down south, but religion/belief/disbelief almost never comes up in daily life, so it's basically a non-issue. I could go weeks without even thinking about such subjects.
Not sure what it's like down south, but religion/belief/disbelief almost never comes up in daily life, so it's basically a non-issue. I could go weeks without even thinking about such subjects.
Yeah, it's not like that down here. Almost every function/gathering my husband and I have attended down here, almost every person we talk to for more than 15 minutes brings up God or Jesus or other key words like "blessings", "prayers", "lifting up" so-and-so, "walking in truth", etc. I can't even think of them all. It can be exhausting.
Not sure what it's like down south, but religion/belief/disbelief almost never comes up in daily life, so it's basically a non-issue. I could go weeks without even thinking about such subjects.
It seems people here are more obsessed with politics than religion. I see religious bumper stickers and signs all the time, and I'll hear mention of it maybe once or twice a day on average, but folks here are just about always interjecting their personal politics into conversations. I find it quite irritating actually, maybe even more so than if they were doing the same with religion...
It seems people here are more obsessed with politics than religion. I see religious bumper stickers and signs all the time, and I'll hear mention of it maybe once or twice a day on average, but folks here are just about always interjecting their personal politics into conversations. I find it quite irritating actually, maybe even more so than if they were doing the same with religion...
Nah, probably not!
Well of course the rule is to never talk about religion or politics at social gatherings, but they inevitably happen. Sometimes it's good to lay it all on the table once in a while, even if it gets awkward. Though I'd imagine there isn't much substance in the discussions.
I would assume politics comes up in conversation almost everywhere more so than religion since it has more of an effect on our lives.
Good points but I do understand the impulse to try to find a way to meet those who are not religion obsessed. For people who move around and don't have family, friends and are a little older it can be very difficult to find venues to really meet people. You can volunteer and such but honestly most of the participants are there to do whatever work needs to get done; connecting to new people is secondary.
If you are in the Midwest or South church is most people's primary social network. So that one common belief (though I wonder how strongly many really believe) is the foundation for a whole social thing.
Not having a church, I've got a few interest specific based meetings and that's it. Not a really 'community' or network.
So sometimes I wish there was a church for Agnostics. Of course being Agnostic, I suspect membership would be low, not just due to percentages but also I think Agnostics tend to be pretty independent, not joiners.
Atheists are not the first group of people to use a term that highlights their disbelief or stance against something. Abolitionists were against slavery and used the term to make a political point; after slavery become a non-issue in the USA, the usage of the term faded away.
The difference, however, is that abolitionists were working towards getting rid of slavery. Atheists, expect for the militant kind, aren't out to rid the world of organized religion.
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Originally Posted by Maia160
If being around other atheists is important to you, I don't understand why you are against the very groups where atheists openly congregate. In the majority of social situations, advertising your belief or lack of belief can be off-putting but an atheist group will automatically put you in contact with like-minded individuals. Isn't that what you want?
Because I would rather form a connection based on something I believe, not something I don't believe. Abolitionists banded together not just because they didn't agree with slavery, but because they believed in doing away with it. Imagine being a liberal who can't see eye to eye with conservatives. Would you seek out a group where the only thing you have in common is that you're not conservative? Or would you rather find a group that's comprised of liberals?
Quote:
Originally Posted by peppermint
Just go to one meeting and see how you like it.
I went to one such group a long time when I lived in the north and found it very off-putting. While they were all atheists, they were the angry kind, the ones who sat around talking about how bad religion is, how much damage it's caused throughout history, etc. After one meeting, I had enough.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ilovemycomputer90
Not sure what it's like down south, but religion/belief/disbelief almost never comes up in daily life, so it's basically a non-issue. I could go weeks without even thinking about such subjects.
I try not to think of my atheism too often. If you asked me to describe myself, atheist would not be the first term I think of. Like race, it's only something you think about when the issue is raised. But where I live, it seems like religion and spirituality come up an awful lot. What's especially bad is when people assume you think the same and then give that look of disappointment when they discover you don't share their beliefs. Some even act offended.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lamplight
It seems people here are more obsessed with politics than religion. I see religious bumper stickers and signs all the time, and I'll hear mention of it maybe once or twice a day on average, but folks here are just about always interjecting their personal politics into conversations. I find it quite irritating actually, maybe even more so than if they were doing the same with religion...
Although I have strong political views, but I generally keep them to myself. I rarely even raise the topic, unless I'm around people I know share my views and want to discuss it. When it comes to politics, I can engage in conversation with people who are on the complete end of the spectrum. But what gets me is when their reasons for holding the views they hold make no sense to me. For example, if you oppose gay rights because you think the Bible says homosexuality is a sin, then it's hard for me to take you seriously.
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I would like to get a tee shirt with the graph of pirate attacks vs. global warming to add to the collection.
