Hello Everyone

[Rev. Noch]

Hello All,

I'm a fellow Atheist who really enjoys VA's "Crazy shit" videos. I'm very passionate about believing what the evidence shows and doing my best to not rely on any type of "Faith".

I've never really been religious though my family comes from a protestant background. By the time I started realizing the difference between reality and fantasy and that a great number of characters I believed were real (Easterbunny/Santa/Etc) were in fact fiction; I saw no difference between Yahweh and any other God concept I previously accepted as mythology. Even though I personally am not convinced by any concept labeled "God" I've encountered, those God concepts do very much play a big role in my life as I'll explain.

I currently work for a Catholic Health organization (Hospitals) so I do still feel better at work concealing my views on the mission statement (which contains the words "the Healing Ministry of Christ") and overt religious emails from chaplains with the "thought of the day", etc. Fortunately, I'm able to take solace in the fact that the organization is wholly devoted to actual evidence based medicine and that I can stand behind.

Also, I'm in a very loving relationship with a Christian for the past 8 years and we have a son together. That may seem strange and I suppose that's one reason I'm currently interested in joining a community. We get along great in most cases, but talking about religion (understandably) is hard. I'd like to get a better handle on how to express what I believe about the cosmos we inhabit without being too harsh. Which I've been accused of. I think that's just because I do feel strongly about this subject and I may get a bit animated. I'd like for our son to grow up knowing what his Dad believes as well.

In any case, I'm glad to be here and am looking forward to meeting more like minded people even if it's only virtual at this point.

[EquALLity]

Hi, welcome!

I'm a bit confused, are you open as an atheist, except with the hospitals?
What do you think of veganism?

[Rev. Noch]

Hi, welcome!

I'm a bit confused, are you open as an atheist, except with the hospitals?
What do you think of veganism?

How open I am depends on who it is I'm talking to and the situation. I'd say that I'm generally honest about my Atheism if someone else brings up the topic away from work; I just don't typically advertise it with people I don't really know. I'd guess this is because of those pesky at work habits.

Most of my friends tend to be self-identifying Atheists or simply don't care about religion. That's likely just by accident as I never have actively joined any Atheist groups. I'll pretty openly talk about it with them, though none seem to be quite as interested in it as I am.

As far as my family goes, that's a little confusing, even to me. I don't think I've ever said that I was Atheist to them directly, but I'm sure they could guess. My parents have never really been openly religious, but my mom is for sure strangely influenced by it. My sister converted to Catholicism when she married her husband and that was a sticking point for my mother for sure. The only reason that I was bothered by it is that I believed my sister was on the same wavelength with me, apparently not. Another example recently, I criticized some obvious BS Religious crap that was on TV, then later that day my mom made some strange comment that "I guess that I failed to raise a good Christian." Strange. I'd like my family at least to be more conscious about critical thinking and I'll talk negatively of idiotic things like "Ancient Aliens" when I see them being sucked into that kind of garbage as well.

While not a vegan or vegetarian myself, I'm certainly sympathetic and have several friends who are.

[brimstoneSalad]

While not a vegan or vegetarian myself, I'm certainly sympathetic and have several friends who are.

What do you mean by sympathetic? That can be taken in two very different ways.

1. That you're sympathetic to the causes of preventing unnecessary animal suffering, and reducing damage to the environment because you're sympathetic to the cause of preventing unnecessary human suffering (due to those who are suffering now from climate change, and the devastation on the horizon).

Or

2. That you're sympathetic to vegans, in the sense of, "Wow that sucks you can't eat that, I'm allergic to peanuts so I know how you feel. Don't worry, I don't hate you for not eating meat."

The latter being quite patronizing. We don't want or need your sympathy for us -- we're just fine, we choose to do this because we care about the points in #1.
Since you said you "have several friends who are", it sounds like you're talking about sympathy for the people who are vegan -- the latter, insulting option.
If, on the other hand, you said "I have had pets and understand that animals feel pain and suffering, and I don't like it" or "I have several friends outside the first world who have been displaced and/or are otherwise suffering from climate change" that would have implied the former.

Just hoping you can clarify.

[Rev. Noch]

I certainly mean the former. I have no intent on being patronizing...

[brimstoneSalad]

I certainly mean the former. I have no intent on being patronizing...

Thanks. Good to hear, just making sure.
You never know on the internet.

[Rev. Noch]

That's one thing that is rather annoying about text, it's frequently difficult to properly convey tone and intent.