Community is important, if we don't tackle the key issues of our time, we will never be completely satisfied. Thanks Atheist Republic for giving us a voice.

The growth and development of my Atheism has reached the point where I began to seek out books on the subject. Finding this site and Armin's book are a much needed resource and advocate. In solidarity Tom

glad to have found this site. glad to see that there are black atheists like me. at 63, have been atheist since i was 12. hid it for yrs, but it slowly started to come out, and many evangelinut friends tried to bring me back into the fold. i told them i could not come back, as i was never "in the fold," in the first place. sick of rightwing religious nuts tainting the waters between gov and church. thank gawd more and more young people are becoming nones

I'm from The Netherlands. We have no such thing here as Atheism forums or websites, for the simple fact we have too many Atheists here I guess. I'm proud of all the work you guys are doing, we can not have enough atheists! It is growing worldwide.

Having be surrounded and surrounded by people that look down on me of my disbelief, AR is the one place where that doesn't occur. I am very lucky to have a family that excepts me and a father that agrees with me, but it does still get kind of lonely being constantly told either "I'm going to hell" or "I'll pray for you Turner". Atheist Republic is freedom from all of the chained up minds of the bible, and I thank all who participate to make it what it is today. (:

I live in the country that was under communist regime at the time I grew up, so I was not pressured to be a part of the Eastern Orthodox Christianity, that was predominant in my culture. After the fall of the communism, many discovered religion, and it became integral part of Serbian identity; but even in these new circumstances, I can freely express my lack of belief, without fear of any consequence. I have a freedom to express myself, but I lacked the friends' understanding. Your vision of Atheist Republic made a leeway for people like me to find each other. There, I found many people whose friendship is of outmost importance to me. People that I think of as a part of my family. Friends with whom I can be myself, without fear of them not understanding, so I no longer feel lonely or lost. In there, I also found the love of my life; the woman that is perfect in every possible way. Your vision created the path for us to find each other. I can only imagine of how much importance this is to people whose lives can even be at stake if they freely express themselves. I want to thank you for having the vision that made all this possible.

I am from a Muslim majority country and have never thought that I could express myself. But, then there I have found AR and it helped me to opine and meet the equal-minded people.

Being in the atheist Republic has made me believe that there are humans out there who care about the way the world is in, and has given me moral support in being an atheist and thus enabling me to show my views on various issues.

I was raised in a very conservative Christian background – Jehovah's Witnesses to be specific. When I was about 17, I joined facebook like any other teenager but with an added twist. I had been doubting the religion of my family for quite some time. Long story short, if it wasn't for Atheist Republic, I would still feel like religion is a life-preserver instead of understanding that it more resembles a noose. I owe you all so much for saving me from the barbaric ideals that I once held as holy. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Awesome support network!

AR helped me to be able to proudly say I'm an atheist. Without feeling judged.

I came out as an atheist about four years ago, and I haven't looked back at the times of the indoctrination my parents attempted to put me through. I feel like on this forum and with the help of fellow atheists I can tell my ideals to the world!

I grew up a Catholic, very superstitious and religious (still don't really get the difference) because I was raised that way. I thought God to be everything good, at least I wanted to believe that until I gazed into his supposed character inscribed in the bible. I came to realize that it was the worst character ever written in print I mean theists call him righteous but he is guilty of every sin against humanity. I still didn't want to accept this or more honestly, I was afraid of hell if I ever questioned his holiness..... I came to a partial settlement that God made men, and then men made religion. Sounds a bit logical but it still didn't add up. I then came across the argument of morality versus salvation by Dan Barker (President of the FRFF) and all my questions were answered. Felt good making sense out of my own beliefs for a while, but then there is this loneliness that haunts you, I wouldn't come out to anyone, I'm from Zimbabwe, a modern day medieval society; you have no idea, we still get stories of witchcraft in newspapers down here and the government is informally theocratic, a 91 year old dictator who has ruled for 35 years through democratic means because church leaders say God chose him, and yes, homosexuality will get you a 5 year jail sentence. The secular world is very alien down here and so I became a digital Atheist. Atheist Republic became my safe heaven and provided me with refuge from all the religious prejudice I have to put up with every single day. I think religion is an insult to humanity as it is based on an assumption that we are a mistake by God (Genesis 6:6-7) and only a human sacrifice of his son who we should embrace forever are we purified and through this barbaric concept of human sacrifice shall we escape God's wrath (John 3:16). Anyone is free to believe that crap but they poison children with bigotry and hatred building up religious prejudice, they believe their imaginary friend is in command of everyone's life and we all should be thankful for his grace despite his evil nature; how's that for an insult? Everything went wrong when religion hijacked morality and humanity which we Southern Africans called ubuntu before the European missionaries came with a bible in one hand and a gun in the other. The gun was better because if you live by the gun you die by it, it led to the fall of the apartheid and colonialism, but the bible still haunts the mentality of my fellow country men to this very day. I support Atheist Republic and I hope its impact and message would spread to places like Zimbabwe where the secular community is in hiding afraid of stigma.

Life is beautiful. I come to this website not only as a former Christian, but also as a current professor of religion. Reading the like of Harris, Dawkins, Hitchens, Dennett, Jacoby, et al, has been a liberating experience for me. I propose to help others shake free from the bondage of the mind that religion holds people in.

AR is a community where atheists can be themselves and speak openly about topics that theists would typically chastise.

When I first accepted who I was, and that I didn't believe as others did, I felt alone, ostricised, and afraid. It wasn't until I found Casper and AR, that I felt I could actually be who I was. That I wasn't alone. That I wasn't wrong, about what I didn't believe in. So if you are looking for a family that no matter the differences, or disagreements, will still accept you, then Atheist Republic, is your internet home away from home.

am from Ghana; proudly Atheist. I always wanted to meet my fellow atheist to share ideal on how we can also educate people about their religion ignorance. It is time Africa Atheist to start preaching to eradicate the religion ignorant in our people. Thanks for this community.

I'm just from somewhere in the EAST of AFRICA where the word "atheist" still suprises people, AR helped me to feel that I'm not the only one and this boosted my confidence! keep helping others especially here where we are still few !