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Comment by Brad White on May 23, 2010 at 6:38pm

Mr Good without God... I'd be happy to be your friend on FB. I'll accept you as you are, even if I don't get the same in return. (hope I do :-). If any of your Christian FB friends drop you when you come out, please direct them to my website so they can learn to LIVE their faith. Or before they drop you, encourage them to visit my site BEFORE they drop you. (http://www.changingthefaceofchristianity.com).

Comment by QM on March 21, 2010 at 12:26am

Joann, first of all thanks for your encouraging words and the compliment (yes, English is my second language. Where I come from decent education is a luxury which fortunately my folks were able to afford for us :-))

I have read your story and it is very inspiring and moving. I admire your strength and I know that it took an enormous amount of courage on your part to go through what you did. Thank you for sharing such an amazing story!

Very often I just feel sick and tired of being in the closet. I feel nauseated by my own silence at times, especially when I hear of suicide bombing in my country carried out by a zealot belonging to my ex-religion. I know that the only way to stop such barbaric acts is to educate people about how retarded this belief system is. I want to tell them that there are no 70 women waiting for them in heaven. That there is no 'all mighty master' smiling at them.

But I don't, out of fear. But sooner or later this silence has to be broken.

Thanks again for your warm welcome here. I know I have come to the right place with the right kind of people.. :-)

Comment by Joann Brady on March 19, 2010 at 11:50am

QM, I admire your strength and don't blame you a bit for staying "in the closet" I bet you wish you could immigrate to a more tolerant part of the world.
here in America I feel it is my personal mission to evcourage athiests to come out of the closet, because I firmly believe there are a LOT more of us than any one thinks. I am not even sure how to accomplish this.
By the way, I am guessing that English is a second language for you, and if so I would like to compliment your mastery of it. There are plenty of native speakers who do not have the mastery that you do.
So welcome to the group, I hope you are able to find comfort here. My story is further down the post ( I believe I posted it last June) if you care to read it.
Again..............welcome. You are among friends.
there used to be an Irish Pub in the neighborhood, and they had a sign behind the bar that is appropriate here. It said " There are no strangers here, Only friends we haven't met"

Comment by QM on March 19, 2010 at 1:41am

This is really a very interesting group! I would say that it's not surprising that there are lot of people out there who still haven't been able to come out as atheists but it is surely a lot more comforting to know that I am not the only one :-)

I am still a 'closet' atheist and I completely lost god & religion only a few years back, even though I had starting questioning things long before than that. I choose to remain in the 'closet' only because I really do not want to get killed by a mob of lunatics since I come from a country where any sort of 'blasphemy' is punishable by death and a person who quits the 'one true religion' is usually lynched by a mob of wild bearded men before he/she can be arrested, charged or taken to court. So may be I am a coward but that does keep me alive (not a bad bargain, i guess :-))

Anyways, it has been a long journey to the point where I now am free from religion and dogmas but the journey is still going on. When I now look back at all those years, I guess the most painful times were the ones when during my moment of doubt and pain I struggled to look back at god and his 'scripture' to find the answers. But in return got more questions. And those questions brought me 'redemption'.

My personal story of becoming godless is quite long and might seem mundane to everyone. Plus, I would like to remain a bit anonymous (for reasons made obvious above). I do not want to be labelled as a 'Blasphemer of Islam' at this point :-) Anyways, its great to be here and see such wonderful folks.

Comment by Cara Coleen on March 17, 2010 at 9:31am

Mr Good, I've been tempted to do the same... but I really feel that coming out on FB is just social suicide and not the appropriate forum. Despite the fact that they splash their beliefs all over their own pages, it just seems like the wrong way to let them know. If it's really important to you, can you come out to them on a more personal level? Are you even close enough with all your friends on FB to let them in on something so personal (b/c this is PERSONAL and none of their business) and set yourself up to be judged by people who don't matter to you? I just think you should be careful. It's going to sting when your friend count drops sharply over night.

Comment by deepthought42 on March 17, 2010 at 1:04am

Mr. Good, let us know how that goes! I am (trying) to be careful with who on Facebook knows about my non-religious beliefs. Partly because I have religious friends/family/co-workers as my Friends, but also because I am job searching.

Comment by Mr Good Without God on March 15, 2010 at 10:22pm

I am considering "coming out" to my friends on facebook. This might seem silly, but it is a HUGE step for me. Most of them are right wing, super conservative, creationists, evangelicals. I am sure to get a lot of hate and anger thrown my way, but I am tired of hiding and just sitting back and being quiet. I am terrified to be honest. This will be my first real step in letting friends and family know.

Comment by Morgan Matthew on October 5, 2009 at 2:03pm

Hey guys! Just a reminder. You will get more of a response if you Start a Discussion in this group.

Thanks for sharing your stories! It really does help other people!

Comment by darwinbaby on August 23, 2009 at 1:00pm

Parents were RC, and happy Catholics, to boot. My Mum, in particular, was what I call a Hippie Catholic --- God is all love, and such. One Christmas she made a birthday cake for Jesus. No joke. In red icing: "Happy Birthday Jesus!" We (sibs and I) didn't know that God could be a total bastard.
I didn't really start to question religion until I was in high school, and even then I questioned not God but the people who follow the church w/out questions. Corny as it may be, and I'm going to date myself here, it started when my Mum took my boyfriend and I to see "Last Temptation of Christ". The movie was very good, and I read the novel, too (it is one huge prose poem. even as a nonbeliever, i still enjoy the book). But it was the people protesting the film that got me. Whole passel of people in front of the King's Court (theatre) who hadn't seen the film, but were protesting because the Church told them to. As far as I could see, they were missing a good film and an excellent book. That got my Mum and I talking about the ignorance that religion can drive people to. And if people can be ingnorant and the Pope is only a person, who is to say that he, himself, could not be mistaken. But I stuck to RC nonetheless. College was a Catholic school. Met Husband. He was raised Lutheran, but wasn't much of a church goer. Tried a spot of Quakerism, and was married Quaker. Went back to RC for a bit during a bad spot in my life. Didn't help much. Then started reading up on religion -- history, personages, ideals, etc, etc. -- as well as science, biology in particular. And that was then end of that. No craziness over it. Husband (fairly agnostic) is ok w/it. I've not told any friends, but my sibs are pretty well aware. Haven't mentioned it to Pater, not that he'll get weird about it, but I don't know, exactly, where he stands on things. Tried to tell Mater (parents divorced), but even when the "A-word" was used, she just brushed it off and went off on another tangent -- about some new new aged something or other and the goodness that TM(trademark) has done for the world (I'm more skeptical of that nonsense than religion, but she wasn't listening, exactly).
And that's it! Sometimes, when things are getting scary (health probs), I miss being able to go to Church, but not so must that I go. I am a fairly well adjusted atheist who is ok w/the idea of no god and no afterlife.
I haven't said anything to my friends (not true -- I have one friend who has put 2&2 together) the rest of them include people who are very religious. One once told me that she feel sorry for atheists because they'll never know the love of God. I tried to explain, without outing myself, that most atheists are normal people who get along just fine just being people doing everyday things with many of the same concerns as everyone else, difference being that they're not deluded. Didn't go over so well, and thought that of all my friends, I thought she would be able to be the most sympathetic. I was wrong. Oh, well. Still friends, I just don't bring up religion. It is just nice to have a clear and open mind. (Oh, yeh: the episodes of Penn & Teller's "Bullshit" that focus on religion, separation of church & state, etc, are so much funnier when you agree with them!)

Comment by Pixy Giggles on June 23, 2009 at 1:36am

Joann, your story is truly amazing; and I commend you and your children for your strength. I think that many of us here on Think Atheist have had similar "aha" moments when we see the overall picture and can put together all of the lies that were preached to us as fact with the actual Biblical history that was hidden from us for so many years. I also see the dangers to society in unbridled belief. To me, it seems that the "controlled" have become the "controllers." Misguided perceptions of reality and dogmatic morality are literally interfering with progress that should have been made decades ago.
Also, I have questioned the very nature of forgiveness for many years, now; and I am still baffled by this concept. Even in my religious upbringing, I never had a clear picture in my mind of what exactly forgiveness "is" or what it would look like or feel like. Is it an emotion? Or is it simply an intangible idea that does not truly exist? I sincerely do not know.
Thank you for sharing your story. I really enjoyed reading it.

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