17 year old Atheist living in Borger, Texas, just to give you a little background, a town with 3 churches in a 2 block radius of the High school, and many many many more churches in the town. Both of my parents are Christians, and know of my atheism, and have accepted it for the most part, even though they still think it is a phase, even though it has lasted from when I was around 14 and has just grown stronger with each year.
Ok, so last year I moved with my family in the the Texas Panhandle, a place smack dab in the middle of the bible belt. Before this, we had lived in the Austin region (just south of Austin in a little town called Bastrop to be specific). So, the move was a big change. I have always lived with a principle of honesty, so when people here asked me what my religion was, as of course they would, I always answer that I am an atheist. In refusing to lie about who I am, I've actually inspired about 10-20 other kids in the school to be honest about their atheism, and I've created a small group of sorts. Now, I'm always careful that I don't mention the atheism thing around my parents work because I know for certain that it would have adverse affects. I've had people show up at my house to talk to me, and once me and some of my atheist friends invited over some Mormons to talk(we each got a free book of Mormon out of it, yayyy). I have been threatened with violence on a couple of occasions, but luckily, they backed off when I stood up for myself.
My mother was actually afraid when I signed up for Atheist Nexus. I'm not completely sure, but I'm pretty sure that she thinks I worship demons.
So mostly, I just wanted to hear the experiences of other people living as an Atheist in the Bible belt. I know my experiences are relatively good, compared to some of the horror stories I hear from other people. So yeah.... Please share
Mahalo
(I've found that saying good-bye in Hawaiian is the most innocuous parting statement I've found... Getting rid of the whole "God be with you" associated with Good-Bye... ok, I really should wrap it up now...)