Rhea

I've notice myself being pleasantly surprised several times, of late.

First off, my atheist husband. We never talked much about religion before marriage. It has been a pleasant surprise to grow into the knowledge that we are pretty much on the same page. But I still get a twinge of serendipity when he listens to Fundy radio for fun and reports on their funky doings, "They are unbelievable, I can't believe they are taken in by that crap" or something like that.

This weekend I spent some time with friends. People I haven't ever talk about religion to, whom I assumed were liberal, non-evengelical Xians. Fun surprise when discussing child-rearing they outed themselves as "heathens". It was a nice surprise (I knew I liked them a lot for a good reason! - or is that "for their good reason"?). Not to mention a discussion on limiting family size, where they are contemplating the socially unheard-of possibility of choosing to have only one child. I applaud them!

Then, a friend of hubby's wrote us an e-mail, sort of testing the waters - wanted to know if we had ever considered supporting the ACLU. This evolved into learning that he (also a parent) is an atheist and looking for ways to teach reason to his daughter.

It's nice. A good feeling. Comfort among friends!

Shake

Yes, it is nice isn't it? Birds of a feather ... as they say.

Unfortunately for me, I've noticed lately that friends of mine who during school days never even spoke of religion are becoming church goers! One couple recently redid their wedding as part of some Catholic technicality. They were originally married by a JP, IIRC. None has gone hardcore, and I don't think any will, but it's a frightening trend (to me anyway). Especially just as my atheism has switched into high gear lately.

Monkeybot

Almost nobody I know is really religious. The other day I was talking to a friend (whom I've really only recently met) and mentioned that I'd gone to a Catholic school. She asked, "Are you Catholic?"

I said, not sure if she was a believer or not, "Well... I used to be." Then I asked, "Are you?"

She looks at me sheepishly and goes, "Well... I used to be."

southernhybrid

Last fall I spent a weekend at the beach with an old friend of mine that I only see once a year. She admitted that she's more or less an atheist, although she publically considers herself a Catholic. I have a Jewish friend who is pretty much that way too. I really believe that even here in the Bible Belt, most people are apatheists who give little consideration to religious beliefs. Many of them enjoy the cultural heritage and/or customs that they have from their religion but don't take the mythology all that seriously.

I think the number of freethinkers in the US is greatly underestimated.

lisarea

I've noticed a lot more of picking sides recently. Me included.

I mean, I've never been religious, but up until a couple of years ago, the insults were relatively few and far between. In the current political and social climate, though, these issues are at the forefront every single day. You almost have to pick sides now, and the level of discourse has gotten more heated, so I'm definitely seeing a lot of people adopting more aggressive stances. I like to think that the hostile fundamentalist Christians who've been getting more vocal are truly awakening a sleeping giant consisting of not just atheists and agnostics, but minority religions and intelligent Christians who understand that the separation of church and state is for the church's good, too; and I really like to think that they're going to be sorry that they ever brought their hateful little agenda to the forefront.

Mecha_Dude

I have a friend who's one of those "Jewish Atheists" we see around here occasionally.

uhcord

I just recently found out that three of my friends are actually atheists. I was quite surprised, and happy since one of them is a girl, which I have been talking to alot lately.

TomboyMom

Just goes to show the benefit of being out.

Harumi

I've had that happen to me, at my school.

I was surfing II like I usually did, when several kids came up behind me and asked me what it was all about.

"What's that?"

"Oh, Internet Infidels. It's a site for atheists."

"Cool! You're an atheist? Some am I!"

We're thinking of creating an atheist club at school.

Another cool thing happened at my youth orchestra. I was talking to a guy, who mentioned that he didn't believe in soul mates.

"I do, but not in that kind of way. I define soul mates as couples who fit each other in so many ways, and are perfect for each other."

"Oh. Well, the reason why I don't believe in soul mates is because I don't believe in souls."

He gives me this challenging look, expecting me to go into a religious tirade.

"Cool! I don't believe in souls either! I'm an atheist."

Brightens considerably.

"Really? Oh wow! I thought that I was the only one. That is so awesome!"

I felt so warm and fuzzy afterwards.

Rhea

Hubby just gave another example of how he pleasantly surprises me...


Me: relates story of person at work who is amazed by the it-can't-be-coincidence of typo "predicting" CEO's comment.
He: "Oh. My. God. How many letters are in that?"

Aaaah, thank you dear.