Hello from western MD

[jack47904]

HI, my name is Jack. I'm from a small city in the western part of Maryland. I have lived here all my life surrounded by christian family members and bible pushing people of the community. It is nice to get away from all that once in a while and find a peaceful place on the internet. Thus why I am here.

I have been an atheist since i was able to gather information from both sides and determine what makes more sense to me. And honestly, the bible doesnt make much sense. I am the type of person who lives my life based on facts and proovable information. I am the type of person who wants answers to my questions and not speculations.

My town is the sort of place that if you are not a christian, you are a bad person. If you dont believe in god, you are shamed and looked down uppon. I have constant debates with people trying to make sense of religion, and i am offered no explaination. No help at all. Everyone just tells me I am going to hell and I am an evil person at heart. I have learned to live with these problems over time. But it still frustrates me to no end. All I want is for people to try to understand WHY I am an atheist. Sadly, it doesnt work. But people expect me to understand why they are christian. And I do. I completely understand their beliefs. I have read the bible front to back. I understand them, but i dont agree with them. And because of that, I am less of a person. It's quite depressing at times. This time of year doesnt help matters either, as I am the "outcast at christmas".

Anyway, just a few things about me. Glad I found these forums.

Jack.

[McQ]

HI, my name is Jack. I'm from a small city in the western part of Maryland. I have lived here all my life surrounded by christian family members and bible pushing people of the community. It is nice to get away from all that once in a while and find a peaceful place on the internet. Thus why I am here.

I have been an atheist since i was able to gather information from both sides and determine what makes more sense to me. And honestly, the bible doesnt make much sense. I am the type of person who lives my life based on facts and proovable information. I am the type of person who wants answers to my questions and not speculations.

My town is the sort of place that if you are not a christian, you are a bad person. If you dont believe in god, you are shamed and looked down uppon. I have constant debates with people trying to make sense of religion, and i am offered no explaination. No help at all. Everyone just tells me I am going to hell and I am an evil person at heart. I have learned to live with these problems over time. But it still frustrates me to no end. All I want is for people to try to understand WHY I am an atheist. Sadly, it doesnt work. But people expect me to understand why they are christian. And I do. I completely understand their beliefs. I have read the bible front to back. I understand them, but i dont agree with them. And because of that, I am less of a person. It's quite depressing at times. This time of year doesnt help matters either, as I am the "outcast at christmas".

Anyway, just a few things about me. Glad I found these forums.

Jack.

Welcome to the forum, Jack! Thanks for the background info. I also live in a small town that is full of extremely religious people. It was founded by the Moravian church and until the 1850s, you couldn't even live in the town if you didn't belong to that church. So, we're in a similar pickle. Good news is that you can discuss pretty much everything here. So come in and hang out!

[Whitney]

Hi Jack, welcome to the forum.

[wheels5894]

Hi Jack!

I feel very sad when I hear of towns like you describe - be Christian or be an outcast. For one thing that is not a very Christian way of thinking and not in accord with the bible. I think it shows the very narrow-mindedness of some people.

I am in Scotland in the UK and this is the sort of thing we really do not have a problem with in the main. I suppose people over here are less religious or rather, less of them are religious., Only about 10% of the population go to any religious service each week so there are a lot of people who do not go. Even so, I live in a town with 9 places of Christian worship for some 15- 17,000 people though not always very full.

[karadan]

Hi Jack!

I feel very sad when I hear of towns like you describe - be Christian or be an outcast. For one thing that is not a very Christian way of thinking and not in accord with the bible. I think it shows the very narrow-mindedness of some people.

I am in Scotland in the UK and this is the sort of thing we really do not have a problem with in the main. I suppose people over here are less religious or rather, less of them are religious., Only about 10% of the population go to any religious service each week so there are a lot of people who do not go. Even so, I live in a town with 9 places of Christian worship for some 15- 17,000 people though not always very full.

I think that is the same for pretty much all places in the UK. There are still deeply religious people around but i've not heard of entire towns being a specific denomination.

[Kyuuketsuki]

Hi Jack ... I'm sure there must be a joke in there somewhere but I'll refrain as you've probably heard them all before

Welcome to the forum.

Kyu

[curiosityandthecat]

I feel luckier and luckier every day that I live in a liberal, blue college town.

Welcome to the forum, Jack! Your story is quite familiar, and I'm sure, in no time, you'll come to feel quite at home here.

Cheers!  

[jack47904]

Thank you for all the replies. I'm glad to know that I am not the only one who deals with these issues. I'm not saying It's good that some of you are in the same boat as me, it's just nice to know there are people I can relate to.

Jack

[Wechtlein Uns]

Hi jack, welcome to the forums. We're a mellow bunch, so don't afraid to stretch your legs and relax. Also, I hear ya about the maryland thing, though things aren't quite so bad over here in San Antonio, but I hear ya.

welcome.

[keith2004]

Welcome.....always sad to hear things like this about small town America, it makes us all look bad as Americans....

.....I live on the more liberal side of Maryland, still religious, but more tolerant of the non-religious