I'm Patrick, I'm 22 I'm a wildland firefighter in enterprise Oregon which is about as podunk and redneck as they come. I studied civil engineering for three years at Oregon State University when I decided I didn't want a desk job so now I'm livin' the dream getting paid to play in the woods. I'm pretty sure I may be the only atheist within hundreds of miles but who knows. I was raised Christian and through college I explored numerous ways to "deepen" my faith but all the while things started making less and less sense. Bill Maher was the undoing for me I watched Religulous as a Christian then when it was over I guess you could call it a snowball situation. I seem to be in some similar pickles to a lot of atheists with the whole coming out to christian parents, friends and family. I thought it may have been lonely being atheist and for now it still kinda is. I do miss the social aspect that church has. But the more I learn the more I'm realizing I'm not alone and that atheists clearly aren't the devil worshipers I was raised to believe they were.