Newbie

[downbeatplumb]

Oh she likes Robert Downey Junior! I thought she was saying she had a bit of stubble.

[Whateverist]

What a charming intro! I'm proud to have claimed your reputation cherry .. yes I give out on the first post, sometimes. That doesn't make me easy, mind you.

I cannot directly relate to what you're going through as I was through with religion before I left elementary school. I can only imagine how deep it gets if you carry it into adulthood. New gang members are sometimes required to kill someone. I think proselytizing as an adult probably serves the same function, in terms of making it harder to leave.

Your writing is wonderful enough to make me think I can imagine what that must be like. I appreciate how open you are about how you cope with feelings and habitual thoughts that continue to emerge even though intellectually you've made the leap. (I think that goes to show there is more to us than intellect.) I'm rooting for you to make it all the way to the other side with all your dimensions -feelings, emotions, thoughts- in tact and in agreement.

[Annik]

Welcome-welcome.

[Jackalope]

Welcome!

[Epimethean]

"I also met a really nice man the other day and we were hitting it off great, until he asked me if I was a Christian. When I said no, the awkwardness was heavy. That's the first time that it hit me that this could be a real problem in the dating area. Would I want to date a Christian? Would a Christian want to date me? And even more so, what is the percentage of single atheist guys out there anyway?"

Welcome. The questions you ask above are common, and you will find that, on the dating scene, christianity rears its ugly head rather often. I wouldn't say that you absolutely should not date a christian, but doing so should take into account the differences in perspective and if there was already an awkwardness to your conversation initially due to you being upfront about atheism, I'd say that is one to let go. If religious beliefs are strong enough for someone to muck up getting to know someone he finds attractive and charming, they are cause for alarm.

[downeygirl]

Thanks all for the welcome - And yeah, I adore Robert Downey Jr. - I have had a huge crush on the man since I was a child. And he gets more hot as he ages.

About the running around naked thing - where do I sign up?

And also - you guys are so right about the dating thing- if it's a problem for someone, well then that's a huge red flag.