One of my favorite blogs is that of Atheist in a Minivan/PossumMomma. I found this post particularly inspiring.
I am an atheist living in Northwest Arkansas. This is not a great place to be an atheist. Atheism is not particularly popular here-witness the following column from the local paper.
Ignoring the horrible reasoning of the author, he does seem to represent the view of a lot of people here. At the very least, I have found few Christians who disagree with the sentiments-at best they may admit that he may have "phrased it a bit strongly."
I hope to see a growing number of atheist groups. One of the hardest things about being an atheist deep in the Bible Belt is the feeling of isolation. I know very few atheists, though quite a few agnostics. Religion is such a part of the shared experience in my area yet I cannot share that experience myself. At times when I was younger it was a lonely feeling. I hope to live to see a time when atheists don't feel like they need to be in the closet as I sometimes still do.
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4 comments:
Hi there! I saw your comment on Possummomma's blog, re the isolation of being an atheist in the bible belt. All I can say is (if you'll pardon the phrase) "AMEN". Last weekend I was offered a ride to the local Houston Church of Freethought, and later wrote about it on my blog: http://www.raywhiting.com/MyLife/?p=771
I included a map of various activities of like-minded folks, with a mark on the map where I live -- without public transport or car of my own, I feel physically isolated for sure. Thank goodness for the internet and electronic connections. Hang in there. We are everywhere.
Have you tried the meetup.com avenue of local groups in your area? or maybe craigslist?
Hey from another Atheist in the area! I'm over in Memphis and I know how you feel about the isolation. We have an atheist meet up group in our city but I have to avoid them before of the locations they are held. Also being a small business owner and a local teacher , it would be shooting myself in the foot financially if it got out to well if I was an atheist. So I completely understand that feeling of isolation. If you never need to talk to a fellow isolated southerner feel free to email me! (ktaylorartist@gmail.com)
I can totally relate as well. I'm in southern Ohio, deeply entrenched in the Appalachian area of the bible belt. Fortunately, I have my husband, my son and several of his friends and our best "couple friends" who live right across the street who are likeminded. I hit the internet for further support (and we still live in dial up land so blogs are good since there isn't usually alot of pictures/video). In our area, atheist = satanist. I'm more open about my nonbelief now, and I really enjoy making people squirm when they realize that I volunteer alot and I'm basically a good, honest person who doesn't believe in god.
ang
knitterman-thanks for info. Neat map. Unfortunately, my area is very, very fundie-prone. In the next town over (Springdale, AR) is a mega-church whose pastor was actually one of the nominees to head up the Southern Baptist convention, and a guy who runs solely on "I'm a fundie" does incredibly well in local elections.
Katie-I've definitely faced prejudice in the workplace. That is one of the reasons I keep my atheism low-key.
ang-I've come across the Atheist=Satanist thing as well. Fortunately my wife is agnostic, and her parents are pagan. The only family members I have to be careful around are the grandparents.
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