Hi guys
I've been browsing around the forum, getting to know people and learning about how seriously others take atheism. It's eye-opening for me...although I live in Texas, bible belt territory, it's also cowboy country. I'm not talking about panchos and six guns, but I grew up on the family cattle ranch in west Texas, where the cowboy...lifestyle, I guess, still exists. A big part of that ideal is to judge men by their actions, and to keep your nose out of their personal lives unless invited. A lot of folks today think it's an archaic system and nobody is in touch with their emotions, blah blah blah...I disagree. We just don't dwell on them.
As strange as this sounds to outsiders, it was a good thing for me- I was raised to care very little what others thought of me beyond a few basic things- am I dependable, am I honest, and will I stand up for whatever I believe. Judgement beyond those concepts is almost nonexistent where I came from.
So I never..."came out"...as an atheist. I told anyone who asked, it was no secret, but nobody particularly cared. By our standards, it would have been damned strange if they did.
I've read quite a few posts that sound as if letting friends and family know about atheism was akin to coming out as homosexual. That is fascinating to me- I've honestly never thought of it in those terms.
I'm curious, if anyone would like to share their, oh, let's call them horror stories. I feel incredibly lucky, although I am just now aware of that fact. I'd like to hear about less accepting friends and families, if it's not too painful to discuss.
A very long time ago I had a girlfriend who was up for almost anything even though she was a practicing Baptist. The word, anything, includes delightful adventures in the bedroom. After quite some time during our relationship, she asked about my religion. I said that I was an atheist and she near messed her pants because she had been guilty of enjoying intimacies with a non believer. She had been violating her stringent biblical rules with impunity but having had a few goes with an atheist was too much for her to bear. She dropped me like a hot potato and never spoke to me again.
WOW. I don't even know what to say to that. I'm sorry that happened to you?
I've never had an experience like that...did you point out her hypocrisy or just let everything go?
It's not that uncommon in some communities, I had a gf who was a born again type, but approached being a nyphomaniac in terms of her appetite for "volume". Had a broad interest in "type" as well. Ah, to be young . . .
I have met more than one who had a "repressed" childhood yet who expanded interest and experience when away from the family influence. But, yes, still retained a rather hypocritic attitude towards their beliefs and appetites.
You just cannot appreciate how alien this is to me...I feel so sorry for people trapped in an environment where they cannot express their beliefs or doubts. In the part of Texas I hail from, these things are very personal...but in a way unimportant. What I believe is important to me, what you believe is none of my business.
I used to resent where I grew up, a bit anyway. But the more I learn about other parts of the world, the more I appreciate it.
Quite a few people know that I'm an atheist, besides my immediate family. Some take it well, others not so much. Not that it matters to me.
I've been a vocal atheist since my late pre-teen years. Among other things, I once managed to tell one of those aunts to her face that there was no such thing as a god... Apoplexy. She had herself one of those. And me, I was smug for a day.
In any case, I never actually came out in the sense that I never hid my atheism.
Perhaps Jamie has girn orf but he saud something that shows he does not fully understand some aspects io human nature.
Quote
What I believe is important to me, what you believe is none of my business.
But, what you believe in must have some effect on your behaviour, on your interaction with others. Therefore it is indirectly important to others. It helps form first impressions and, though some claim otherwise, every person has those. It nsy akso determine how you react to those impressions.
Trye, you may not see the Nazi emblems tattooed on the arms of the otherwise sober suited businessman, but you may not feel 100% happy in his company.
Quote from: Gloucester on July 30, 2016, 09:16:43 AM
Perhaps Jamie has girn orf but he saud something that shows he does not fully understand some aspects io human nature.
Quote
What I believe is important to me, what you believe is none of my business.
But, what you believe in must have some effect on your behaviour, on your interaction with others. Therefore it is indirectly important to others. It helps form first impressions and, though some claim otherwise, every person has those. It nsy akso determine how you react to those impressions.
Trye, you may not see the Nazi emblems tattooed on the arms of the otherwise sober suited businessman, but you may not feel 100% happy in his company.
Quite so G.
I think that what members of ISIS think is very much mine, and the rest of the free worlds, business.
Quote from: imaginaryfriendless on July 28, 2016, 10:00:47 PMI've read quite a few posts that sound as if letting friends and family know about atheism was akin to coming out as homosexual. That is fascinating to me- I've honestly never thought of it in those terms.
For someone who is truthfully a strong believer in religions like Christianity, I would think that a family member/friend/whatever coming out to them as an atheist would be a lot more worrisome than homosexual - no matter what their actual positions on homosexuality were.
Like, my parents are generally more liberal Christians, but even in those liberal beliefs, if you don't accept Jesus Christ as your lord and savior you will not enter Heaven (presumably meaning you'll go to Hell, too). I can not imagine anything being more frightening to even my liberal lax-believing parents.
When we get to not-so-lax believers, then it can only get worse.
I am straight and to the point. I tell them I do not believe in god. If they have an issue what that, it's their problem. Not that I really give two shits either way.
Quote from: No one on August 03, 2016, 04:22:51 AM
I am straight and to the point. I tell them I do not believe in god. If they have an issue what that, it's their problem. Not that I really give two shits either way.
Same for me, no beating around the bush.
I have no problem telling people I'm an atheist if they ask, or the situation requires it (I'm asked to say grace, for instance), what can exhaust me is how many times I have to "come out" to the same people. I honestly don't think they're trying to be annoying, or make some obscure point, but there are some friends and relatives I've had to tell at least a dozen times.
Quote from: Tank on July 30, 2016, 09:42:45 AM
Quite so G.
I think that what members of ISIS think is very much mine, and the rest of the free worlds, business.
What they think is none of my business. Nor is what they do to each other, for that matter, although I do find a lot of it personally distasteful.
What they
do in
my back yard, on the other hand, is what may cause someone like me to contemplate fire-bombing the Middle East until it turns into an uninhabitable sheet of glass. Then we might have some quiet and time and resources to get probes to those closest star systems in my lifetime.
Quote from: Asmodean on August 03, 2016, 09:15:48 AM
Quote from: Tank on July 30, 2016, 09:42:45 AM
Quite so G.
I think that what members of ISIS think is very much mine, and the rest of the free worlds, business.
What they think is none of my business. Nor is what they do to each other, for that matter, although I do find a lot of it personally distasteful.
What they do in my back yard, on the other hand, is what may cause someone like me to contemplate fire-bombing the Middle East until it turns into an uninhabitable sheet of glass. Then we might have some quiet and time and resources to get probes to those closest star systems in my lifetime.
Unfortunately ISIS consider the whole world their back yard. If you sit back and ignore them now they'll come knocking on your door at some point. And at that point you'll convert to their brand of Islam or find that for a brief period of time you'll be able to see your arse without the aid of a mirror.
Quote from: Tank on August 03, 2016, 12:50:33 PM
Unfortunately ISIS consider the whole world their back yard. If you sit back and ignore them now they'll come knocking on your door at some point. And at that point you'll convert to their brand of Islam or find that for a brief period of time you'll be able to see your arse without the aid of a mirror.
OR, fuck ethics and launch my vast arsenal of WMDs.
Seriously, though. They have made their presence felt in areas I consider to be my back yard. The only solution I can think of I already mentioned. Turn their good for nothing desert into a sheet of glass. Massive collateral damage, but what else is there?
Quote from: Asmodean on August 03, 2016, 12:52:18 PM
Quote from: Tank on August 03, 2016, 12:50:33 PM
Unfortunately ISIS consider the whole world their back yard. If you sit back and ignore them now they'll come knocking on your door at some point. And at that point you'll convert to their brand of Islam or find that for a brief period of time you'll be able to see your arse without the aid of a mirror.
OR, fuck ethics and launch my vast arsenal of WMDs.
Seriously, though. They have made their presence felt in areas I consider to be my back yard. The only solution I can think of I already mentioned. Turn their good for nothing desert into a sheet of glass. Massive collateral damage, but what else is there?
Perhas we should pull, 100%, out of their immediate back yard, i.e. the whole Islamic world, build a Trumpite wall all round it and leave them to sort themselves out. The West has nade incredible mistakes in Iraq anf Afghanistan and their culture will allways blame us no natter if we did 100% good.
Our two cultures are do far apart that there is hardly any common ground. Even in Iraq there are those, but not the power greedy ones, who just want to get on with a quiet, devout-but-not-militant way of traditional life.
But there are others who seek the Global Caliphate. The latter do need taking out in the same manner as they attempt to "spread the word". Can mourn for humanity, but not for the militant terrorist who dies before he or she can kill others.
Was going to make the last word of that last sentence "innocents", but to the militant Islamist there are no such people.
I'm all for peace without guns and cattle. I guess I created the world as a politican ;D
Quote from: God on September 01, 2016, 08:29:27 AM
I'm all for peace without guns and cattle. I guess I created the world as a politican ;D
God, where have you been? We haven't seen you around here lately. You're a little late for this party. :smileshake:
You
are like the
"real" God. We hardly ever see you, or hear from you. :chin:
You're not like
Asmo,
He's always here, watching...waiting...talking...talking...and talking...uttering offensive words in anger or annoyance....looking for fake candy in all the wrong places. :smileshake: Anyways...
It's nice to have you back. :)
Quote from: Magdalena on September 01, 2016, 06:41:57 PM
Quote from: God on September 01, 2016, 08:29:27 AM
I'm all for peace without guns and cattle. I guess I created the world as a politican ;D
God, where have you been? We haven't seen you around here lately. You're a little late for this party. :smileshake:
You are like the "real" God. We hardly ever see you, or hear from you. :chin:
You're not like Asmo, He's always here, watching...waiting...talking...talking...and talking...uttering offensive words in anger or annoyance....looking for fake candy in all the wrong places. :smileshake: Anyways...
It's nice to have you back. :)
He's nothing like the real God! We never hear from Him!
Quote from: Tank on September 01, 2016, 06:46:39 PM
Quote from: Magdalena on September 01, 2016, 06:41:57 PM
Quote from: God on September 01, 2016, 08:29:27 AM
I'm all for peace without guns and cattle. I guess I created the world as a politican ;D
God, where have you been? We haven't seen you around here lately. You're a little late for this party. :smileshake:
You are like the "real" God. We hardly ever see you, or hear from you. :chin:
You're not like Asmo, He's always here, watching...waiting...talking...talking...and talking...uttering offensive words in anger or annoyance....looking for fake candy in all the wrong places. :smileshake: Anyways...
It's nice to have you back. :)
He's nothing like the real God! We never hear from Him!
Wait...which one? :headscratch:
Quote from: Magdalena on September 01, 2016, 06:41:57 PM
You are like the "real" God. We hardly ever see you, or hear from you. :chin:
You're not like Asmo, He's always here, watching...waiting...talking...talking...and talking...uttering offensive words in anger or annoyance....looking for fake candy in all the wrong places. :smileshake: Anyways...
It's nice to have you back. :)
Yes,
blasphemous fake candy. FALSE promises. BAD. >:(
Quote from: Asmodean on September 01, 2016, 07:56:11 PM
Quote from: Magdalena on September 01, 2016, 06:41:57 PM
You are like the "real" God. We hardly ever see you, or hear from you. :chin:
You're not like Asmo, He's always here, watching...waiting...talking...talking...and talking...uttering offensive words in anger or annoyance....looking for fake candy in all the wrong places. :smileshake: Anyways...
It's nice to have you back. :)
Yes, blasphemous fake candy. FALSE promises. BAD. >:(
Yes,
blasphemous fake candy. FALSE promises. BAD. >:(
Would you prefer
forbidden candy? (https://www.happyatheistforum.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1.ifrm.com%2F14079%2F88%2Femo%2Feyebrows.gif&hash=d8f0b3adf246e0a2b90d5f20302dfef93a359675) I have some in my van... :grin:
Candy smokes for The Asmo? In the van, yes? That *point* way? :tellmemore:
Quote from: Asmodean on September 02, 2016, 07:09:19 AM
Candy smokes for The Asmo? In the van, yes? That *point* way? :tellmemore:
:snicker:
...No more van jokes. :nu-uh:
(https://www.happyatheistforum.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fa2.files.biography.com%2Fimage%2Fupload%2Fc_fill%2Ccs_srgb%2Cdpr_1.0%2Cg_face%2Ch_300%2Cq_80%2Cw_300%2FMTE1ODA0OTcxODExNDQwMTQx.jpg&hash=a33c563250828ab98c2d6688f80a72bd0e50e465)
:smilenod:
(https://www.happyatheistforum.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.vhnd.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2015%2F02%2FSeeff_640.jpg&hash=7f9c66c0826e132e3eb171e22db76670b56b9409)
Quote from: No one on September 02, 2016, 10:39:25 PM
(https://www.happyatheistforum.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fa2.files.biography.com%2Fimage%2Fupload%2Fc_fill%2Ccs_srgb%2Cdpr_1.0%2Cg_face%2Ch_300%2Cq_80%2Cw_300%2FMTE1ODA0OTcxODExNDQwMTQx.jpg&hash=a33c563250828ab98c2d6688f80a72bd0e50e465)
Look at that van go!
Sorry, I just had to. :run!:
:P
:snicker: