Zora

I'm a grandmother, lifelong atheist (agnostic parents) , living in (helpmeplease) the Missouri Bible Belt ( not orginally from here). I decided I am not being honest if I pretend to pray, evade the religion question, or feign agreement with theists. So, when asked point blank about my beliefs, I now tell people. (I used to divulge the atheist information only after the development of a strong friendship...which never included any fundies anyhow.) Yesterday, a neighbor and casual friend point blank asked me about my religion. A really bad discussion ensued at the end of which she stated Satan was controlling me. So, that will be all over town soon...sermons are probably being preached with me as the "example" now. I just wanted to talk to some like-minded people who aren't born again, saved, Baptists. I took part briefly in another discussion group somewhere else, but they had a lot of "rules" which my limited computer skills didn't measure up to. Have I found a new home, or should I just get out my Ingersoll books, a bag of chips and a bottle of wine?

Ernest Sparks

So, Zora, what is it you DO like about your Missouri home to make it worth putting up with all that Baptist dominion?

(I live definitely free of the belt; all the Baptists I know are kind and gentle, thoroughly scrupulous about being inoffensive. They took good care of my afflicted sister until she passed on.)

DMB

Welcome Zora! I'm a granny too. I do sympathise with your position, although here in Europe, the unbelievers' paradise, I don't suffer what you do.

We'll all be rooting for you, so please keep us posted about what happens when the news gets out.

Would it work if you turned things round and without arguing your case asked people simple questions about their beliefs? For example:

• how do you know that there is a god?
• how do you know which religion is the true one?
• how do you know that the bible isn't simply fiction?

etc......

Zora

Missouri is a cheap place to live....and we made the decision to come here based on economics. It didn't occur to me that in 2003, people would still have the attitude that the space shuttle blew up because of a Jew on board, that a Jewish child could be counted absent on religious holidays because "we give them Christmas off" (corrected by the ACLU on that one), that handcapped people are just being a pain because they want access to the court house (it will cost money to make it accessible), that public school teachers would "tolerate mixed race kids so long as they stuck to their own kind," that it is a Christian nation and everybody else can get the H--- out, and that atheists should all be in prison, if not dead (in the newpaper). Its great you have had wonderful experiences with your Baptist friends...but there are more Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson types here than the "gentle, loving" kind..or maybe they are just more visible. The Jaycees, Rotary, etc., don't allow women to join here. The VFW and American Legion don't allow atheists. So, if you don't go to church, there are no alternatives to meeting people. My main priority is finding property somewhere else and staying sane until then. I came to this forum for help in doing that. If I made a mistake in assuming I could share my feelings, please excuse my ignorance. I didn't come here to get beat up. I can get that here in town anytime I feel the need to be put down. Or, perhaps I am just hypersensitive after yesterday's conversation in which I was blamed for all the evils of the world. Its hard to take so much "Christian love"" sometimes.

elanah

Wow. Seems like there is a reason I've heard people refer to that state as "Misery."

Don't worry, Zora. You came to the right place. No one here will beat you up, especially since this place is off-limits for preaching.

Zora

Missouri is a cheap place to live....and we made the decision to come here based on economics. It didn't occur to me that in 2003, people would still have the attitude that: the space shuttle blew up because of a Jew on board; that a Jewish child could be counted absent on religious holidays because "we give them Christmas off" (corrected by the ACLU on that one); that handcapped people are just being a pain because they want access to the court house (it will cost money to make it accessible, they are a minority and as such don't matter); that public school teachers would "tolerate mixed race kids so long as they stuck to their own kind," that it is a Christian nation and everybody else can get the H--- out; and that atheists should all be in prison, if not dead. This stuff came from the newspaper, from "letters to the editor" but from the editor himself, a community leader. Its great you have had wonderful experiences with your Baptist friends...but there are more Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson types here than the "gentle, loving" kind..or maybe they are just more visible. The Jaycees, Rotary, etc., don't allow women to join here. The VFW and American Legion don't allow atheists. So, if you don't go to church, there are no alternatives to meeting people. My main priority is finding property somewhere else and staying sane until then. I don't want to have to lie to live somewhere in peace and safety. I came to this forum to get a different perspective on how things are in the rest of the nation. My husband says it can't be like this everywhere. I hope he's right. Perhaps I am just hypersensitive after yesterday's conversation in which I was blamed for all the evils of the world. (Well, not all of it is my fault. The Jews are partially responsible, but are going to hell because they had the chance to accept Jesus but didn't. I am not making this up.) Its hard to take so much "Christian love"" sometimes.

Jobar

Zora, I think you have found the right place. We are not just an academic discussion board (although our upper forums are full of highly qualified academics); we are also an online community. It helps to know people who share your unbelief in a nation so overwhelmingly theistic. If you have questions you want answered, or if you want to gripe about the blindness of believers, that's what this forum is for!

Ernest Sparks

Zora,

I must come clean and admit that I never admitted to these Baptists my own disbelief. For the sake of my sister I kept mum and went along with the religious folderol. Some became close to friends, so I would hope they would have been saddened to learn of my disbelief, rather than turn ugly.

Some others have said this, but the Internet Infidels Discussion Forums have a very active membership and support talk and activity at many levels. There is some stout debating and hard wrangling in some of the groups, even big blowups. On the other hand, sometimes members plan local social get-togethers using this medium, say, in the nearby city. Most amusingly, some christians come here, originally to query and argue, and decide they like the atmosphere here well enough to stick around and make friends.

My own situation was that religion was pretty much a choice matter in my family, so my sisters and I went our various ways. The only rules at home were: 'Be polite' and 'Not at the dinner table!'. My mom had gotten her fill of old time religion as a teenager and resolved not to be snared by all the church busybodies (her mother's friends).

Ern

southernhybrid

Welcome Josie and Zora. I hope the two of you will enjoy it here.


Zora, I am in my 50s and living in Georgia. My husband once lived in Missouri prior to our meeting and he shares your dislike of the place. What you need to do is buy a house here in my lovely little conservative Xian town. Then we can hang out together and visit with our country neighbor Jobar, just 30 minutes down the road. I love living here but would sure love to have a neighbor like you. Have I convinced you yet! Georgia: a kinder gentler part of the Bible Belt with mild winters, beautiful countryside and a low cost of living if you stay out of Atlanta.

I've told some of my neighbors I'm an atheist and it's never been a problem. Most of them attend the UMC which I affectionately refer to as The Party Church.

ImGod

Welcome Zora,

Do you know that the toothbrush was invented in Missouri.

If it would have been invented anywhere else they would have called it a teethbrush.

I lived in the Kansas City area for 10 years on the Kansas side while working on both the Kansas and Missouri sides of the border. It's not that far of a drive east before Missouri turns into Missourah.

The area of the city I lived in wasn't that bad, but there weren't that many people around me from Kansas or Missouri. Our neighborhood consisted of transplants from Texas, Mississippi, Australia, New York, India, Holland, Nebraska, and New Jersey. The diversity helped temper (or at least quiet) some of those attitudes.

Have fun here.