Agnostic.com

33 17

General vent about being atheist in a very Christian community.

I feel like I constantly have to defend my atheism. I live in an area where most people go to church on Sunday, but that's the only day they practice their religion, yet they call themselves "devout." Nearly every day, situations come up where people say things to me like, "Don't you thank God for your (insert random thing here)?" No actually, I don't. Occasionally I feel pressured to simply say yes so I don't have to get into the following debate, but I also don't want to lie.

While I don't question anyone's reasonings to believe, they constantly question mine. Why? What happened? They always assume that some cataclysmic thing caused me to stop believing. Or they suggest churches to me, and invite me to their bible study group, as if that's going to make me change my mind. "Oh you just haven't found the right church family yet."

I certainly have found the right church family. None. Organized religion is the biggest crock of horse-dung I have ever seen in my life. They preach about morals and values yet don't follow them in their every day lives. Yet, when I mention I'm non-religious, I get questions like, "Without Jesus guiding you, how do you keep from killing everyone?" Seriously? Are you kidding me? Not believing doesn't make me a bad person or someone with zero moral compass. Honestly.

CraftyRivers 3 Jan 25
Share

Enjoy being online again!

Welcome to the community of good people who base their values on evidence and appreciate civil discourse - the social network you will enjoy.

Create your free account

33 comments (26 - 33)

Feel free to reply to any comment by clicking the "Reply" button.

0

Since I am a woman of few words, I cut them short and tell them when I have some divine epiphany I'll get back to them.

0

I feel you there. I'm in a really religious city. All my co-workers are religous and so are the people in the community center. Most of our customers are as well. They come dressed up on Sundays, from church. All though we don't get but 3-4 church families now. I've not seen an atheist for 7 months now.

0

There are a very wide range of shared beliefs and different congregations. I was surprised to find a small fellowship of families that focuses on where we agree, not where we disagree. Wiccan, Humanist, and more. Some ritual, some discussion, outside speakers on various community issues,
So, yeah, there are groups out there where you will be comfortable.

0

I truly feel for you being surrounded by such ignorance and delusion.

0

they can act that way because it scares them or confuses them. the fears and desires they carry, they personify in you, the threat of self control. self cannot be relied upon, only in devotion aligning with the savior can an ordered moral life be lived, with earth remaining on its axis. blah blah blah. really i think it's. just them trying to gain traction for their own beliefs.

0

Don't blame you for feeling frustrated and needing to let that out. Religionists can be so damned self righteous, with little or no justification, in my view, given the history and current practise of religion, in our case mostly Christianity. I would politely suggest that you develop a sense of internal self assurance about your non religious views. You don't have to justify anything to a religionist. They are the ones who believe in mysticism, supernaturalism and magic; they are the ones who do not follow reason and evidence based thinking; they are on the wrong side of history. With fellow non believers you can debate and discuss and agree and disagree on issues. With believers, just rise above them. Atheist self confidence and demonstrated imperviousness to religionists' emotional blackmail is truly disconcerting to them. I have seen it and practiced it. Being surrounded by believers can be tough if you are an atheist. Others have written about that here. Hope it helps to know that there are a lot of us out there, and slowly we are grouping. The momentum builds.

0

think of all the other 4000 plus religions world wide that have also got it wrong, it sickens me that everyone who believes in their own religion claim to be the only true religion and pass the burden on "believe"

0

My response would be as follows.

  1. You are conflating issues. Your belief in an existential threat does not equal morality.
  2. If someone has to threaten you to keep you in line, you are not a moral person.
  3. Religion and other belief in supernatural phenomena cannot be quantified or verified. As such they are not scientific. Any truth claims and/or worldview(s) that you present based on said beliefs are logical fallacy and/or insanity in my eyes. Choose another topic or quit talking to me.
Write Comment
You can include a link to this post in your posts and comments by including the text q:18261
Agnostic does not evaluate or guarantee the accuracy of any content. Read full disclaimer.