Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Darrell L. Garlock on July 14, 2011 at 5:15pm

I am surrounded by irrationality.....catholics on either side and a church across the street. Not sure about the forum. good ideas. it would be nice to see some activity.

 

Permalink Reply by Michael Pianko on July 15, 2011 at 6:34pm

Do you think religion infects our lives and culture so much that almost all otherwise decent, smart, adults with as much life experience as you who are your potential companions/lovers will still keep away from you because you are not infected with their same god or religion virus?  Are you willing to get a female sex worker who will do it if you pay her enough money? I know its illegal, but thats only because religion hates sex and sex appeal and because the government hates it when people trade services for money and the government does not get to steal some of the money. Of course this would be a last resort, but consider your actual chances of actually finding a real relationship considering how old you already are and that this is the only life there is, and maybe as people get older their god viruses often get stronger and they start to feel more guilty about not being religious enough.

Permalink Reply by imsoprole on July 17, 2011 at 9:39am

Judging by what passes for activity on this one topic, I guess I have an answer to my various questions about this forum. It has been taken over by crackpots. too bad.

Permalink Reply by Michael Pianko on July 17, 2011 at 11:31pm

So, you think I'm a crackpot? Religious people usually get really embarassed by the mere mention of sex, and maybe a little of a religion virus is still in you. You could still find a real relationship without resorting to a pro sex worker, I just mean that religion or american culture implicitly teaches that sex is dirty or bad and if sex didn't exist you would be perfectly happy with the amount of interaction you might already get from people now. I mean that religion makes us feel so guilty for our want or need for sex and relationships and this guilt is bad for you.

Permalink Reply by imsoprole on July 18, 2011 at 8:22am

which has nothing whatsoever to do with the topic.

Permalink Reply by Jeff Lee on July 23, 2011 at 9:51pm

Alternatively, start some new topics about things you'd like to discuss.

 

I just moved into Ohio, and found this site by Googling for "Youngstown Ohio atheists". Then, like you, I saw the age on most of the posts on the forum, which was kind of disappointing.

Permalink Reply by Michael OL on February 7, 2012 at 2:31pm

I just stumbled across the Ohio Atheists group and hope to reverse the trend of inactivity and stale posts!  Well, one person alone won't do it, but perhaps a stimulating injection of discussion material would start a self-reinforcing process.

So here's the proposed topic of the day: are we in the "bible belt", or not?  There is a "bible belt" discussion group on this forum, and judging from their postings of horror-stories of dealing with religious proselytizing, Ohio is tame and civilized, compared to the deep South.  But my impression is that while Midwesterners are generally polite and not as pugnacious as are those blazing with the Southern messianic zeal, religion is nevertheless used as a litmus test for judging people's moral suitability - which of course is tremendously ironic, at least in the context of Christianity, which in theory is supposed to preach non-judgment.  Ohio Christians are perhaps more willing to tolerate non-religious people than would have been the case in the South, provided that the non-religious remain isolated and self-segregated.  The practical impact is that while I don't feel somehow threatened or insulted as an atheist, I do find myself to be isolated.  And while most people of most faiths (or non-faiths) are willing to entertain casual conversation and exchange of pleasantries, upon learning that so-and-so is an atheist, the relationship definitely becomes strained.

But there is a broader issue, beyond the question of organized-religion as a source of prejudice or denigration of the out-group.  In America, religious adherence forms a sort of community ritual.  Many people, in my estimation, are lukewarm Christians at best, but resort to religious ritual and organization to form a kind of community identity and fellowship.  How many people genuinely care about learning about their "Lord" on Sunday mornings?  Many, I would think, are more interested in socializing with their neighbors, maybe having an excuse for a communal meal, to exchange gossip or get tips about who's kid does lawn-mowing and who knows of a good tax-accountant.  Church is a center of community life, and those of us who eschew religious indoctrination find ourselves shunted from community activity.  The question, then, becomes how to form an atheist "church" - not to worship, of course, or to pass around cheap wafers or to mumble idiotic hymns, but to develop a casual network of actual neighbors on whom to rely and with whom to socialize.