The World's Largest Coalition of Nontheists and Nontheist Communities!

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...

1 member likes this

Replies to This Discussion

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.

Permalink Reply by Drew on February 2, 2011 at 12:07pm

Hey everyone!

The link to Atheist Nexus on the sidebar of Friendlyatheist.com has been staring at me for awhile now, and I finally decided to join up today. I grew up and am currently residing in Johnson City, working in a research lab at ETSU. My parents and most of my family are conservative Christians; going to church was part of life for me growing up, but I began to seriously question it towards the end of high school. I quit going to church once I went off to college at Tennessee Tech, and formally acknowledged my lack of belief around that time. It's great to see this group of people in Tennessee and I hope to make some new like-minded friends across the state!

Permalink Reply by Adam on February 10, 2011 at 1:15pm

Hey all! Just joined the group to meet like-minded people. I'm from Northeast Tennessee inside the tri-cities. As your group mentions tennessee is in the bible belt I would have to assume that the tri-cities is the buckle of the belt lol. Only know of a couple people who proclaim in this area.

Permalink Reply by doubtingED on March 27, 2011 at 11:04am

Hey Brad! Just joined to find out what's going on with the TN Atheists. Are you having much participation and activity here? I've found that most Atheist activity here in East TN tends to be very scarce outside of the Knoxville groups. I live in Dandridge.....yes, I'm an island all to myself, as you can imagine. I'm a business development guy who works out of Knoxville & I travel quite a bit. I live on Douglas Lake with my wife and Lab, we are empty nesters & consider it my refuge. I've been a YouTuber for the last several years and invite everyone to come by and visit...YT has a very large Atheist Community. Anyway, hope to make some friends and lend any support that I might be able to lend.

Permalink Reply by Brad Feaker on March 27, 2011 at 11:32am

Hi doubingED,

Most of our activity here in West TN revolves around our meetup groups - we have a free thought and an atheist group that are pretty active. Send me you You Tube channel link so I can check it out. Glad you are here.

Brad

Permalink Reply by Suzann M. on March 31, 2011 at 12:07am

Hi everyone! I'm Suzann, I live in Decherd in Franklin County. I moved to TN from Phoenix AZ about 8 months ago. Talk about culture shock!! WOW! It seems everything around here revolves around church. When I meet people here, one of the first questions I get is, "what church do you go to?". I usually say that I watch Joe Whatshisname on TV, as I work on Sundays. I am a RN at a local hospital, where people's faith really comes out. So I do keep it from my patients when the subject arrisses, they usually got enough to think about with wondering if their non-believing, baby eating, satin worshiping nurse is going to kill them. I don't hide it from the other nurses though. Most of them are educated enough to not judge. Just like I don't them. I figure what ever gets you through your life, go for it, just don't push it on me or my kids. Amazingly my 14 yr old knows more atheist than I do! Anywho, it would be nice to some day sit down with like minded people and have an intelligent conversation, without being told about the hell I am apparently going to.

Permalink Reply by World Walker on March 17, 2012 at 8:31pm

Hey everybody, I'll be moving to Nashville this summer.

I once had a car burst into flames in a parking lot after a trip I took to an atheist rally.

Permalink Reply by Chuck in TN on March 17, 2012 at 10:42pm

You really should know better than to try and park in a church parking lot. LOL!

Welcome WW.

Permalink Reply by Bets on April 1, 2012 at 11:54pm

Me and my family have been living near Cookeville, TN for the last 4 years. It is saturated with churches and religion. My children's school has a huge white bible predominately displayed in their lobby. When asked, they claim it has historical value and 'deters the devil'. I have two sons--ages 16 & 8--that attend this school (and they still spank which blows my mind). I actually witnessed a man dragging a cross down Hwy 111 with a bunch of brightly colored signs stuck to it a couple of years ago.

Permalink Reply by jimp1947 on May 16, 2012 at 10:09pm

Any atheist/freethinkers in Clarksville, TN want to have a get together? I've been an atheist since my teens, but have only recently felt the urge to seek out my fellow non-believers. I have lived in Clarksville since 1972 and find the religious atmosphere here really repressive. I'd dearly love to be able to sit down and chat with others of like mind and maybe have a few laughs together.

I'm a retired systems administrator who is a lifelong geek -- I love science and speculating about the future, have been a scifi fan since my teens. Let's get together!