Been creeping for a while.
Basically, I've been creeping on the forums/blogs/everything else here for quite a while. I live in a very strange place. Orlando, FL is definitely part of the south, but there are so many cultures here, either by emigration or vacation, so the variety of people keeps this city from the fate of so many other southern cities. However, 20 miles out and you can bet there's a church on every street corner. It's a weird place for sure. Quietly liberal. I'm very lucky to have called Orlando my home in an otherwise very red region.
Anyways, I grew up in a Christian household. Barely went to church though, that may have helped me ask more questions than the average 9 year old regarding religion. I always wondered why mine was the correct one. What made Christianity more valid than Buddhism? Or paganism? Why did everyone [that I knew] assume the Bible was right when there are facts that are so blatantly wrong? How could I trust a book that said the sun was made for the earth and mentioned talking snakes? No one could ever answer my questions, so I decided to make my own philosophical decisions. Studying international relations and cultures throughout high school and into college, I started to very much dislike the violence that almost always resulted from religion. Why can't my two gay best friends get married? Why must the default position in the US be "we are all children under the same god" (per Romney last night)? I have respect for other people, I have integrity, dignity, therefore I can trust myself with my own moral decisions.
I've come to find it to be very frustrating being an atheist in America these days. My family is mostly hardcore Republican and ANY mention of liberalism makes their heads explode. They seriously believe that Obama is a Muslim and from Africa. They seriously believe that he is evil and hates America. And they seriously believe that atheism automatically means that someone cannot be trusted and has no moral compass. Yet, they tell me all the time how proud they are that I'm the first in the family to graduate with honors from a university and attempt to go Ivy league for graduate school. But, god forbid that I bring up my distaste for religion and all hell breaks loose. Apparently, I've been exposed to too much "liberal propaganda" from college and thus have been brainwashed by the machine. I can't take it.
Just thought I'd share a bit of my back story. I really enjoy reading the discussions here and am very impressed by all this intellectual discourse. Keep it up!
By the way, my name is Jennifer!
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by RobertPiano on -
hi Jennifer,
What you said about Orlando is so true! I live over on the space coast..a bit to your RIGHT (LOL). Romney will sweep the polls here for sure, even though his mormons perpetrated the original 9/11. Look up MOUNTAIN MEADOWS MASSACRE if you have time. The slaughter of a wagon train of some 120 people in southern Utah on September 11, 1857.
I'm new here too..so far..it's been REAL.
-
Permalink Reply by archaeopteryx on -
Robert - one of our TA members, a former Mormon, Blaine Leavitt, is an actual ancestor of one of the infamous perpetrators of the Mountain Meadows Massacre - realizing, realistically, that he was in no way to blame by virtue of his ancestry, he is not reluctant to share the story. You should contact him for further info, which I'm sure he will freely provide.
-
Permalink Reply by archaeopteryx on
-
I, for some reason, thought you were one of the ones who were Mormon and rejected it - sorry about that, Chief!
-
Permalink Reply by Strega on -
Bloody hell, I knew he was old, but that old? Or did you mean 'descendant' ?
-
Permalink Reply by RobertPiano on
-
Wow, Blaine, you have both famous and infamous relatives! Ever been to Arkansas? An anti-Romney co-worker informed me of this event. Somehow I had never heard of this story. The very next day I learned about the Mormon practice of "baptizing the dead" including Jewish holocaust victims.
As an atheist I found this sentence particularly amusing..
"God Almighty couldn't convict the butchers unless Brigham Young was willing,"
I also find that bit of the neighbor woman hiding the gold tablets to see if John Smith could re-transcribe them very amusing. That's the thing..religion seems to go from amusing to suicide bombs and massacres in a heartbeat. Think I'll keep researching the Mormons for a while..Thanks for the leads!
-
Permalink Reply by archaeopteryx on
-
Robert, you're in for a lot of laughs! If you want some SERIOUS giggles, go to mormon.org and order a free copy of The Book of Mormon, and learn how the 10 "lost" tribes of Israel (who were never lost, but chose to stay in Babylon when the Persians - Iranians - freed them), built boats, sailed to America where their skins were darkened, and became American Indians.
-
Permalink Reply by Tiffany bottoms on -
Me too.
-
Permalink Reply by Unseen on -
Creeping? LOL
If you've just been reading but not posting, that's called lurking.
Arm yourself with all the crazy sh*t in The Good Book and ask them if they really believe it literally.
-
Permalink Reply by Gallup's Mirror on -
Face it, Jennifer. Facts are liberal.
Welcome to the fold. You're outnumbered but in exceptionally good company.
-
Permalink Reply by Tiffany bottoms on
-
Welcome Jennifer. I too can relate to your story on many levels. I'm sorry for the lack of support you are receiving in your family, pertaining to your lack of faith and adherence towards logic. Just today I was chastised for speaking my anti-theism beliefs by a distant relative. The playing field is not even......theists are seen as "good folks" when speaking of religion, while we anti-theist will continue to be verbally spat upon for speaking ours. Annoying stuff.
- ‹ Previous
- 1
- 2
- 3
- Next ›
What's new today
Events
Forum
America - "Love It or Leave It"
Started by Ed in Small Talk. Last reply by MikeLong 1 hour ago. 19 Replies 0 Likes
Blog Posts
Christian Man Claims Native American Statue On License Plate Violates His Freedom Of Religion, Sues Oklahoma
Posted by Rob Klaers on June 17, 2013 at 2:00am 4 Comments 2 Likes
Videos
The Latest Giz Gad
Services we love
Check out our new mobile/tablet version of Think Atheist! www.ThinkAtheist.com/m
© 2013 Created by Morgan Matthew.
