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Introductions - tell us about yourself!

I find that open atheism is hard to find in my neck of the woods. Introduce yourself and tell us something funny about your experience...

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by jim jones on May 19, 2010 at 5:23pm

i love wal-mart, and am there with my wife and kids, nearly every week..

Permalink Reply by Chuck in TN on August 8, 2009 at 12:40pm

Hello there Jacob, Gwen and Joshua. I'm not very active on the Nexus, but I really like knowing there are others who share my world view that are in relatively close proximity.

Permalink Reply by Joshua James on August 11, 2009 at 4:54am

Speaking of libraries and book stores, I'm considering beginning a bit of a grassroots campaign in my community to stock more books with an atheist or non theist point of view. You can borrow a copy of the King James Bible at my town library, as well as hateful right wing propaganda by the likes of Ann Coulter or Glenn Beck, but you can't find a copy of the God Delusion or even Breaking the Spell.

Permalink Reply by jim jones on May 19, 2010 at 5:24pm

by the way, are you a ninja?

Permalink Reply by Bets on October 17, 2009 at 9:55am

I live in Livingston, TN which is not too far from Cookeville. I have to say that I'm pretty floored that there are so many of us in the area. I'm not exactly silent about my views (some say I'm pretty opinionated) and am constantly on the lookout for the lynching brigade. I am in college, have a hubby & two kids (all hold same beliefs) and a cat that holds the belief that he's the ruler of the house.

Permalink Reply by Joshua James on October 27, 2009 at 5:16am

You and your family are probably right about there being no god, but your cat is absolutely correct. Everyone knows what the cat is always the head of the house.

Permalink Reply by jim jones on May 19, 2010 at 5:22pm

well, my story, i was a pentecostal preacher from the day i turned 18, i fought the good fight, and kept the faith. but when i was studding to become ordained, i found somethings in the bible that didn't match up to my own morals, or logical thinking. the more i read and thought the more i decided it was Satan tempting me. so i decided to show my self just how right i was, so i logged onto youtube. i watched every atheist thing i could get my hands on, and the more i watched the more it made sense, and the less the bible seemed true. looking back now it's hard to believe, that i was a believer. i have read god is not great, by Christopher hitchens, godless, by Dan barker, the god delusion, and am currently reading the greatest show on earth, by Richard dawkings. looking back i no longer don't believe, i believe it's harmful, and dangerous. i don't believe jesus ever existed, and i think man made religion to justify their actions and control the masses.

my name is not jim jones, but i don't want anyone to ever forget. i was born and raised in Carthage Tn. and now live in brush creek tn. from my house I can walk to 5 different churches in less than a minute, and as it's been said, the library near here, you can check out a bible, but can't get anything on non-theism. as a former fundamentalist, i had a detox period, but i still know where they are coming from. i would actually love to meet someone near home, that understands it, and i'm very pleased to see so many people on here from Tennessee..

Permalink Reply by Diane Sutton on May 22, 2010 at 12:27am

You should read Atheist Universe by David Mills. It is the best book I have ever read.

Permalink Reply by Kellesta Jones on May 26, 2010 at 8:32pm

I've been living in Tn for 4 years June. 18th... I moved back with my husband, I've always been an atheist, and becoming apart of his family made me realize I've always been right. Being around Christians showed me how right I was. Anyways, I live in Brush Creek, Smith County. I am married to Jim Jones, and we have two beautiful daughters. We also live with two cats who are insane. I'm planning on going to college for Forensic Photography (Crime Scenes), I love the idea of bringing justice while doing what I love. But I can say, thanks to seeing my husbands family in and outside of church, I'm proud to say I've always been an atheist and will keep being one. In my eyes, he does no good, there is no God...

Permalink Reply by Alixanderia Egbert on June 29, 2010 at 9:09pm

Hey, everyone. I'm Alix, and I'm a resident of Soddy Daisy, but born in North GA and a former resident of Red Bank. I'm a not-so-proud member of Soddy Daisy, in which 98% of people are absolutely in-your-face religious nuts. I'm constantly defending myself, both verbally AND physically, from my school mates, but I will never hide my belief. Right now, my current project is to get school-led prayer OUT of my school's graduation so that I can have a peaceful graduation. So far, I have no one to support me, not even my parents. My family is made of very die-hard Christians. I became an atheist when I was seven, but I'm not sure why it was so early for me.

Anyway, I'm graduating in December and hoping to move to UTM's campus for college, where I'd like to major in International Studies with a minor in German.

Permalink Reply by Cody Gaisser on January 25, 2011 at 8:45pm

Bravo! Wish I had been smart enough to come to my senses that young and to try and make a difference in my Christianity-biased public school.

Permalink Reply by Cody Gaisser on January 25, 2011 at 8:42pm

Greets!

I'm a musician in Nashville. I'm originally from Muscle Shoals, Alabama, where I was raised in the Church of Christ. The very conservative anti-science thinking screwed up my worldview for a long time. I still have a major guilt complex from it. I stopped attending church around 17 or 18, but it took me until I was 22 to realize that there was no magic being in the sky looking out for me, that I should have paid more attention in science classes, that people who didn't follow the Bible to the letter were not in danger of burning in a lake of fire (and thus were not in need of "saving"), and that I had probably been behaving very ridiculously for my entire life but had not been self-aware enough to realize it. It's been kind of awkward transitioning. I tried being "agnostic" for a while, but with a little help from Richard Dawkins I realized that I was really just an atheist. Or rather I just don't believe. Calling myself an atheist implies that I'm a member of some kind of group that is lumped together because of what the members refuse to believe rather than what they do. I kind of don't like the idea, but I do think that due to the state of things in this culture (U.S.A./Bible Belt) it has become important for atheists to find each other, discuss ideas, and "come out" so that we can no longer be marginalized. I realize it's a long time coming because God is such a taboo, but there are so many nonbelievers out there who are either terrified that they'll be punished with hell, terrified of the social repercussions, or maybe they're just a couple of science lessons away from realizing the difference between fact and... nonsense. I'm ready to learn more and try and make a difference.

Hope I meet some interesting people here!

I'm a musician in the Nashville area.