In God We Must

[Thunder Road]

Here's an interesting article from Slate, published yesterday, about atheism in America, and specifically in the Bible belt.

http://www.slate.com/articles/life/ft/2012/02/atheism_in_america_why_won_t_the_u_s_accept_its_atheists_.html

It doesn't cover a "hell" of a lot of new ground (sorry about the pun) but it may interesting or comforting at least.

[Crow]

Was it just me or did the comments from the various people make themselves out to be the victims, the underclass and second rate citizens. All sounded a bit pathetic to me but at least Sam Harris was talking some sense.

The neuroscientist Sam Harris is one of America's best-known atheists; his 2004 book, The End of Faith, sold over half a million copies. He agrees that the situation for atheists is "analogous to being gay and in the closet for many people", and it is striking that virtually every atheist I spoke to talked the language of being "out" or "in the closet". Nevertheless, Harris argues "it's a losing game to trumpet the cause of atheism and try to rally around this variable politically. I've supported that in the past, I support those organisations, I understand why they do that. But, in the end, the victim group identity around atheism is the wrong strategy. It's like calling yourself a non-astrologer. We simply don't need the term."

However I live in a country where secularism is by large the norm and the vast majority of those that are religious aren't completely mental (oh and my local church has now become a gym for 6 days of the week so is now full of people doing Zumba every evening), so I guess I will never understand being in that situation.

[Sweetdeath]

I'm very envious of you, Crow. Where do   you live?

[Asmodean]

I'm very envious of you, Crow. Where do   you live?

Sounds like The United Kingdom of England to me...  ???

[Firebird]

I live in the US, but on the east coast, and I've never felt myself to be in that situation. Not that I wear my atheism on my sleeve, but there's no overt pressure to join a church. But I have heard similar stories before. The Bible Belt really is pretty nuts. While I can't relate to what they're talking about, I absolutely believe their stories about how bad it is.

[Sweetdeath]

I'm very envious of you, Crow. Where do   you live?

Sounds like The United Kingdom of England to me...  ???

I live in New york city, and even here there are very high religious pressures.... I hate it. I'm definitely moving to a secular country where I am free to believe in nothing without religious persecution.

[Harmonie]

I'm very envious of you, Crow. Where do   you live?

Sounds like The United Kingdom of England to me...  ???

I live in New york city, and even here there are very high religious pressures.... I hate it. I'm definitely moving to a secular country where I am free to believe in nothing without religious persecution.

Even there? I was hoping if I moved up to the Northeast I would escape it for the most part.

Although I guess that still has to be relatively valid considering I live in the Bible Belt right now. 

[Sweetdeath]

Honestly, i've never been to a part of the US free of religion.
I live in a heavily black and spanish infested area of NYC, and there are tons of baptist and catholic churchs surrounding me. *groan*

[Harmonie]

I don't have to be somewhere free of religion. People can believe what they want. It's only when 99% of the people I know are Christians, and crazy Fundamentalists control the local and state governments (Sally Kern) and are trying so hard to make their religion and prejudices (homophobia) part of our law.

[Crow]

Yeah the United Kingdom of England. Currently Manchester but I have lived in quite a few cities and have never really stumbled across any zany religious types although in Liverpool there were a few but that might have been because I lived near two cathedrals.

[Firebird]

Honestly, i've never been to a part of the US free of religion.
I live in a heavily black and spanish infested area of NYC, and there are tons of baptist and catholic churchs surrounding me. *groan*

There are plenty of places in NYC where you can move and not feel like you're surrounded by churches. I would encourage you to look around a bit for another apartment if you're not comfortable there. There aren't many places in the US where you can feel free from religion, but NYC definitely has them.

[Sweetdeath]

I plan to just leave the country, because i'm sick of the way this place is over runned by religious influence. Especially in politics.

[Amicale]

I plan to just leave the country, because i'm sick of the way this place is over runned by religious influence. Especially in politics.

Canada's a very close option. You won't escape religion here in the sense that there are churches on every 3rd street corner in most cities, but those are reminders of religion rather than fundamentalism itself. I've rarely, if ever, encountered scary fundies here in Ontario (unless I was related to one by birth, but that's different). People really just don't seem to preach their religion. We co-exist, more or less. Canada's known for its multiculturalism, and there's a very live and let live attitute -- if you're exposed to extreme forms of religious fervour here, it's generally because a family member takes you to church or because you walk into a religious house of worship yourself, but nobody seems to expect you to be anything, when it comes to faith. A lot of us here are pretty liberal. Not all, but a lot of us. And even our conservatives are to the left of your republicans, if not roughly equal to your democrats.

[Traveler]

I've been thinking about this a lot lately. In my immediate family, none of us are religious. And amongst my old friends, most of them were not religious. But since moving to my new home, I don't have the close friendships I used to have. Not yet at least. And I find that I feel a reticence to share my non belief. Perhaps because one of the first people I met here was a super-religious woman who tried to talk me into joining her church. That church is just a mile up the road. I've noticed that in a crowded room no one is afraid to say they're lutheran or catholic or even muslim or jewish. But I find myself afraid to say I'm an atheist. I'm just realizing how in the closet I am with strangers or aquaintances. I might think that it doesn't matter. But it does. Because if religion comes up I'm very careful about whether, and how, I talk about my non belief. That's not a good feeling.

I was particularly dismayed at Obama's most recent speech when he said that his faith informs his decisions. WTF??? I told my mother and she remembers John Kennedy. As the first catholic president, he was a ground-breaker in some ways. But she said that he was always very clear that his faith did NOT inform his decisions. That he always took the good of the country as his guide, not his personal religious beliefs. What the hell has happened to our country that this is no longer the case??? I feel like I'm in a science fiction horror story.

[Mocha Chief]

You should have seen my classes reaction when I told them that I'm Atheist. Definitely interesting. Definitely won't do it again