Fellow Atheists/Agnostic Atheists - Let's Chat: Do you feel it is risky being "out" these days?

I don't believe in superheroes either.

Reminds me of when I discovered (via the preacher) at my grandfather's funeral that the casket is supposed to have the head of the body at a certain cardinal direction (west? east? depends on where you are probably) so that when Jesus comes back and does his necromancy thing everyone will rise facing the proper direction. I'm not sure why he couldn't just do that as part of his magic if it matters so much but rules are rules I guess.

Just for the record, there are lots of people who believe the bible that think things like purgatory, the rosary, and burial direction are not correct, and are only religious tradition.

NSMike wrote:

I have seriously considered either burial at sea or donating my body to science.

Green burial for me. Wrap me in cloth and put me in the ground to decompose. I'll count on my memory, my carbon and nitrogen, and my GWJ posts for any desired immortality.

Gravey wrote:
NSMike wrote:

I have seriously considered either burial at sea or donating my body to science.

Green burial for me. Wrap me in cloth and put me in the ground to decompose. I'll count on my memory, my carbon and nitrogen, and my GWJ posts for any desired immortality.

Also your Steam library.

McIrishJihad wrote:
Gravey wrote:
NSMike wrote:

I have seriously considered either burial at sea or donating my body to science.

Green burial for me. Wrap me in cloth and put me in the ground to decompose. I'll count on my memory, my carbon and nitrogen, and my GWJ posts for any desired immortality.

Also your Steam library.

And my Forza 5 Drivatar, forever racing in the cloud in a manner compiled from statistical probabilities gleaned from my life (or at least that part of my life relevant to Forza 5) (probably quite a bit of it).

Well, if I die before the Xbox Two comes out anyway.

mudbunny wrote:
NSMike wrote:

donating my body to science.

My wife knows that she is to eat anything and everything that she can of my organs, and the rest gets donated to science.

Fixed for proper translation from the original Canadian.

As an occultist and gamer, I think the whole thing is pretty groovy. Additional ritual participants gives a greater bonus for the soul to get past the guardian of the halls of the dead. Further bonuses for spell foci.

Gravey wrote:
McIrishJihad wrote:
Gravey wrote:
NSMike wrote:

I have seriously considered either burial at sea or donating my body to science.

Green burial for me. Wrap me in cloth and put me in the ground to decompose. I'll count on my memory, my carbon and nitrogen, and my GWJ posts for any desired immortality.

Also your Steam library.

And my Forza 5 Drivatar, forever racing in the cloud in a manner compiled from statistical probabilities gleaned from my life (or at least that part of my life relevant to Forza 5) (probably quite a bit of it).

Well, if I die before the Xbox Two comes out anyway.

I've always admired your optimism, Gravey.

I know there's no way in hell it would ever actually happen, but I've always said that I want to be cooked & served at my wake.

Should this have its own thread or is there maybe somewhere better for it already existing that I've overlooked?

CA-Bill-131 being fought by catholic church

The proposed law would lift the statute of limitations for one year for the group of alleged victims who were 26 and older and missed the previous deadline.
H.P. Lovesauce wrote:
mudbunny wrote:
NSMike wrote:

donating my body to science.

My wife knows that she is to eat with maple syrup anything and everything that she can of my organs, and the rest gets donated to science.

Fixed for proper translation from the original Canadian.

That is a bit more accurate.

I want one of those fancy tibettan sky burials.

ruhk wrote:

I know there's no way in hell it would ever actually happen, but I've always said that I want to be cooked & served at my wake.

ruhk wrote:

I know there's no way in hell it would ever actually happen, but I've always said that I want to be cooked & served at my wake.

Probably that's the only place it would happen.

I'm openly Pagan but my younger brother and his wife are Atheists. I can tell you he has no problems being open about it, but he lives in Kansas City. He states it comes down to being reasonable and letting people know he doesn't care what their faith is but he respects it. He just chooses to believe in facts and science.

I mainly wanted to share the reality of my family life. I am an openly Pagan, my younger brother is Atheist, and my older brother is Evangelical Christian. Imagine how giving grace goes when it comes to Thanksgiving dinner.

"Good food, good meat, good gawd let's eat!"

"Dear lord, you didn't provide any of this food, so get bent!"

(Paraphrased from Bart Simpson)

IMAGE(https://upworthy-production.s3.amazonaws.com/nugget/4fbaaf66f846d100030005e6/attachments/thanks-jesus-for-this-food-de-nada.jpeg)

Anyone heard about this UT-Chattanooga study recently? Classifies atheists into 6 general categories: Intellectual Atheist, Activist, Seeker, Anti-Theist, Non-Theist and Ritual Atheist. I don't think it's all that surprising if you're an atheist who knows a lot of other atheists, but it seems to be making a stir among more religious types. Maybe the more interesting thing about this is that there as a group, atheists make up 20% of the US population, and there are so few studies like this trying to understand who they/we are.

study results:
http://www.atheismresearch.com/

shorter summary:
http://www.salon.com/2013/07/13/poll...

I'd definitely put myself in the Intellectual Atheist group. I'd like to be more of an activist, but I don't like to confront people. That said, I won't shy away from discussion if someone else brings it up.

I fit into the anti-theist category up until a couple of years ago when I switched jobs and wasn't constantly being attacked by religious coworkers. Moving to a more liberal area also helped. I think now I'm somewhere between intellectual atheist and activist, more so because of the social and humanist aspects listed than anything else, though.

I would put myself in the Activist group, maybe the Intellectual group. I definitely don't seek out theists to tell them they're wrong, but if I get confronted by one, I'm going to put them in their place. I think most theists would see that as me being an anti-theist and seeking out a confrontation, not realizing that they are the ones initiating the confrontation by espousing a theist position.

I used to have a lot more of the brimstone and hellfire in me, but after I left college, I realized that assholes are assholes, regardless of their creed, and that I was being one by being so vehemently anti-theist.

Nowadays, I definitely vacillate between Intellectual Atheist and Activist, depending on the situation. Though on Passover, I'm definitely a Ritual Atheist.

That girl with the sign is going to Hell...

...for using Comic Sans.

I looked around and figured this was the best place to get feedback on my current situation. My wife randomly brought up the afterlife the other night and how I would explain it to my daughter's. 1.5 and 6 months old. This brought up my agnostic /atheist beliefs and i basically came out as atheist. Previously I was more agnostic and felt there was a greater power of some sort but really I feel that there is no great source or god to speak of. This wasn't really the way I wanted to breach the subject but it is done. Now she feels Betrayed and thinks that I'm taking something away from our family. I have always stated that no matter my beliefs that I would respect hers and allow her to share them with our girls. Now though that I have stated I don't believe and look more towards logic and science she feels I will take God away from our girls. I'm feel so hurt that she isn't willing to listen or try to understand my ideals and is calling me selfish saying that because I don't have God, I must think everything I have is o nly because of me. I'm worried that she won't accept my new "lack of faith" as she calls it. I'm worried that my marriage is now done and I will not get to see my girls every day. I hope she can come to accept and respect my right to have my own beliefs and ti share them with my girls. I know that if she can't it is better for us and my kids that we do separate but it is not what even remotely want. Just typing that almost made me lose it at my desk. This was not the reaction I was expecting g at all.

Ok, well, this is a heavy subject, but the first thing I would do is most definitely NOT approach this as a marriage-ender. I wouldn't even broach the idea, and if she does, tell her that it doesn't have to be. Because it really doesn't, unless either one of you makes it one. That is, if you determine that you can't be with a believer (which I gather you haven't reached that point), or she determines that she can't be with a non-believer.

How did you present yourself before? As a full-on believer? If so, I can see why she feels betrayed, but I gather she she knew that your thoughts were someone more geared towards agnostic theism based on the fact that she even bothered asking.

I know you're scared, and the first reflex may be to be intimidated back into the "closet" so-to-speak, but this can be repaired, although with effort on both of your parts. For one, she feels like the trust has been breached, and is saying a whole bunch of things in what is, in effect, a temper tantrum. She's hoping to get you to back off from this position by making broad, upsetting claims that may or may not have any real basis in her true feelings. My father did the same thing when I brought up my atheism. He told me that I could no longer be his son, and then yelled at me, "How can I stand up there next to the body of Christ with an atheist son!" (Catholic family - oy.) It took him all of ten minutes alone, after walking away, to come back and, not only recant on that statement, but flat out deny he ever said it in the first place (my mother corroborated that he, in fact, had said such a thing).

If the fires of that first confrontation are still burning a little, I'd say approach her with a proposal that maybe you both need calmer heads to discuss it, as hearing her responses were pretty upsetting in their own right, and your thoughts on the matter were never meant to betray her, and you didn't arrive at these conclusions to attack her.

I don't know your wife, (or you very well beyond your forum posts), so I can't say exactly what your next step should be, but the first thing you should both do is come to a calmer place and help her realize that the "broken trust" or "betrayal" (if it can even be called such, because, really, when your thoughts come to conclusions and your convictions change, it really is quite a bit beyond your control in the first place), and your delay in telling her how you felt was not out of malice, but out of a combination of coming to terms with it yourself, and fear of her reaction.

If she's at all reasonable and amenable to discussion, this should be a good jumping-off point for starting to understand one another. Your relationship will change, but it doesn't have to end, and deciding how everything should be after one heated confrontation is only going to hurt both of you. This is the best advice I have.

"It was just a test of your faith, honey. And guess what? YOU PASSED."

I'll just +1 everything NSMike said; that was an awesome post.

I have nothing to say other than I hope it is something you both can work through with honest conversation. Is this the first time you both have had a real conversation on faith, the afterlife, and other matters of religion or mysticism?

Personally, I cannot fathom the theological divide some people experience. Typically my Muslim and Protestant friends cannot and would not marry outside of their faith; even that they might be disowned by their families for even openly dating outside of the faith. I know Catholics and Jewish families that raise their children in both faiths-attending church and synagogue as a family, receiving sacraments and Bar/Botmitzvas. I know Pagans with Christian spouses. Hell, my aunt in Chicago is not of any christian denomination but was actively Wicca and her husband is the son of a Baptist minister.

Then again, not having a deep faith belief has been a requisite of mine for a mate for a long time, and my wife and I are very happy to have found non-believing spouses. And I ended up breaking it off with my girlfriend before my wife when her belief in ghosts, spirits, and crystal power set my teeth grinding.

So I will never quite get why this can become such a dividing line.

Thanks for the post NS Mike. I am going to give her time to think, cool down, and hopefully be ready to talk. She is the one who stated that she doesn't know if she can be in a marriage without God. It is frustrating because I feel sue has gotten much more religious as I have moved in the opposite direction. I hope that she can come to terms and realize that I am not out to poison our children s minds and just want respect for how I feel.