Hello everyone :)
First of all, I want to say that I'm new here, so I hope everything will be OK and sorry for my english, I know it's not perfect.
I'm just 20 years old, but I'm a strong atheist/humanist. And I'm french! I live near to Bordeaux, in the South of France. Anyway, as you probably already know it, France is a secular country, and there is a lot of non-religious people here, but the strong atheists are few and I can't really talk about it with my friends/family, however I won't that is difficult to be an atheist (even if I see some problem here).
If I'm here, it's only because I want to learn more about atheist people who lives in other countries all around the world, if it's difficult for them or not, if they're persecuted, oppressed, alone, or if they can be openly atheist. If you want to share your experience about it, telling the advantages or the disavantadges of being atheist in your country or in your family, I'd be happy to read it. I often read articles about it, but I think it's more interesting and more "true" when is a real person who say it. And maybe if you want to talk to me, feel free to send me a message. I'd love to talk with atheist all around the world.
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In my country (Malta), it is not a bigy if you are an atheist in most cases, but as politics go, there is no hope for you.
You might find it hard to socialize with older people because there is some bias from the church.
Matter like gay marriage becomes argument of debate which it is apparent that they are basic human rights.
In USA in some areas, they have it harder, but let them tell you this.
Guess Im a bit drunk :)
Where are my manners
Welcome to the forum and if you have any questions don't hesitate to ask.
You can start a welcome topic in the other forum not the debate one too.
happy Xmas and a happy new year
Thank you Jeff, happy Xmas and happy new year too :)
I already seen a study about religiosity in Europe, and I saw that Malta was one of the most religious place of the Europe, with around 99% of believer. I don't know if it's true, but if it's the case, i can understand that is difficult to meet other people with the same beliefs.
Do you know other atheist there? Is your family atheist too, or are they religious? I'm just curious about it, because i'm always wondering how people can become atheist in a very religious country.
99% is true
i met 3 Maltese people in total in my life lol that are atheists. Father asshole, mother catechist(teaches religion to children, not just me)
I was thought in a church secondary school where I had to go to mass twice a week.
"how people can become atheist in a very religious country."
searching for the truth by embracing doubt and removing my bias.
Only 3 maltese, I see, it's very religious then!
I can't really imagine what it is to live in a country like that, during all my schooling (primary school to university) I only met 3 or 4 true christians, around 10-15 muslims, 2 buddhists, a couple of agnostics and all the others were atheists. In France, more than 50% of young people are atheists so, meeting a 20 years old christian is pretty exceptional ^^
Happy to see you became an atheist by searching the truth, the world need more curious people who question everything. Are you ever been victims of some kind of persecutions or discrimination about it?
No persecution mostly because I was not too open about it.
Discrimination, not so much but there is no political career for me here, the church is in everything and hinders progress.
The Discrimination comes not on me but on gay people, career opportunities, political things.
French, I recommend reading the AR blogs then.
Welcome to the forums first off! I have only been here a few months myself, but have belonged to other atheist forums and I enjoy this one the most. With that being said, I live in America. More specifically, in the southern USA in Arkansas. This is a VERY religious state, as is much of the south. The biggest things socially here are god and football (American football). It is better for Atheists here to remain quiet if they wish to excel in their career or don't want to commit social suicide, but that is not me =). Let's see... I had to pull my daughter out of public schools because they refused to follow the laws and consistently tried to indoctrinate my daughter in class - I now home school her. I have had the scarlet A decal on my car removed twice and destroyed once; But I keep replacing it. My southern baptist father incessantly tries to pray for my soul because I am a disgrace to him and his church (apparently my multiple college degrees and altruistic acts are not enough to make a southern man proud). Some of my daughter's friends' parents stopped allowing their children around my daughter because she is sinful...Those are just a few of my most recent examples. That is why I am here. To find a piece of logical reality in the middle of a sea of ignorance and delusion.
That is horrifying.
Especially that they come after the children. I thank the beard of Darwin that I live in Sweden.
To find a piece of logical reality in the middle of a sea of ignorance and delusion.
Want to have a laugh at their delusion:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdxeqEoDXco&list=RD8fox4KabGGE&index=10
Thank you :)
Wow, I knew that South of USA was really religious, but this sound pretty "extrem". Everything I read in your message is awful: the school, the baptist father and the parents of your daughter's friends... Have you ever thought about leaving Kansas for an other state? What part of USA, according to you, is the less religious? I'm really curious about it, when I was younger I wanted to live in USA, but when I realized how much the country is religious, I knew it wasn't a place for an open atheist.
By reading you I'm happy to leave in France. Here the school isn't perfect, but at least public school is totally lay. And i feel sorry for all atheist who live in Southern of USA. Happy to see you here with us, here nobody will pray for your soul ;)
welcome JadeB
I know the feeling, the best is to make them believe that it is their job to appear good to you and give the example of good people.
get them in that game and life will be much easier.
Thanks for the video Jeff, it did make me laugh!
And yes, it was horrifying; abhorrent. It was ludicrous.
I just found this Report about the discrimination against atheists all around the world in 2014:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3gXFZt5sXX1YXk3aXVhR21EMWs/view
Some informations really surprised me, for exemple Germany, Denmark, Iceland, Czech, New Zealand or even China are discribed like country who are really discriminatory. I thought all of these country tolerant about non-religious people, so I just want to know what you thinking about it. And if there is some people who live in those country, can you say if it's true?
I live in Colorado of the USA, and I do not see many rules about religion. Other than a few of my "friends," Colorado is a pretty not religious place.
Hey!! Bienvenue à Athée République ! Tout d'abord, j'aime la France et elle est une de mes pays préférés! Je peux parler un peu de français que j'ai appris les bases à l'école (But I suck at tenses and more advanced French so I won't try any further xD - took me almost 5 minutes to write even that much as I'm severely out of touch (3 years) :P) I live in India and here due to the diversity, it is really tough to comment on the country as a whole! But I'll do my best :) In the 8-10 urban cities (Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai...) and their suburbs religion doesn't feature much into the picture as far as I know! I'm not going into too many specifics; there are many intolerant bigots everywhere but as a rule, you can be an atheist and succeed in life in the cities! Even in the politics, religion doesn't feature at all! In the rural village areas though, depending on the region, there is always a majority religion - in most places all the religions coexist - but due to the lack of education and understanding, it is really hard to determine how people will react to an atheist!
While speaking about India though, it is necessary to mention in particular the case of Hinduism! Most of the Hindu Holy Books don't centre around god and actually have mentions of Atheism. A small but significant percent of Hindus (under the Hindu school of Nasthic Vad) are actually full blown atheists! Also, Hinduism in itself is a very lax religion and doesn't demand any compulsory rituals or actions and so is very easy to leave! It varies from family to family actually! Irrespective of religion, in India the tendency of people to subconsciously be atheist is proportional to their education and economic status! That's why in most middle and upper class households, declaring to be an atheist faces little to no resistance!
Forgive me for any errors or contradictions as I'm really sleepy now xD Will re-read it and reply with any corrections or additional info!
I made a mistake there! Religion doesn't feature at all in the politics of the cities/urban areas! But in the villages and slums it is Key!! I absolutely forgot to add that! In fact there are parties like the BJP (Bharatiya Janta Party - Indian People's Party - current majority and ruling party) and IML(Indian Muslim League), etc which rely majorly on the religion card, especially when campaigning in rural areas (unfortunately 75-80% of our population lives in the villages! And the voter turnout there is Waaaay higher than in cities!)
Interesting to get some info from India. It is such a diverse country.
But doesn't religion play a role in politics, at least on some levels?
I ask because of this article, where a minister seems totally disconnected from reality: "India’s water resources minister, Uma Bharti, recently said the underlying cause of the catastrophic floods that hit North India in 2013 was atheists defecating near the holy shrine at Kedarnath"
http://www.atheistrepublic.com/news/india-s-water-minister-atheists-caus...
Yeah! I made a mistake there! Religion doesn't feature at all in the politics of the cities/urban areas! But in the villages and slums it is Key!! I absolutely forgot to add that! In fact there are parties like the BJP (Bharatiya Janta Party - Indian People's Party - current majority and ruling party) and IML(Indian Muslim League), etc which rely majorly on the religion card, especially when campaigning in rural areas (unfortunately 75-80% of our population lives in the villages! And the voter turnout there is Waaaay higher than in cities!)
Ok.
It seems like such a complicated country. So many cultures and religions, so much people and (from what I have read) with a span from villagers that kill "witches" to computer tech companies.