Sponsor |  TX-Jimyster | Apr 17, 2005 4:47am | | The other Atheist I speak with in Texas are pretty hush hush about it. Mostly due to there careers I think. You'll never see an Atheist or free thinker in management where I work. Which is pretty sad that our society is that closed off. How about yourself, are you open about it, or keep it in the closet? |
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Sponsor | | homebase | Apr 17, 2005 5:17am | I wouldn't bring it up in church. Just kidding.
I wouldn't bring it up anywhere you are vulnerable. I wouldn't bring it up to your boss, or co-workers, or your teacher, or lawyer, or doctor, or whatever, because you are likely to encounter some believer who will feel like he's doing the lord's work by fucking you over.
It's a sad state of affairs. The fucking belief system is represented on our currency. Until the culture matures, it's not really safe. If you happen to be in a position of strength, or are willing to take some licks, you could take up the fight, like Mike Newdow. |
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Staff | | joewalp | Apr 17, 2005 9:33am | If, in one-on-one conversation, someone asks about my beliefs or "where I am spiritually," I answer. If, in one-on-one conversation, someone seems to be making an incorrect assumption about my beliefs, I clarify.
However, I find it's useful to let the person talk a bit about his/her beliefs before exposing mine. That way, I'm able to phrase relevant morals in humanistic terms and demonstrate that we share some common ground. I find that this avoids embarassment or awkwardness on the part of my conversation partner. Here in the southeast US, secular humanism isn't a well-recognized term.
I don't follow any clear guidelines about openness in more public settings; it depends too much on context.
If I had designs on public office, I'd be less open. |
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Sponsor | | homebase | Apr 17, 2005 10:01am | | That's a good point about designs on public office. I'm screwed. |
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Sponsor | | IrishYankee | May 9, 2005 9:59pm | if you were gay, would you just come out and say it? no. if you were anything that is not a common discussion, you would not say it. however, i always feel the need to speak up when religion is discussed, how can you not?
yes, there are times when silence is golden, but not too many. i don't want to hear christian reterict at anytime in my day, so when it comes up, i always start off asking how many murders did your god commit and how many did hitler commit? the old testament wins that hands down! i kinda relish in these discussions, too many question, not any rational answers....
well, i am new to the forums and just saying hello...
Yank. |
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| | | ClareQuilty | May 10, 2005 5:28am | | I simply will not tolerate people unilaterally imposing their religious delusions upon me. Thankfully, I live far enough north that discussion of religion in the office is considered to be in poor taste. That having been said, most of the people with whom I work closely are either less than devout xtians or ascribe to a religion other than xtianity. In my personal life, I live in a left-leaning, multi-ethnic, heavily gay town with decidedly secular humanist sensibilities. Other than my mother, I don't socially know anyone who regularly attends a xtian church. You'd be unlikely to see anyone with those ichthus fish on their car bumpers in my town. |
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Sponsor | | stringo | May 10, 2005 5:41am | | It was interesting/surprising to see Blair's lurch to spirituality early in his tenure. In the UK, complete silence about one's faith, or lack of it, is not an indirect admission of being faithless, as it might be in some US states. |
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| | | BrotherJustin | Jun 16, 2005 6:20am | It was stimulating and interesting to read all the various posts on this page. Very encouraging.
It seems to me that there are two pivotal points in this discussion: first, one's own right to assert one's position, often in the face of a tangible evil. Second, the futility, often times the danger, of doing just that.
If you go into your church, or up to whatever Believer you meet - and almost everybody nowadays believes in something ... - and tell them flat out that they are responsible for horrible death and unnecissary suffering... Often times this will only serve to antagonize someone who could be influenced more subtly.
Admit it, if you're here you're in the resistance. I don't think, though I'd like to hope, that we'll ever take over the world, or gain a majority. But that just means you have to make smart choices, and try to maintain a human outlook on life. |
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Sponsor | | homebase | Jun 30, 2005 11:27am | | I really think secular humanists/naturalists are the next majority. I don't have a good feel for how long it will take, or how many pendulum swings back and forth between religiosity and secularism we will endure, but I think things will finally rest on our side. We are already starting to see secular governments with secular laws in some parts of the world. Religion's tend to lose their grasp when things are good for people. If we can improve the quality of life for the general global population, the secular win. |
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|  Dadge | Jul 5, 2005 1:37pm | Here in Britain, it's the opposite. It's often the Christians who keep mum about their beliefs. Anyone who gets all evangelical at work is likely to be sent to Coventry. Blair is hardly respected for his faith.
It's only taken one generation for everything to change. When I was a kid, atheism, divorce, abortion, illegitimacy and homosexuality were all still pretty much taboos. Older people have struggled a bit with the pace of change, but it's not as if they didn't know that these things existed. |
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Secular Humanism → Discussion