I'm curious as to the geographic distribution of the people here.
Anecdotally, it seems like most of the folks posting here seem to be from the South or Midwest, which is exactly where I would expected to find the *fewest* atheists. On the other hand, while the Northwest is supposedly the least-religious part of the country, I have seen only one person who hails from there.
So - please speak up, and let us know where you are. You may find that you had neighbors that you didn't know about.
I'll start. I'm currently in Seattle, Washington. Previously lived in SF, Denver, Hawaii, Florida and Germany.
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Permalink Reply by Paul Reed on February 5, 2012 at 4:10pm I'm in the northwest of England, on the welsh border.
I'm sure I've seen some kind of map-based widget thingy online to show where people are. Can't remember where I saw it or how it might be used, though. Sorry.
Permalink Reply by FernWalker on February 5, 2012 at 7:22pm I'm a northwesterner--currently live in Oregon (27 years), grew up in Minnesota (25 years) and was born in Illinois outside of Chicago.
Permalink Reply by Maruli Marulaki on February 7, 2012 at 6:34pm Under 'members', there is a member map page.
Permalink Reply by Paul Reed on February 8, 2012 at 8:36am I knew I'd seen one! I knew I wasn't crazy!
:P
Permalink Reply by Stephenie Bechiom on February 14, 2012 at 7:49am
Permalink Reply by Brent Feeney on February 14, 2012 at 7:30pm I'm in the Midwest - St. Louis, to be exact. Grew up on the Illinois side of the area and have also lived in southeast Missouri, both Carolinas and in east-central Illinois (both for school and for a job).
Permalink Reply by Michael OL on February 19, 2012 at 11:54am Stephenie makes a good point; a plethora of face-to-face contact with like-minded people, tends to reduce the motivation to seek "virtual" companions on-line. And in a social milieu where secularism/atheism is common, there is less motivation to editorialize or to protest - and therefore, to post online.
Originally I'm from Eastern Europe, from a time and place where the State was officially secular, despite a backdrop of 1000 years of fanatical Christianity. I moved to the US at an early enough age that language and cultural association can "switch". My family settled first in one, then in another major city on the East Coast. I attended college in the Midwest, which is how I landed my current job in the Midwest. But I went to grad school in Los Angeles. Before moving to LA, the Midwest didn't feel so bad, so ossified or stifling. But after nearly 5 years in LA, returning to the Midwest was a harrowing return to one's cage.
I should also note that maybe not geographic locale, but urban vs. rural setting matters more. the California desert 100 miles east of Los Angeles is really not that different than the cornfields stretching from eastern Colorado to the Appalachian foothills of eastern Ohio, in terms of religious affinities and social mores. But Chicago, which is squarely in the Midwest, has more in common with NYC and LA, than with the farmland just 50 miles south of its metro area. Another exception is college-towns, the relatively small burgs hosting major research universities. Examples would be Ann Arbor, Michigan, or even Urbana-Champaign, Illinois. But there are also counterexamples. Cincinnati, while not a major city, remains fairly populous despite its 50+ year decline. But despite its size and economic footprint, its a bastion of religious and social orthodoxy.
Permalink Reply by Harridan20 on June 16, 2012 at 8:44pm Michael OL,
Currently, I live in Indiana. I find this state to be the least open-minded about atheist views. We do have an atheist chapter here however if one is seeking a mate here then he or she better get used to going to church.
Permalink Reply by Harridan20 on June 17, 2012 at 1:55pm Hi,
Is there anyone from Indiana?
Permalink Reply by Kyle Conner on May 17, 2013 at 1:46am I'm from Indiana, but now I live in Colorado. Aside from the drier climate and higher elevation, it doesn't seem that much different than Indiana to me.
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