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Comment by J S on March 14, 2013 at 8:19pm

I agree... in a perfect world I'd be out, ranting and raving about their crazy ass god.... but I don't wish to out myself, though I'm sure it will eventually happen. Trust me, I donate a helluva lot more to secular charities.  The real 'outing' episode is probably under a year away. My 5 yr old daughter's friend is from an evangelical baptist family... fire and brimstone, rapture types.... Civility will cease when my daughter comes home from the playground crying about going to hell.... I'll show her parents what hell on earth is like for making my little girl cry over a mind forged torture chamber

Comment by Joseph P on March 14, 2013 at 3:44pm

That's one of the reasons to be out of the closet, yeah.  Same thing when I see a group like the Salvation Army out fundraising (not that they're that aggressive, except for the stupid bells).  If I get someone more actively seeking money for something that sounds religious, I'll tell them flat-out that I don't support religious charities.

And Christ, no way in hell I would give someone money so they can go proselytize at people.  If their kid was fundraising for something school-related, then sure.

Comment by J S on March 14, 2013 at 3:36pm

I really don't care if my neighbors are theists, deists, christians, etc... I don't need to engage with them in that type of conversation. The one religious family are methodists, so they are pretty tame... However, it irks me that as an anti-theist I donate to their son's youth group's fundraising for their missionary trip to south america every year. I figure when my kids are older, they'll be making the rounds of fundraising, so its the neighborly thing to do. (Yes an anti-theist paying to help their church convert catholics to christians). Fast forward to a couple months ago, my 5 year old daughter's school is having a pancake dinner to raise money to send their teachers to a conference... Suddenly the christians are on a diet... all of my other neighbors declined to buy the tickets, but instead just gave a donation.... hypocrites or Atkins diet, don't know which is the truth. Maybe I have to out myself, next time their son comes to the door asking for his 20 bucks.... I'm sorry son, I'm an atheist

Comment by Joseph P on March 14, 2013 at 2:18pm

You might be surprised.  Almost my entire department of 12 at my last job was at least passively non-theistic.  I think we had two Christians.  Of course, that's in an I.T. department, in the Triangle.

You have to be subtle about it, though, in your situation.  I could probably worm it out of them without revealing my own anti-theistic stance ... not that I would be subtle about it, myself.  Outside of a work environment, I'm out and vocal about it to anyone who expresses even a slight interest in a discussion about religion.

Comment by J S on March 14, 2013 at 2:07pm

Problem is that my wife is an ambivalent atheist/agnostic... I'm a fervent anti-theist... I have no plans to 'out' myself to our religious friends, but I wouldn't mind hanging out with some people who aren't bible thumpers. I know that there's only 2 families on my street that regularly go to church, however I doubt the others are atheists

Comment by Joseph P on March 14, 2013 at 2:05pm

Yeah, when in doubt, check out Meetup.com.  Lots of local atheist groups use that.

Comment by J S on March 14, 2013 at 2:04pm

The OBX is a quasi-liberal enclave on the outskirts... lots of transplants from the northeast - just surprised that there's no group of free-thinkers out here.... maybe I need to change that. I saw something when I googled about a meet-up in Elizabeth City....

I guess me and my wife count as a group... we're 2. 4 if you consider our children, but they're too young to really know yet

Comment by Joseph P on March 14, 2013 at 1:36pm

There are atheists out that way.  I think there's a group that's centered around Elizabeth City.  The population is just spread so thin in northeastern North Carolina, it's almost impossible to get more than 3 or 4 together, at any given time.  You need a much higher population density to sustain a group composed of people who are a minority (particularly in rural areas) and tend to be relatively anti-social.

Comment by J S on March 14, 2013 at 8:51am

Greetings fellow tarheel atheists. My name is Jeremy. I am a 'don't ask, don't tell' anti-theist who lives on the Outer Banks. Any other OBXers on here?

The OBX is a conundrum, in regards to being in the bible belt... The bible thumpers are out here, just not as vocal - so as not to scare away the tourists

Comment by Ricky Watson on July 6, 2012 at 11:14pm

You got that right. I started a group on Facebook called the "Western NC Freethought Society". Feel free to look us up. I'm gonna be trying to put a meetup together soon. That goes for everybody. Check us out. ;-)

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