Title: Hi from Michigan
Post by: Jennzilla on November 10, 2009, 03:07:03 PM
Post by: Jennzilla on November 10, 2009, 03:07:03 PM
Hello Everyone,
I came across this site while searching for Atheist groups in my area. I was mainly motivated to reach out by the fact I'm trying to help my 11 year old son socialize better. He's really struggling to relate to his classmates and sadly has no friends in our area. He's a great kid but very emotional and very set in his beliefs, which has made making friends in our Judo-Christian neighborhood difficult. I'm considering Camp Quest for next summer but the price is a little high for us and it's only one week of the year. I'm in the process of searching out Unitarian churches in my area in attempt to find kids his age he can play with, but honestly the whole idea of any church seems painful to me. So any ideas or suggestions would be great.
I came across this site while searching for Atheist groups in my area. I was mainly motivated to reach out by the fact I'm trying to help my 11 year old son socialize better. He's really struggling to relate to his classmates and sadly has no friends in our area. He's a great kid but very emotional and very set in his beliefs, which has made making friends in our Judo-Christian neighborhood difficult. I'm considering Camp Quest for next summer but the price is a little high for us and it's only one week of the year. I'm in the process of searching out Unitarian churches in my area in attempt to find kids his age he can play with, but honestly the whole idea of any church seems painful to me. So any ideas or suggestions would be great.
Title: Re: Hi from Michigan
Post by: Whitney on November 10, 2009, 03:54:50 PM
Post by: Whitney on November 10, 2009, 03:54:50 PM
Hi Jen, welcome to HAF.
Have you tried meetup.com ?
As far as the UU church goes, I do have an atheist friend who attends and know of UU ministers (or whatever they call them) who are atheists...the only complaint I've heard about them from the atheist side is that it promotes all beliefs as equally valid. This pluralistic view is unlikely to appeal to most atheists and I can only assume most atheists who attend/lead UU churches view it as an attempt at coexisting or they simply have no better option.
We have UU here as well as the Church of Freethought....I was thinking of maybe starting to attend the UU church once I had kids who were old enough to play with friends but the CoF is like the UUs minus the pluralism and basically acts as a community for freethinkers; so now I know that unless I have to move I won't have to go to the UU church to find addl social activities for my future kids. You could start a CoF in Michigan...but it would be a lot of work. I'd suggest starting a meetup of your own, if necessary, first.
For Camp Quest...many of the camps have camperships (from looking at the site it appears Michigan does too). You could contact them and find out how to apply.
Have you tried meetup.com ?
As far as the UU church goes, I do have an atheist friend who attends and know of UU ministers (or whatever they call them) who are atheists...the only complaint I've heard about them from the atheist side is that it promotes all beliefs as equally valid. This pluralistic view is unlikely to appeal to most atheists and I can only assume most atheists who attend/lead UU churches view it as an attempt at coexisting or they simply have no better option.
We have UU here as well as the Church of Freethought....I was thinking of maybe starting to attend the UU church once I had kids who were old enough to play with friends but the CoF is like the UUs minus the pluralism and basically acts as a community for freethinkers; so now I know that unless I have to move I won't have to go to the UU church to find addl social activities for my future kids. You could start a CoF in Michigan...but it would be a lot of work. I'd suggest starting a meetup of your own, if necessary, first.
For Camp Quest...many of the camps have camperships (from looking at the site it appears Michigan does too). You could contact them and find out how to apply.
Title: Re: Hi from Michigan
Post by: Sheeplauncher on November 19, 2009, 03:19:27 AM
Post by: Sheeplauncher on November 19, 2009, 03:19:27 AM
Well making friends with believers isn't bad. I don't really care what people believe. i happen to think they are wrong if they do but i don't push the issue cause many people are not comfortable talking about it. He should just make friends based on interests ( sports, video games w/e ) it really does matter if they are Christian or Jewish or Muslim or w/e. Just my 2 cents. Welcome to HAF 