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I told a customer today of how my father, my two older brothers, and my little sister are all in Ministry because he asked me about my life and after I told him that, he said "it's nice to meet another Christian around here" and then without saying I don't believe I said "I'm the only one in my family who hasn't followed in those footsteps" and he gave me a blank look and was no longer being super friendly after that. Imagine if I had said I was an atheist. What would he have said next.

The interaction ended well but for that moment I got a look of straight judgement from this man.

What are your thoughts? Have you experienced something similar?

Lucas20520 6 May 6
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28 comments

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9

I had been an altar boy for several years, through the end of high school, and then went off to college. After graduation, I was at some church function — no longer religious but still going through the motions — and I said hi to a woman there who said, upon learning that I was working locally in marketing, "Oh, I always thought you'd become a priest." And then she literally turned her back on me. I didn't really care, because I didn't know her well, but I thought to myself how she didn't care about me or my well-being, just that I did what she expected, without knowing anything about me or caring to get to know me. Had she known that I no longer considered myself Catholic or even Christian, and in fact was agnostic, I think she would have really flipped out. In a way, though, she did me a favor, because on some level I realized that I didn't care any longer about letting these people down or disappointing them, and that they weren't my community and didn't have any interest in my well-being.

8

I live in Australia and from reading your post can only conclude that American atheists are generally persecuted.

@DEricLee from the vewpoint of a foreigner your description doesnt surprise me. America is identified by most as a strongly christian state and a lot of political power is wielded by that group.

@DEricLee just wanted to add that aetheists are generally "tolerated" here in Australia.

7

I don' t need to talk about it anymore. I like chatting with people on this site because I don't have to hear any of that "I'm better than you" self-righteous bullshit. I love the Righteous Brothers though.....ha ha. For a God to demand us to worship IT....is like us going out into our yard and expecting the grass to worship US......I mean, come on. We are like fleas on a big dog. Religions cause more war than peace. All there is to it. The Universe is so big, and he human body is so complex.......it's overwhelming just to be here. Be nice to other people and stay away from psychopaths.

I couldn't agree more.rise my floral children and I'm gonna have to get out the mower.lol

6

I was a pastor, and I went through HELL when they learned I no longer believed. So, I can relate, and feel that negative vibe.

6

Have I experienced something similar? LOL... My entire family are willfully ignorant, so-called Christians who gleefully and arrogantly support Trump ... I cut off communication with all of them after the recent so called election, and I have slept better, been more happy with life in general, and been happier overall ever since... my mother is the worst of the lot, as she once told me upon learning I was atheist that I would one day come crawling back to her on my hands and knees and begging for Christ forgiveness... I asked her what made her possibly think that a blind man, once given sight, would long for being blind again... She had no response... Likely because she is deaf as well, LOL

6

You have to be true to you, what other choice do you have? In the end there is nothing you can do about others opinions of you, thats their deal.

6

I experience it all the time to the point of not caring anymore. I live in a place where 99% of people are christians.

6

It can be quite polarizing.

For some people, daring to disagree makes you an enemy.

5

how dare he judge your beliefs when you don't judge his fairytales

5

Only in America. I was looking at some attraction and a couple came along, chatted with me, and mentioned that it had an association with C.S.Lewis.
"He was very into religion" I said. There must have been something in my voice because the man responded with hostility "There's nothing wrong with that". "Indeed" I replied, followed by an awkward silence and a sidling away.

4

I don't bring it up ever and don't discuss it unless asked to give an opinion. Then I will tell them I'm agnostic they don't know what that means and won't ask. But if they are carrying on about the Bible I add that not everyone believes the Bible. Funny how then they are ok with someone who believes in any religious book over not believing in a book at all.
It generally ends with my response that if there was truly one God there would be only one religion and the fact that there are many religions proves it is made up by men.

4

I used to care about those reactions, and I used to let them bother me.
Not anymore.

4

It's hypocritical and a huge double standard. Aren't Christians supposed to love everyone?

I would have said "I'm an athiest". If something like that upsets him, it proves his faith is not as secure as he thinks. He was unsettled because your logic challenged his delusion.

This is why theists need to be surrounded by like minded theists, to insulate themselves against reason and logic which threatens their delusion.

4

Yes, I have a few at work who will no longer speak to me because of my beliefs. Just imagine if I did the same, LOL! It seems to always confuse them I don’t believe in something, this I tell the that is not true, I believe in myself and those I love. I Tell them it confuses me that you can give credit to an non existent/unproven entity for all you have done.

3

Your family's religious convictions are none of his business and it is not your business to share that with others. I do not share my spiritual views because it is no one's business and it has nothing to do with my personhood. I have people who say they are Christian after meeting me and I just say "ok." I give it no value because it has none to me.

3

People cannot understand that we don’t believe. If they persist I say I believe that you are referring to aliens as started this whole mess. No evidence yet but that’s my story and I am sticking to it?

jab60 Level 6 May 7, 2018
3

It's so sad that people are like that. A persons' spiritual beliefs or religion should never be the sole basis of what ones merit or value as a person is determined by. To me, it usually shows me that those types of people who pass a first judgement on your worth in society, are usually bad people and to avoid them.

3

I don't mind offending the people who put Trump in power, in fact I tell them my feelings about that often.

Hi. Would you like to explain how entering WW3 with Russia would have been better? That's pretty much what Hillary would have given us. Trump has basically taken care of everything but the swamp.

Oh, and don't be party-ist. We aren't all confederate flag wavers and anti - LGBT. In fact, considering we don't think minorities are so weak they need help from the government, maybe y'all lefties are the ones who judge people for how they're born. Most of you certainly seem ready to do so to straight white males.

@Jnutter819 if it weren't for the federal government, Jim Crow would still be the law of the land...Oh wait! in some places it still is. It is so easy to victim blame here instead of taking ownership of the policies that keep people of color from having equal opportunities to compete. You guys shout about the unfairness of Affirmative Action...I shout the unfairness of WMP which has dirtied our country since day one. Step up and take ownership of your part and the part your ancestors did to oppress a people with laws that keep them from competing on fair terms. WMP have always been afraid of other groups; that is why suppression and oppression is your only way of keeping yourselves in power. PLEASE read your own American History.

@welkden3 "if it weren't for the federal government, Jim Crow would still be the law of the land...Oh wait! in some places it still is." Without the state governments, Jim Crow would never have become law. The solution to bullying is not a bigger bully. And where exactly is it still law? How does that make the federal government good if it can't even eradicate Jim crow?
"It is so easy to victim blame here instead of taking ownership of the policies that keep people of color from having equal opportunities to compete." I'm not blaming any victims. And what policies keep minorities down?
"You guys shout about the unfairness of Affirmative Action...I shout the unfairness of WMP which has dirtied our country since day one." I don't shout about unfairness. I just want everyone to know that I got my job by being the best applicant, not by being the trans diversity hire. And considering that the jobs men are over-represented in are usually either jobs most women aren't interested in or jobs with high mortality rates (or both), I'm not sure what privilege you're talking about. Is it the glass ceiling white men hit when they literally can't be promoted higher because diversity?
"Step up and take ownership of your part and the part your ancestors did to oppress a people with laws that keep them from competing on fair terms." I don't believe in original sin, and we can't choose our biological parents. That said, consider that Democrats are the ones who put Jim Crow in place.
"WMP have always been afraid of other groups; that is why suppression and oppression is your only way of keeping yourselves in power." I thought WMP meant white male privilege at first, but you're using it as a demographic. White male protestants? I'm an atheist raised Catholic and a woman, so that doesn't fit me. As for fear, can you teach me your mind-reading skill please? And who do you think voted for the 13th through 15th Amendments? White men have done more for equality than anyone.
"PLEASE read your own American History." I did actually. In fact, I did so well that I passed the A.P. U.S. History exam.

@Jnutter819 So YOU are a TRUMPITE--one who championed a sexual predator, Nazi-loving, Russian colluder. He's the reason minorities are being persecuted, legal residents having their status revoked, LGBTQ people's rights being taken, or national forests being opened for development, women's rights being curtailed, Medicare being dismantled, people losing their benefits, schools closing as teachers protest..YOU

@birdingnut can you back up any of those claims or do you just like CNN? He's not perfect certainly, but he's not a sexual predator who stalks the streets raping women, though it's likely that he jumps at every opportunity to have sex, even with women he's never met and who might have refused him were he not rich (because he's hormonally male and you can't understand the strength of that sex drive). He disavowed Nazis and even the apparent delay was only due to audio problems. The only Russian collusion in the election was the Clinton campaign's opposition "research" that created the golden showers scandal. Whites are attacked for supporting him even if there's no evidence they did, unless you've forgotten that poor mentally handicapped boy that four people kidnapped and beat, that old man who got dragged out of his car, Lauren Southern, Blaire White, and hundreds if not thousands of others. What legal residents have had their status revoked, and can you prove that it shouldn't have been? What rights have been taken? And most of all, how are we to blame for your side's fear mongering and subsequent protests?

@Jnutter819 Wow..time to block you. I came to this website to escape racist Trumpites.

3

One of the reasons I don't tell everyone that I'm atheist is how badly my parents reacted. I haven't given people enough chances to treat me like that for being atheist. There was someone I was acquainted with who asked me how I was once and I told her my boyfriend was making me very happy. What she said was "Well if you need an accepting church, you can join us at ____." What her face said was "Oh god, how disgusting! A trans woman with a boyfriend!" It kind of hurt and made me mad, though I tried to treat her politely.

3

Like somehow your a different person the moment people find out your beliefs or lack there of, forget the fact the other stuff they fail to know in life

3

You know, I wouldn't have said that - what's the point? You don't know him from a bar os soap and wouldn't want to anyway. I propose caution - we have too much other sh*t to cope with to encourage any more,

VLove Level 4 May 7, 2018
3

All the time. Since I was a kid. I find it facinating how such a welcoming vibe can be destroyed by mentioning a lack in belief. Friends parents, teachers, co-workers. Hell, it took 5 years for my ex-wifes parents to at least act like they liked me and that lasted another 7 years but now that she left, her religious family acts like I never existed. It's like I was living in the Truman Show. Too funny.

3

I've never experienced anything similar, but that would be due to the fact that I keep to myself about my lack of beliefs. Personally speaking, I would not even bother conversing with someone like him.

2

Well if he was a true evangelical he felt rejected knowing you would not have sex with him.

EMC2 Level 8 May 7, 2018

Hahaha.......

2

This kind of religious zealotry in America (not to mention the appalling politicians), makes me glad that I don't live there!. Why don't you all immigrate to Canada?

  1. It's cold lol

  2. It's expensive and time-consuming

  3. Our families and most of our friends are here

  4. We prefer our freedoms to your SJW Prime Minister (lol).

@Jnutter819 Hehehe I'm not in Canada....... just inviting Americans to move there. Lol I'm in Australia and our Prime Minister is anything but a Social Justice Warrior (I would be proud of him if he were!).

@DEricLee Neither can I, and the fact that an acronym exists for the label seems to suggest that there are opponents of social justice 😟

@DEricLee If you just want everyone to be treated equally (equality of opportunity), that's obviously good lol. But Trudeau is into original sin A.K.A. white guilt, being a white knight for those helpless minorities who apparently can't tell you when you offend them (so he has to do it for them), equality of outcome (socialism) which history shows just makes life worse for everyone, and other such things that are worth mocking.

@DEricLee But, but, but....... how can anyone possibly OPPOSE social justice..... fairness for all people! Surely if someone is an opponent they're saying that they personally deserve more, and others should be deprived because of them.

@DEricLee How very depressing! 😟

@DEricLee No need to burn a straw man lol. "I must deserve more than you. if you ever got as much as I have the next step is you want more than I have... And we can't have that!" If anything, that entitlement narrative sounds more like democrats and radical feminists. Maybe you haven't noticed, but the Republican party includes people of all demographics partly because it doesn't discriminate the way democrats do. What those of us who are more conservative believe is more like "You only deserve what you work for, and what you get without working for it encourages you to become dependent instead of independent." Obviously there is a level of voluntary charity that is great for helping those who are down on their luck, but the government's forced redistribution only makes things worse. Here's another common belief of conservatives: "Most (if not all) things government can do, the free market and private individuals can do better." If you don't believe that, give me an example. I'd like to clear things up.

@Abbelyne The world may not be fair, but we don't have to make it worse by discriminating based on birth. Define social justice for me in a way that doesn't involve demographics, and I'll consider supporting it. Trying to force equality of outcome in any way other than ensuring equality of opportunity and allowing for voluntary charity will only make things worse. Elon Musk and Bill Gates were not born in rich families. If you take their to give it to people who haven't done anything to earn it, you punish success and reward giving in to failure.

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