Hello fellow Atheists/Agnostics/Critical Thinkers—
How do you go about meeting and talking with other non-religious? Do you like the “atheist church” groups who meet at a set time to talk science, humanism, etc. or do you just go about life and meet fellow nones?
I try not to. People are generally not to my liking.
Now, internet strangers, OTOH...
@Atheistman One of many sites for internet acronyms: [smart-words.org]
This site is kinda like a filter.
I worry more about the simple stuff. The difficult stuff is.. well.. too difficult.
I used to crack a joke in the supermarket to the checkout clerk when she monotonously asked me "d'ya have fly by" and for the fifth, sixth or twelfth time I would say "no but I've spent enough to merit two smiles" and the silly witch would report me for the fifth, sixth or twelfth time to management for sexual harassment. She's now gone and I have a robot shouting at me for being too slow and not having the correct change! It is satisfying to kick it in the shins when the camera is not watching and watch doors pop open requiring human intervention!
I drink too much and talk calmly (ish) to those I then offend.
I do a lot of socializing online and at work. Sadly I don't like going to public places.
I go to some Meetup groups and I'm involved in Theatre. Not a lot of religious people in Theatre. At least not in Asheville.
meetup.com There are lots of groups doing lots of things so you should be able to find something you like to do. I am part of a hiking groups and a kayaking group. I just started contra dancing after a 30 year hiatus.
Wow, contra dancing, I love it but like you have not done it in many years. Iused to go to Black Mountain Music Festival in N. Car. and enjoy it.
I am a member of a humanist group, meeting up,once a month .
I help organise a community garden for those a little less fortunate mentally and or physically .
It takes me a while to open up to people. I am very shy at first. I usually don't socialize because I am somewhat scared of people.
I know a lot of people that way. They usually turn out to be very good people worthy of the time necessary to establish a correspondence. I have a bit of a different dilemma as I do like so meet and socialize but no longer tolerate anyone that includes superstition (faith based religion) as a part of their lives. So socially, I, so as not to waste to much of my time, at the beginning bombard people with an array of atrocities of the past and current policies and adverse consequences to society and the minds of those who depend on faith for their world view. I'm not sure why I often enjoy deflating potential social friends/etc. when they sadly reply "Well I'm a Christian." Not that I ever actually approach anyone. In most cases, they initiate conversation that occasionally includes them asking to come over for a glass of wine and or a movie. . . I have very nice movie theatre in the basement.
I don't socialize often. Truly my loss.
I just go about life... meeting fellow nones is none of my business really. If it happen I appreciate the gesture but I have Very Little Needs unfulfilled. I enjoy music that moves me to get up and dance. I enjoy the beauty of the graceful female as our eyes cross path, I enjoy art and nature... poem and rhyme. I live for the venture of dancing with a stranger, we don't need to talk. We wait for the moment, we sneak in the dark. That is how I like to socialize.
I have never been in a situation in which a large percentage of the people are agnostics or atheists. Religion simply does not even come up as a topic in my contacts with all sorts of people the vast majority of the time. I guess that I simply attempt to relate to and deal with all sorts of people. I do object if they try to foist their religious beliefs on me.
Up till I retired I was very active and enjoyed meeting people , these days I seem to enjoy my own company quite a lot more .I am an artist and enjoy working in different materials - I find that I don't get on particularly well with the people in my surrounding district as it is a divided community and i belong to neither side I also notice that being English doesn't help in that regard either - But I have some friends here and quite a lot of people to say 'hello! nice weather for ducks? to. the major draw for me where i live is that I am only 3 and a half minutes from the sea and a river with ducks. The views are glorious we are not far from the dark hedges or the carrick a rede rope bridge and we can always cut and run over the border to the south if the parades are barmy.
I eat out regularly and have no problem striking up a conversation with complete strangers, (I've even asked to share a table when all are unavailable regardless of it being a couple or singleton, male or female) or a talk to the staff. I usually make it my business to get to know my servers, whether I'm at the Breakfast Counter, Sushi Bar or bar, bar! I feel that life is to short to walk around in 'mute' mode. On that note, I can talk your ear off, but only with your consent to let me share or rant. I also go to museums, the movies on my own...and road trips!
I talk to people and if they aren't, what I consider to be, a willfully ignorant person then I establish a friendly relationship with them.I don't care if they are an atheist or not, as long as they are intilligent, and not a scum bag.
I go about life and meet fellow human beings. Usually religious or political beliefs don't come up, as civilized people avoid such topics. If I want to relate specifically to someone based on those issues I seek out a group that meets specifically for that purpose.