Greetings and Salutations :)

[AnunZi]

Hi all

I want to start by giving my reasons for being here.
I'm a bit of a nerd. Ok, a lot of a nerd. I read various forums and spend many a happy hour clicking through demotivatedphotos.com. Now one thing that jumps out at me is the amount of bigotry and hatred that is spewed by Fundies on the internets these days. Its seems that any post about atheism is just jumped on by these nutters!

I come from England. Atheism has more or less become the norm here. Out of all the people I know, the people I work with, family members and online buddies I know 3 religious people, 2 Christian and 1 Muslim. Those 3 people NEVER mention their religious beliefs and NEVER try and convince others that their views are correct. In the same way nobody tells them they are wrong in what they believe.

It makes me feel nothing but pity for fellow Atheists from America. It seems as though you guys and girls must be surrounded and bombarded by this religious shite day in, day out. What’s that like? Can you openly announce that you are Atheist without fear of recrimination? Do you think public officials (governors, sheriffs ect ect) could announce that there are Atheists and still be effective in their chosen career?

[Edwardo Piet]

Welcome to the forums.

I myself am also from the UK, and an atheist.

Many other atheists here are from the UK or other parts of Europe. And there are also atheists from Australia, New Zealand, etc, from all over. Although there are plenty of American atheists here too. So I'll let them speak for themselves on the matter.

[darkwolf176]

Welcome
I'm also from the UK!

[Ace Otana]

Welcome aboard.
I'm also from the UK. There are many of us and fellow Europeans here. There are plenty of Americans around.

[Tiberius]

Do you think public officials (governors, sheriffs ect ect) could announce that there are Atheists and still be effective in their chosen career?

Do you think England will ever get around to removing all the state religion stuff? Seriously, yes atheism has become kinda the norm here, but it has a long way to go before we can start seeing real secularism in action.

Anyway, welcome to the forums.

[AnunZi]

Do you think England will ever get around to removing all the state religion stuff? Seriously, yes atheism has become kinda the norm here, but it has a long way to go before we can start seeing real secularism in action.

Anyway, welcome to the forums.

I agree religion is still here, much to my dismay. However, do you admit that being an atheist in England is accepted? Alot of people here simply dont care about religion.

Hence my question, all the evidence i have seen on the various intertubes pages i frequent points to it NOT being an accepted stance in the USA. Or at least not as accepted as it is in the UK...

Thanks for the warm welcome

[Darwinian]

I'm pretty glad that England is basically an atheist (and apathetic theist) country. I'm not sure what it would be like in the heart of multi-cultural London, Manchester, Birmingham etc. but certainly here is the suburbs and the towns it's secular.

I have a nice collection of atheist t-shirts and wear them most of the time and so far, all the comments I've had have been positive and in agreement. In fact, just this morning I was sorting out my tax at the P.O. and the lady behind the counter read my 'There's probably no God' t-shirt out load and then promptly started giving me her theory on who Jesus really was, just a man who did a few good things

I couldn't imagine living somewhere like the bible belt in the U.S. and being harassed by a bunch of happy clappy, God fearing theists. Secularism is hopefully one area where the U.S. will catch up with us.

Anyway, welcome along and hope you have many happy debates.

[Paul the Human]

Hi, AnunZi. Welcome to the forums. I'm an American atheist and you are right in assuming that it is not a socially acceptable position in most places... certainly not where I live (Michigan). I am 'out of the closet' about it, but I still have to keep my views to myself in most company in order to avoid arguments and oppression. Luckily, my wife is also an atheist and my theist friends are pretty accepting of it (for the most part).

If the 'Religious Right' in this country attains too much more power over here, I may end up hopping across the pond myself.

[Nitsuj]

Welcome. I live in the U.S. It's pretty bad. You tell somebody you're an atheist, they will stare at you open-mouthed and try to convert you. I've never been to the U.K., but it seems a lot better. As a matter of fact, I am moving to a very Catholic town, where 95% of the residents go to church regularly. I'm serious, I read it in the town's newspaper. That's how stupid they are. Anyway, welcome.

[AnunZi]

Just as I feared

I feel for you guys. I really do, the concept of being essentially persecuted for your beliefs is just wrong on the most fundamental level.
The thing I have real difficulty understanding is this… Is religious freedom not part of the American Constitution? I thought that was kind of the point…. Escape from the religious persecution that was rampant in Europe at that time. It seems that most of the stuff I read coming from the US seems to have turned this on its head, “f you’re not Christian you’re not American” sort of situation seems to be developing over there.

Anyway, this discussion is probably better off in its own thread, if there isn’t one already!

Thanks for answering my questions and thanks again for the warm welcome