Are atheists welcome in Texas (Houston: activities, retirement, area)

[catman]

The way I see it, as an atheist in Texas, one should be selective about who he shares the fact he is atheistic with. For example, I have some neighbors across the street who are extremely devout Billy Graham-type Christians who are very nice people. I see no point in telling them I'm an atheist; it would serve no useful purpose and would damage our friendship. They don't proselytize to me, they aren't "strident", but they have a sign in their yard stating "He is risen!" every Easter. If they asked me directly, I'd tell them, but they have too much class to do so. They remind me of my paternal grandparents.

I will fight to the death for the separation of church and state, however. Freedom of religion also means freedom from religion if one so desires.

[Matthaeus]

...and I would say that you, catman, are probably representative of the "typical" Texas atheist. Solid in your perspective, but content to live and let live.

Your kindly elder neighbors, I would also argue, would be fairly indicative of "typical" Texas evangelical Christians. Ardent in their beliefs, sure, but polite enough to leave others to their own.


Thanks for your insight on this issue.

[unseengundam]

Originally Posted by catman

The way I see it, as an atheist in Texas, one should be selective about who he shares the fact he is atheistic with. For example, I have some neighbors across the street who are extremely devout Billy Graham-type Christians who are very nice people. I see no point in telling them I'm an atheist; it would serve no useful purpose and would damage our friendship. They don't proselytize to me, they aren't "strident", but they have a sign in their yard stating "He is risen!" every Easter. If they asked me directly, I'd tell them, but they have too much class to do so. They remind me of my paternal grandparents.

I will fight to the death for the separation of church and state, however. Freedom of religion also means freedom from religion if one so desires.

This is exactly how people should be. I don't have any problem with how conservative/religious/liberal/atheist people are, you CAN and SHOULD get along even if have different beliefs.

I don't really bother bringing up religion unless I am asked directly. Even if we do talk about religion belief (Atheist or Christian), I usually nod and say something nice. I don't go about professing to other in what believe if they belief in something different. The best thing is to be polite to EVERYONE even if they preaching or not.

[catman]

I might draw the line if someone starts preaching to me...after all, I don't "preach" the virtues of atheism unless I'm speaking to a friend and we are having a non-combative discussion. I try to be polite as well, but I regard unbridled proselytizing as rude and impolite, so the gloves just might come off, depending upon the situation. I'm all for getting along, but pushiness is uncalled for.

[TexasHorseLady]

Originally Posted by Matthaeus

No, not unlike. The same.

Context is king. We're not talking about the "Religious Right" or the even the "Republican Party" here, we're talking about the average folks that you work with or live next door to you.

I have no intention of seeking to invalidate your experiences... especially if what you described above happens/happened on a consistent basis, but it sounds wholly unlike anything I've encountered during my time in Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Mississippi, or Florida.

This is not to say that what you described isn't possible, merely that it bears no resemblance to what I have known - either during my years as an Atheist or how I live my life now as a Christian.

Every group has their fringe, irrespective of their place on the spectrum of belief/unbelief.




I think this was mentioned elsewhere, but I consider it more a conversation touchstone than an infringement upon someone's freedom of religion. An aspect of a religious culture rather than a passive-aggressive inquisition.

Y'know... I may have any number of complete strangers chat me up on a given day about the weather, I don't take it as a crass inference that I should start watching the weather channel.




I don't think any singular ideology or paradigm has any room to speak on this matter. We've all fallen short of perfection, the real question is: what are we doing about it?

Wonderful post, and especially this with which you started:

Originally Posted by Matthaeus

No, not unlike. The same.

[TexasNick]

I'm a Christian and I am for the seperation of church and state, as well. A Christian just needs to look at ancient civilizations and remember the time of Constantine. Forcing people to choose a religion does more harm than good in the long run.

There's a book out, I can't think of the title right now--the author was on C-SPAN, that mentions how the seperation of church/state actually encourages religion to flourish. Very interesting perspective.

[TexasNick]

Originally Posted by catman

I might draw the line if someone starts preaching to me...after all, I don't "preach" the virtues of atheism unless I'm speaking to a friend and we are having a non-combative discussion. I try to be polite as well, but I regard unbridled proselytizing as rude and impolite, so the gloves just might come off, depending upon the situation. I'm all for getting along, but pushiness is uncalled for.

Hi catman, it's really a Catch-22 for some Christians because there's scripture that says one must reach out to those that don't believe in God. It's a fine line that some people cross...but a Christian must know when it is appropriate to do so. I've seen some preachers that blatantly preach and throw the "do you consider yourself a good person?" line out to every single person they meet or talk to in public. I don't think that's the way to go..it turns more people off than not, imho. A Christian is more effective when he leads by example, not words. Someone's not going to believe in the Bible when they don't believe in God, not matter how much preaching one does. As a matter of fact, I never ever mention scripture to someone when I'm talking. I usually do some basic apologetics to get a discussion going. If the person is interested in moving further, then I'll start laying some basic philosophical arguments on them. If the person doesn't want to move forward, then I just leave it at that. 9 times out of 10, it's an emotional issue for most non-believers (problem of evil, etc).

[Gretchen_SDCA]

Originally Posted by TexasNick

Hi catman, it's really a Catch-22 for some Christians because there's scripture that says one must reach out to those that don't believe in God. It's a fine line that some people cross...but a Christian must know when it is appropriate to do so. I've seen some preachers that blatantly preach and throw the "do you consider yourself a good person?" line out to every single person they meet or talk to in public. I don't think that's the way to go..it turns more people off than not, imho. A Christian is more effective when he leads by example, not words. Someone's not going to believe in the Bible when they don't believe in God, not matter how much preaching one does. As a matter of fact, I never ever mention scripture to someone when I'm talking. I usually do some basic apologetics to get a discussion going. If the person is interested in moving further, then I'll start laying some basic philosophical arguments on them. If the person doesn't want to move forward, then I just leave it at that. 9 times out of 10, it's an emotional issue for most non-believers (problem of evil, etc).

I understand what you say. However, I will point out, that for most atheists, it is not an emotional issue. There may be some that have had bad religious experiences or who hate religion per se, but they are not in the majority. I cannot speak for all atheists, but for myself, and those who I know, it is purely a reason-based, evidence-based rejection of religion. You should peruse some of the threads in the religion section.

The burden of proof is on the proponent of the religion, and we just feel that you, nor any religion, have satisfied the burden of proof.

[catman]

Gretchen_SDCA: Exactly. My rejection of religion is not "emotional". That I regard as a calumny. The scripture that says Christians can't leave other people in peace is much of the problem (yes, we've ALL heard the "good news" by now). Insufficient evidence, especially for any religion with dogma. (Catma is far superior.)

Before the moderator(s) step(s) in, I'm going to sign off on the subject; we have another forum for this. The subject isn't specific to Texas. I'll conclude by saying that if one is cool about it, an atheist can get along just fine in at least parts of Texas. It would be more difficult in some of the small towns where everyone has to know everything about everybody.

[TexasNick]

Hi Gretchen,
Thanks for your comments. I wish the majority of atheists would not worship Dawkins or the likes of Sam Harris, et al. One just needs to look at prominent ex-atheists like Anthony Flew to see where the current theistic arguments lay (argument of contingency, origins, etc). I no longer peruse the religion forum in CD as it's more about showboating and crank theories that are not even debated by the majority of philosophers and critical scholars today.

I would disagree with you about the majority of atheists professing their beliefs due to rational thought...I think most simply classify themselves wrong when in reality they should be agnostic. Just to give you an example, when you get to the really nity-gritty, most people don't know how the world began. Christians have an answer that has been there all along and finally brought fourth by science in the early 20th century: the big bang cosmological model.