Hello...Is it me your looking for
Today I would like to talk about living in the Bible Belt and what it is like for a non-religious person like myself. Yep, that's it, I said non-religious. As most folks that know anything about my personal life are aware, I am an atheist. I do not believe in the existence of a Supreme being. I am relatively open about it once a particular person has gained my confidence, however, I do not go and spout it from the highest mountaintop. The reason (and I hate to say this) is fear. I would fear for my safety if I were to exclaim my non-belief to the rest of the Bible Belt population. There are some real nuts that live in these parts. A revelation that I discovered in the state constitution of Mississippi states that a person who denies the existence of a Supreme Being cannot hold public office. How ridiculous is that. To suggest that somebody who does not believe in god is unfit to govern. I guess I will just declare my faith in the Flying Spaghetti Monster and that I am touched by his noodly appendage daily. This belief is just as absurd as the belief in Jesus, Allah, Yahweh, Zeus, Odin or any other so-called supreme being. So I can have freedom of religion, but not freedom from religion.
It is hard living in the evangelical south. I only personally know three other people who are like me, and every human being is ingrained with a sense of belonging to a group and religion is a way to satisfy that biological urge. But what do atheists do when there are no others around. It can get extremely lonely sometimes. There is the fear that revealing you non-belief may have detrimental consequences to you personally and professionally. If you have a superior who is devoutly religious, and this superior is aware of your non-belief, you, as an atheist, are intrinsically at a disadvantage. How do you reconcile the need to be true to one self and man's self-preservation mechanism? I have not come up with an answer. If any readers have one please share it.
Now that we have touched on the professional life, let us discuss the personal life of a Bible Belt Atheist. I was raised in a Christian household and still considered myself a Christian up until around 20 years old. Then I went through a phase of agnosticism and finally the natural progression towards atheism. I know just as much about the Bible than basically any other person who was raised in a household like mine, two parents, two kids, cat and dog. You know the model American home. I probably did not openly declare my atheism until around 2004, and I still do not like to do it because it inevitably starts a religious discussion with the opposing party trying to convert me and refusing to listen to science and just go on "faith." Well faith just does not hold any water to me. Then if you are open about you risk potentially ostracizing your friends and family. Luckily, I am blessed with relatively tolerant friends who accept me for who I am.
Probably the hardest part about being a Bible Belt Atheist is dating. One finding a like-minded female is akin to finding a needle in a haystack. When you are dating a Christian, or are attracted to a Christian how do you tell them of your non-belief. You could forseeably lie about it and go through the motions of religion your whole life and find your "soul mate". But that is not for me. I cannot keep by non-belief bottled up. At some point in the relationship it would become apparently obvious even if I never told the significant other. And let me tell you something, there is no worse feeling than being told that "I would love to be involved with you and explore our future together, but you are an atheist, so I can't." Or something like that by someone that you could really see yourself with. That is the way the cookie crumbles I suppose.
It would be so easy to were the facade of religiosity, but I just cannot do it. As William Shakespeare so eloquently stated in Hamlet "To thine own self be true." It has never been said better and never will be.
So I guess...All hail the Flying Spaghetti Monster and his Noodly Appendage!
It is hard living in the evangelical south. I only personally know three other people who are like me, and every human being is ingrained with a sense of belonging to a group and religion is a way to satisfy that biological urge. But what do atheists do when there are no others around. It can get extremely lonely sometimes. There is the fear that revealing you non-belief may have detrimental consequences to you personally and professionally. If you have a superior who is devoutly religious, and this superior is aware of your non-belief, you, as an atheist, are intrinsically at a disadvantage. How do you reconcile the need to be true to one self and man's self-preservation mechanism? I have not come up with an answer. If any readers have one please share it.
Now that we have touched on the professional life, let us discuss the personal life of a Bible Belt Atheist. I was raised in a Christian household and still considered myself a Christian up until around 20 years old. Then I went through a phase of agnosticism and finally the natural progression towards atheism. I know just as much about the Bible than basically any other person who was raised in a household like mine, two parents, two kids, cat and dog. You know the model American home. I probably did not openly declare my atheism until around 2004, and I still do not like to do it because it inevitably starts a religious discussion with the opposing party trying to convert me and refusing to listen to science and just go on "faith." Well faith just does not hold any water to me. Then if you are open about you risk potentially ostracizing your friends and family. Luckily, I am blessed with relatively tolerant friends who accept me for who I am.
Probably the hardest part about being a Bible Belt Atheist is dating. One finding a like-minded female is akin to finding a needle in a haystack. When you are dating a Christian, or are attracted to a Christian how do you tell them of your non-belief. You could forseeably lie about it and go through the motions of religion your whole life and find your "soul mate". But that is not for me. I cannot keep by non-belief bottled up. At some point in the relationship it would become apparently obvious even if I never told the significant other. And let me tell you something, there is no worse feeling than being told that "I would love to be involved with you and explore our future together, but you are an atheist, so I can't." Or something like that by someone that you could really see yourself with. That is the way the cookie crumbles I suppose.
It would be so easy to were the facade of religiosity, but I just cannot do it. As William Shakespeare so eloquently stated in Hamlet "To thine own self be true." It has never been said better and never will be.
So I guess...All hail the Flying Spaghetti Monster and his Noodly Appendage!
posted by umrebel @ 3:25 PM
8 Comments:
At 8:42 PM,
KayJayPea said…
Jumped right on outta the chute and into the arena with a big ol' bucker, didn't you?
Good post, though, really... However, this one requires some thinking before a proper response can be assembled. Thank You. ;)
At 1:32 PM,
Dealer said…
Part of your problem may be making comments like "This belief is just as absurd as the belief in Jesus, Allah, Yahweh, Zeus, Odin or any other so-called supreme being". Or that it is a "natural progression" to become atheist. Talking down to others or insulting them will only push them farther away from you, be it professional or personal.
And remember, when someone (for me, Christian speaking) religious tries to "convert" you, they are normally doing it because they care about you. They are trying to share that which is most important to them, that which brings them the most peace and joy.
At 10:26 AM,
umrebel said…
dealer: why should I have to respect sombody's elses belief if they do not respect mine. Why is it taboo to talk down about religion considering all the death and destruction that has been done in its name for thousands of years, yet people talk bad about atheism with no problem, but the minute that you talk about somebody's so called belief then it is conidered bad. My non-belief is just as important to me as your belief is important to you.
At 3:37 PM,
Dealer said…
First, I don't understand how Non Belief is important to you. I don't believe in Aliens, but that isn't important to me in any way. I don't care if someone else believes in it, and I wouldn't care if someone else insulted my non belief. I’m not saying it isn’t important, you will just have to explain to me why it is…….
Second, nobody is arguing that Christianity or any other religion has been perfect. The beauty if Christianity is that through Grace, not your actions, you can be saved. But you original post was about being looked at badly cause you don't believe, and I am saying it isn't your non-belief so much as your belief that you are smarter because you don't believe that causes the alienation. Arguing the flaws of religion is a different thing than calling it absurd.
And last (I know you are glad its over), two wrongs don't make a right. Somebody insulting your non-belief is no better than you insulting my belief. So next time some "religious" person insults your none belief, be the better man, understand that is their flaw not yours (God gave us free will to choose to have faith in him or not so they have no right to say anything) and just tell them you respect their beliefs regardless of if they respect yours.
At 11:49 AM,
Anonymous said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
At 12:01 PM,
Anonymous said…
With all due respect, dealer, if you were a non-believer and had had religion forced on you at every turn--through prayer in school as a child all the way up to adulthood where every meeting of public officials or business leaders is opened by a prayer—you would understand why non-belief is important to people like umrebel. You cannot fathom how demoralizing it is to have society’s decision-makers publicly making pleas to an imaginary entity to give them (and, it is implied, all of the people in attendance) strength, wisdom, special consideration, etc. No rational person is comfortable having government issues addressed by individuals who think a god is giving them instructions that only they can hear. (Today, there are people within the national levels of U.S. government who refuse address the issue of global warming because they “know” that “God” won’t let it happen.)
You said “I am saying it isn't your non-belief so much as your belief that you are smarter because you don't believe that causes the alienation”. I disagree with that assessment. Atheists are the most hated “belief” group on the planet. They have been used as a target by the pulpit for ages and continue to be used. At every turn, the promoters of religion cast disparaging remarks about non-believers and attribute all types of evils and aberrant behavior to them.
Finally, the concept of “God” is used to explain the things that we, as individuals, can’t explain. (Native Americans performed “rain dances” to the gods to try to influence the weather, because, obviously, they didn’t understand how weather “works”. Yet, today we see their actions as being based in ignorance. And their gods were just as real to them as yours is to you.) Because the number of things we don’t understand is larger the less educated we are, there is more need for a blanket explanation of those things we don’t understand. Thus, the more educated a person is, the fewer things in life they can’t understand, and it follows that they are less likely to use the “blanket” of religion to explain things. In support of this statement, I offer the results of the following studies:
Belief in a personal God among scientists
In one study, 90% of the general population surveyed professed a distinct belief in a personal god and afterlife, while only 40% of the scientists with a BS (Bachelor of Science) surveyed did so, and only 10% of those considered "eminent."[1]. Another study found that mathematicians were just over 40%, biologists just under 30%, and physicists were barely over 20% likely to believe in God.[2]
A 1998 survey[3] by Larson and Witham of the 517 members of the United States National Academy of Sciences showed that 72.2% of the members expressed "personal disbelief" in a personal God while 20.8% expressed "doubt or agnosticism" and only 7.0% expressed "personal belief".
It’s not that upper-echelon scientists “think they’re so smart” that they don’t need God. It just that, the more they apply rational thought to search for answers, the less likely they are to rely on superstition for answers.
At 1:29 PM,
Dealer said…
Your reply, player two, goes further to prove my point. Within those few paragraphs, you called my belief in God (he being your “imaginary entity”) ignorance and superstition. If you look over my comments you will realize that I have not once called your non-belief naïve, ignorant, stupid, or any other derogatory term. Furthermore, my comment about using non-belief to feel smarter was not directed at all atheists, it was directed at UMRebel.
Again I will point out that “religion” is not perfect. The Churches, our government, and other organizations are made up of human beings and I know how many mistakes I make daily, so……………………..
If others have insulted, persecuted, or done anything else they should not have to atheists in the name of God, then let me apologize for them. As Christians (I can’t speak for other religions), we have failed far more times than we have succeeded. We are men, and men fail.
And last, the fact that those who were raised, educated, and trained to believe in only what they can see, hold, prove, or explain don’t believe in something that requires faith, proves no point at all. They are not the only intelligent people in our time. What about poets? Business men? Priests? Lawyers? I truly believe it is harder to accept that you are not in control, that there are many things in life you can’t explain, than it is to try and control all of it by naming or proving it.
At 2:26 PM,
KayJayPea said…
You just took the words out of my mouth with your last paragraph, dealer -- very well-stated: "...the fact that those who were raised, educated, and trained to believe in only what they can see, hold, prove, or explain don’t believe in something that requires faith, proves no point at all... I truly believe it is harder to accept that you are not in control, that there are many things in life you can’t explain, than it is to try and control all of it by naming or proving it."
I am a Christian. However, that does not mean that I automatically use God as my "blanket" explanation for things I do not understand (to insinuate such is actually just as narrow-minded in scope as the way you felt about those who were forcing religion down your throat). I am also well-educated with a liberal arts education, and yet I STILL believe in God (gasp!). It saddens me to see people use the argument of science to explain away any existence of God as it takes the power of FAITH out of the equation, a concept that is admittedly beyond our human and worldly perceptions. And faith is a very, very powerful thing.
(Sorry, but as a "believer", I simply cannot sit quietly, in good conscience, without at least throwing my two cents in...) Understand that in no way do I mean this to be derogatory or to pass judgement against your "belief" (or lack thereof), though I do not agree with it at all. It really does just make me sad.
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