I had considered registering at some sort of relevant forum for a long time, but never really gathered the courage or motivation to do so until recently.

Greetings.

Though I put myself at a bit of a risk by being associated semi-publicly with such notions (my father is a somewhat fundamentalist pastor with fairly significant local influence) I have been merely pretending to belong to the same deeply religious mold for quite a few years now, and honestly I can't keep my de-conversion, as it were, a complete secret for much longer without actually discussing it somewhere safe and letting off some steam.

I'm sure a lot of people can relate, but it's extremely difficult to transition from religious (from strict sheltered religious upbringing rather than a personal discovery of faith, of course) to agnosticism to, perhaps eventually, atheism, with virtually no neutral person in real life to talk to about it or confide in. Literally all my family, all my coworkers and my employer, all my neighbors, all of the family friends - they are all devoutly Christian as far as I know. I have only a couple of friends who may not be such, but luckily I quickly discovered that my girlfriend shares mostly the same opinions as I do, so I have a little 'safe place' to vent at least.

Basically, Alabama is a rather deeply conservative and religious place to be, putting it quite mildly. The scenery is gorgeous in many parts of the state and as an avid weather dork I like the severe weather we tend to receive, but I feel quite akin to a fish out of water with my own views. For financial reasons I've elected to stay put for now, so I turn to the Internet for discussion with like-minded folk, for answers to the questions I can ask no one in person for fear of being completely ostracized, for a bit of comfort in a place where I am finally not the only one to doubt some deeply-rooted beliefs, for a bit of venting and lively discussion that I can't exactly place on social media where I could be exposed and subsequently shunned.

A haven, really. The Internet is a wonderful place.

So... myself? Perhaps I was destined to reject many of the traditional views those around me share. From a young age I've always been one to question things that made absolutely no sense despite others swearing upon them. I began having doubts a few years before we finally got internet in 2007, the usage of which allowed me to finally break free of the intensely religious sheltering I had been raised in and finally view and consider other viewpoints. A bit of an introverted environmentalist historian, if I had to describe my general attitude, I have always loved reading (seriously, I have long run out of shelving) and art, weather, railroads, botany, world history, earth science, and other similar things; recently spreading to architecture, archaeology, structural engineering, music, et cetera. I don't really like video games besides Sim or Tycoon series and Zelda/Minecraft, don't like sports aside from open-wheel racing (especially CART, rest in peace!) consider myself very far-left politically and generally feel as though I fall somewhere onto the agnostic spectrum. I'm trying to catch up on the study of evolution since my sheltered Christian home-schooled upbringing only taught me about creationism. Aaaand that's about all, I'm not a very interesting person at all. But I look forward to participating in discussions and maybe meeting some great new acquaintances along the way.

Hi!

Welcome to the forum.

Everybody is interesting--if one takes the time to find out about them.  You are not different--and welcome. 

Are you a brony? You pic gives it away... If you are that is

Do mind that we are a very diverse community, some of us are crazy idiots (like myself) and that not all of us share the same views. I am a Gnostic, Semi-pragmatic Atheist who bites hard with tiny teeth when I feel like it.

Coming from a catholic family, I have tried to share out, but they don't even believe me so it's like WTF? Flip a coin, you can always joke about it. I make anti-atheist jokes all the time, like how some of us think we know everything. Then again, pointing out funny bible passages or televangelists has worked well in keeping my family together. Maybe it'd work for you?

We vary by age quite a bit, have a couple of gramps here, as for me I am a youngster at 15 years of age. And I'm a boy, TAKE THAT! Seriously though, don't judge a picture by it's cover. Except for Munch's... Maybe.

Welcome to da club mate, feel free to play around with theists that come around from time to time.

Welcome.  Sorry your family/environment situation is so difficult for you.  You seem to be really blossoming as an independent person.  I am a compulsive reader too.  Your way of writing would indicate someone who has read a lot.  Personal development is both long and challenging.  Think of it as "evolution for one".  Glad you have found a potentially useful sounding board.  I have ;-)

Quote from: Equus on August 28, 2015, 10:17:56 PM

From a young age I've always been one to question things that made absolutely no sense despite others swearing upon them.
Hi!

I like this comment.  It's such a fundamentally simple bit of wisdom.  Just because others swear on something (and that's exactly what many of them do) doesn't mean it's true.  If something doesn't make sense, it warrants further examination.  But instead of examination, people develop a fragile house of cards constructed of apologetics that don't make any sense themselves, and call it an examination.

Evening Equus, and welcome to the Madhouse. (well it is sometimes)  If you really want to get into serious discussion and learn more about belief and non belief well, this is the place to be. On here you'll find many intelligent people, and one or two comedians, but all in all it's a good place...

Hello, Equus! Let's hunt titans together!


image hosting 10mb limit

Quote from: aitm on August 28, 2015, 10:21:24 PM
Welcome to the forum.

Thank you!

Quote from: Mike Cl on August 28, 2015, 10:56:47 PM
Everybody is interesting--if one takes the time to find out about them.  You are not different--and welcome.

Thank you. Mainly it's just my interests are rarely relevant to more common discussions, but honestly, I suppose conversation topics here are far less 'common' :D

Quote from: dtq123 on August 29, 2015, 12:29:05 AM
Are you a brony? You pic gives it away... If you are that is

Do mind that we are a very diverse community, some of us are crazy idiots (like myself) and that not all of us share the same views. I am a Gnostic, Semi-pragmatic Atheist who bites hard with tiny teeth when I feel like it.

Coming from a catholic family, I have tried to share out, but they don't even believe me so it's like WTF? Flip a coin, you can always joke about it. I make anti-atheist jokes all the time, like how some of us think we know everything. Then again, pointing out funny bible passages or televangelists has worked well in keeping my family together. Maybe it'd work for you?

Hahaha, thank you. Indeed.

I've been kind of dropping hints here and there, but I don't think the family actually believes I could ever be 'deep down' anything other than extremely religious. Not sure how I'm gonna break it to them IF I ever do.

Sounds like a fun place!

Quote from: Baruch on August 29, 2015, 08:56:26 AM
Welcome.  Sorry your family/environment situation is so difficult for you.  You seem to be really blossoming as an independent person.  I am a compulsive reader too.  Your way of writing would indicate someone who has read a lot.  Personal development is both long and challenging.  Think of it as "evolution for one".  Glad you have found a potentially useful sounding board.  I have ;-)

Wow, thank you! I appreciate it. I guess I've just been trying to go it alone, mentally speaking, for so long while still living in the same physical situation that I'm just not sure what stage of development I'm actually at, both things considered. Even more of a reason to discuss such things here, I guess.

Quote from: SGOS on August 29, 2015, 10:10:25 AM
I like this comment.  It's such a fundamentally simple bit of wisdom.  Just because others swear on something (and that's exactly what many of them do) doesn't mean it's true.  If something doesn't make sense, it warrants further examination.  But instead of examination, people develop a fragile house of cards constructed of apologetics that don't make any sense themselves, and call it an examination.

Yeah, seriously... I wish more young people would take that to heart. It reminds me of an incident that I think deep down was one of the first chips to fall in my process of beginning my doubting, so to say. Coming home from an east-Asian styled restaurant (not sure exactly which one) when I was quite young, my mother and grandmother were discussing the experience and said they don't want to eat there again and support the restaurant, not because of the food, but because they saw one of the Buddhist owners of the restaurant go back behind a curtain to an image of Buddha, and they were appalled. I innocently asked why that was a big deal, and they replied, "BUT THEY WERE WORSHIPING BUDDHA!" (Implying of course that they shouldn't DARE worship anything but Christian icons) Even at that age I was totally confused why that was any sort of issue since we have freedom of religion, but they were infuriated that anyone would dare do anything besides fervently defend and follow Christianity. I couldn't understand that.

Quote from: Green Bottle on August 29, 2015, 04:07:56 PM
Evening Equus, and welcome to the Madhouse. (well it is sometimes)  If you really want to get into serious discussion and learn more about belief and non belief well, this is the place to be. On here you'll find many intelligent people, and one or two comedians, but all in all it's a good place...

Sounds like a healthy and vibrant community to me ;)

Quote from: Hakurei Reimu on August 29, 2015, 06:07:04 PM
Hello, Equus! Let's hunt titans together!

Hah! Alicorns serving as advanced 3D maneuver gear? I totally dig it :D

Quote from: Hakurei Reimu on August 29, 2015, 06:07:04 PM
Hello, Equus! Let's hunt titans together!

Hakurei, your so kawaii I just love it :3

Equus, welcome on board, hope you enjoy it here!

Welcome, Equus!

You found a good, safe place to hang out, vent, and gain more understanding which will help you combat the sanity-killing nonsense of your local theocrats. I've come to like this forum for being small enough to stay friendly, with relatively few trolls.

Welcome neighbor! I'm in Huntsville myself.

I'm on the other side of Georgia in SC where you can't swing a cat by its tail without hitting a church .. A few days after moving here I was at a hospital with my dad. On the back of a traffic sign was a sticker that read, Jesus would slap the shit out of you.   Seems about right ..

Lots of people in the Bible Belt are not believers in religion, your not alone!  Hang in there and hopefully you will find some like minded people you can discuss your thoughts with.