I Just Need to Know, Why are YOU here?
For the better part of my life, I've realized I was an atheist. I didn't know the term, but I always knew I didn't believe in god, or the idiocy I read in the bible. Now, I don't know about the rest of you, but I honestly do wonder, NOT what made you an atheist, but what keeps you coming back to the site? I know there's a lot of good info here, but really, in my case, it wasn't the knowledge I've gained...
I came to this site originally when I was taught the term 'atheist.' I had no clue up until that point that there was such a strong following (thanks Morgan), but I did know that I didn't 'fit in' with the rest of the people I hung out with. I've always felt like an outcast...
The reason I came here is solely by the grace of google. I wouldn't expect much more of an answer from most of you. What I do wonder, though, is this:
What keeps you coming back? The sense of community? The people? The incredible amount of credible information? The chatroom (Morgan, what's up with that, man? I loved the chatroom!)? etc...
In my experience, what keeps me here is the 'heart' (I know, the heart pumps blood, and not much more...). It's the friendships, the connections I've felt, and the complete sincerity (or lack thereof, in some cases :P) of the people I interact with here. There is really no other website I hold more dear (not even Facebook, but then again, I'm friends with most of you there, too).
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Christopher McGuire on -
rAmen to that, brother!
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Permalink Reply by Mo Trauen on -
For the community, social interaction, a chance to learn and maybe share my own experiences. I've been an atheist a long time and have a lot of experience dealing with what that means in our society. Partly I want to learn how to avoid more bad experiences and to clarify and articulate my thoughts on the subject but also to tell people about the things I have learned over the years so that other atheists don't have to make the same mistakes or go through the same things.
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Permalink Reply by Joli on -
I stumbled upon TA right around the day that I became an atheist (almost 2 months ago). There is so much information on this site that I find myself on here several times a day. I wish I had the words (like others) to comment on a lot of the threads, but I'm still searching for them lol. The people here are wonderful and i'm accepted here. The only people I have in my life that I can truly talk to face to face or over the phone about my views is my husband (with whom I'm not very sure where he stands these days and my BFF who is back to christianity - she went agnostic for a minute but I think she got scared). This is my most favorite site ever, even more than FB :)
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Permalink Reply by John Voss on -
I come here for the community and the articles. I like knowing there are others who share my views, and who differ in them as well. Helps me grow and most importantly, THINK.
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Permalink Reply by Reg The Fronkey Farmer on -
I have been an Atheist for a long time. I was one before I knew I was – it was just I had no name for it 25 years ago. I was living in rural Catholic Ireland. I had decided that there was no god and for a while I thought I was the first person ever to work this out. How could everyone believe this stuff?
Its funny looking back but understandable because there was no one to discuss this with. Try to imagine life now without the Internet and only two television channels – (damn scientists). Everybody I knew was a Catholic. One day I read Bertrand Russell’s “Why I am not a Christian”…the rest is history.
I am open with my Atheism and do not care if it upsets anyone. I will only discuss it if challenged or when I hear it being preached to children. So I am busy..lol.
I like this site because the debates and posts are intelligent and interesting. I also enjoy the irreverent humour. It gives me access to relevant information and ideas. I have being thinking Atheist for years so hopefully I can give ideas and support to others, especially those who still have the lingering shadows of religion blurring their thoughts.
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Permalink Reply by vjack on -
I don't visit nearly as often as I should, but what I have always appreciated about this site is that it reminds me that there are other atheists out there. Living in Mississippi, I find that I need that reminder quite a bit. It is encouraging to see so many bright, thoughtful, even happy atheists.
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Permalink Reply by Anne O on -
I used to live in Mississippi so I know what you are talking about. I only lived there a year. While I was there someone actually asked me if I'd "found a church home yet". There would be a prayer before every faculty meeting at the school where I taught. It was quite a culture shock for me, even after coming from a pretty religious state, Florida. There were churches everywhere and huge, non-denominational churches. MS has more churches, per capita, than any other state. So, I moved back to Florida as soon as I could.
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Permalink Reply by Mo Trauen on
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Anne,
May I ask when this happened? If it was recent, have you considered contacting FFRF or some other organization that works to protect separation of church and state? I know you would like to avoid any repercussions but maybe you could have someone contact these people without mentioning the source of their information and try to put a stop to this sort of thing.
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Permalink Reply by Anne O on
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I worked in MS a long time ago - that was the 99-00 school year. One of the other teachers was Jewish and she didn't like it much either but I'm fairly certain we were the only two that felt uncomfortable. Even if there were any unbelievers in the faculty they were all born and bred in MS and probably very used to the overt religiousness. Or, at least I had the only raised head that I could see. Everyone else had head bowed in prayer. I didn't have any plans to stay in MS and really didn't care at the time. Now, I think I might send an email or two to Americans United or FFRF before I left the state.
I doubt much has changed there.
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Permalink Reply by cory on -
I found this as a result of being found on Twitter, where I am open about my atheism. I am also on Atheist Forums, but sometimes feel a bit left out there. Either people are too immature or too cerebral, and so I wanted a different comunity. So, based on the Twitter find, I thought I'd give it a try.
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Permalink Reply by Kris Feenstra on -
Well, a little over twenty-eight years ago my mom (allegedly) had sex with my dad. Since both of my genetic predecessors were intelligent, neither were religious, and one of them is a biologist with a strong fondness for evolution, the odds of me buying into religion, especially organized religion, were pretty slim.
Twenty-seven years passed. In usual fits of boredom, I was posting on rockclimbing.com. The actual climbing discussions had largely become uninteresting, but the forum set aside for political and religious ramblings was often entertaining, and there are some intelligent contributors. Mithras was mentioned at some point in a thread. A user by the name of Roger Pearse started replying, though it became readily clear that he had no connection to rock climbing whatsoever. He just signed up to reply, as a Christian, to that specific conversation.
Well, that's not really a crime or anything, but I googled his name to see if he had done this elsewhere. Sure enough, he had made similar posts on thinkatheist.com. So, that's how I got to this site: a Christian led me here. The reason I joined? It was superficial. I liked the fact that the site management was investing time into how the site looked, operated and how its features were supported. The reason I stayed? My brain likes it here. There are a lot of great members laying out food for thought in a seemingly endless buffet. I plan to gorge until I explode, or at least lapse into a food coma, passing out face first into the dessert bar.
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Permalink Reply by Gayle Gordon on -
Love this post, and couldn't agree more. I come here regularly because "my brain likes it here!" It is a place to connect with like-minded, accepting people and engage in intelligent conversations about a wide variety of topics.
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