Any atheist living in the Southern US?

[TRANSPONDER]

Maybe. If I might hazard a guess it was a quip on no atheists in foxholes. Which you had in mind. the suggestion being that the South is a bit of a hellhole (From what I saw in the travelogues it looks very nice) and you won't find atheists there. In fact there are probably a good number. They only venture out at night....

[DSS94]

Originally Posted by AREQUIPA

Maybe. If I might hazard a guess it was a quip on no atheists in foxholes. Which you had in mind. the suggestion being that the South is a bit of a hellhole

That was the idea, yes. I was referencing the 'no atheists in foxholes' quote (which I ABSOLUTELY don't believe to be true) and calling the South a hellhole for the religious conservatism and the repressive policies (especially the ones that have been coming out of NC lately). I'm sorry that I was misunderstood.

[GMonkey]

I'm an atheist in the FL panhandle. When I'm in work situations, or with my daughter's friends' parents, I'll simply state that I'm "non-religious" and then change the subject, or sometimes ask where they attend, what's it like, etc.

I have vast biblical knowledge and when individual subjects come up, I might offer something to the discussion, not usually in a snarky way, but in a way to bring light to the subject. For instance, a lot of my coworkers went to Chik fil a to counter the anti-gay protests and I joked that I was going to a protest in front of Red Lobster with a "sinners repent" sign. The no shellfish and mixing of cloth fibers is in the same chapter as the no gays stuff in the bible. They usually counter with, "well that's old testament stuff, so we can eat shellfish and wear clothing of mixed textiles". Then I say, "oh, so it's ok to be gay?" then they say no, there's one new testament verse about it, but then I counter with the part where Jesus said that he wasn't there to abolish the old laws, but to uphold them and get rid of the hypocrisy and money-greed stuff.

I also never share how I vote in elections, but I'll have discussions on individual issues. I don't usually come out with, "I think this or that is wrong and this is why..." type of discussions, but when someone states something like that and I disagree with them, I'll just ask questions about it. I make sure to keep my tone civil and ask things in an innocent sort of way. There was a ballot initiative in FL that didn't pass but would have allowed for more government money to go to religious institutions. A lot of co-workers were for it. I simply asked, "Gosh, could that mean that we will also give tax money to Muslim schools and mosques?" That made people pause. A few said, "obviously not." I asked if there was an exemption made and then read through the proposed amendment and said, "wow, I don't see any denomination mentioned. How are they going to differentiate?".

I believe in being a representative of the non-religious/atheists and showing that I do have a strong sense of morals and ethics that I live by, simply by choice--not out of fear of hellfire and damnation.

I want to make people think, but not to think badly about themselves. The one co-worker I've "come out to" I was sure to explain that I was once a very devout Christian, but I started to have some questions regarding the treatment of women in the bible, evolution, etc so I began an even more thorough study of scripture and at first was horrified and saddened that God was so mean, but then simply lack of logic, continuity, etc brought out my doubt and eventually my disbelief.

[TRANSPONDER]

Thanks you. There again 'Not very religious' seems to work. It is accepted where 'Atheist' seems to ignite a fuse. Maybe the key really is that it's ok to be fed up with organized religion, so long as you don't deny God.