On Thursday, January 24, 2013 10:20:25 PM UTC-5, Brent wrote: > > On 1/24/2013 6:28 PM, Craig Weinberg wrote: > > > > On Thursday, January 24, 2013 9:05:31 PM UTC-5, Brent wrote: >> >> On 1/24/2013 5:14 PM, Stathis Papaioannou wrote: >> > On Fri, Jan 25, 2013 at 4:55 AM, meekerdb<[email protected]> wrote: >> > >> >> It's probably a lot simpler than that. In the U.S. if you're an >> atheist it >> >> may be hard to find a sympathetic ear. Depending a lot on where you >> live, >> >> you may be isolated and reviled. >> > Is that really true? I was in the US recently for the first time, >> > Scottsdale Arizona and NYC, and other than Christmas decorations I >> > can't recall seeing much evidence of religion at all. This is perhaps >> > a superficial impression but I was a bit surprised nevertheless. >> > >> > >> >> Scottsdale is pretty cosmopolitan - it's where airline pilots go to >> retire. NYC of course >> is as secular, diverse, and worldly as any place in the world. Try >> visiting small towns >> in Kentucky, South Carolina, Mississippi, Oklahoma,... It's not called >> "the bible belt" >> for nothing. >> > > It would be more tedious than genuinely threatening to be an atheist adult > in redneck America - unless you insist upon being as vocal as the Fundies. > Yes, there's a lot of churches, and people will ask you what church you go > to, but they will also ask you what sports team you support and think you > are just as threatening if you are unaffiliated that way. > > > I'd didn't say they'd be threatening. But if you were an atheist looking > for a friendly ear the only ones you'd find would probably want to convert > you. >
I don't know that not being able to talk to others about your (non) religious beliefs would be cause for suicide though. Especially now that there's the internet... I can't remember the last time I had a conversation with someone about religion IRL. If it was that important to find a friendly ear in multiple neighbors and co-workers specifically to listen to you talk about being an atheist, then that makes me think about questioning the claim that atheism isn't like a religion. Craig > Brent > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Everything List" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list?hl=en. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
