Atheist/Anti-theist here! Husband and I are both non-believers and are fairly active in atheist/sceptic circles. We love mythology, ritual, and community, though, and I sometimes miss going to UU church (my Mom and I attended one together when I was a teenager). We've mulled over trying out a local Episcopalian church that's VERY socially progressive (admittedly we've considered this in part to seem more 'normal' during our adoption homestudies) but we're both pretty iffy about it at this point as we absolutely are not Christians by any stretch of the imagination.

On a side note, berryblondeboys, being the sunday school director for the Ethical Society sounds awesome! How fun! We have an Ethical Society here in Saint Louis but I've never been - I'm so lazy about travelling across town!

Hi, all. :> I'm a pantheist/atheist. I attribute my woo-ey feelings to something that's tangible: the universe! LOL Something so vast and unimaginable, the size being beyond comprehension? Pretty awesome stuff. But no supernatural, no deity, unless it just someday pops up to say 'howdy.' Nature's pretty super as is, I think.

Anyway... Good to know I'm not alone here. Nice to meet y'all!

I recently tried a UU church because I read atheists sometimes attend and the precepts are set on values not beliefs. But it was still churchy in the not good way. Hard to describe. But on the plus side they are engaged in a lot of social justice work and I did not hear the word god once. But I will seek my sense of community elsewhere.

I will look into an ethical society.

Hey, fellow atheist here! I'm doing WW points plus, and trying to do some exercise at least every other day...

I am so glad this thread is here, even if it doesn't get as much traffic as others. My mother thinks I am destined for ****... I find it hilarious. I used to be a SUPER conservative christian (like, if I wasn't a christian, who was?), so it took a lot of deep thinking to say "oh my god there is no god". But now I am so sure that there is not, the remoteness of any possibilty otherwse is so insignificant that I wouldn't even consider agnosticism for a second.

My kids are being raised to be logical people, and are not being exposed to the bible or any other religion. They are not allowed to go to church, even with a friend or their grandmother. It may seem harsh, but I am not trying to raise my kids to be so open minded that their brains fall out.

It's pretty lonely, being a black female atheist. It's kind of sad, really, how african americans (and other minority groups) cling so fervently to religion and can't be convinced to even consider anything else.

Anyway, glad to be here...

Young if I had children I would be the same way. :) I used to be a born again christian and also came to atheism in a very logical way. Reading Dawkins " god delusion" was helpful. I already had the inklings but nice to be able to phrase it scientifically.

Late to the party?
 

Hello all.

I'm an atheist, and have hit a wall in the 12 step rooms with all the god talk / religious dogma, especially how it permeates the literature. Looking for some like minded people who need recovery from food / sugar addiction who can share in the journey. Anyone still around?

Hey there AnnaKarenina, welcome! It looks like this thread is pretty quiet. I just so happen to be an atheist as well, you could come over into the Chicks in Control forum where there is a Food Addiction thread that doesn't have any religious overtones. :)

Here is a link Food Addicts Support

This thread certainly doesn't get a lot of traffic. Been dead for a while. I think it has a lot to do with what some of the posters said above about how atheists are treated, as well as we don't really need our lack of religion as a motivation to lose weight. I don't pray to a deity to help me gather strength for a run, I know it's all me baby and when I run a 5K, I did that. Me, my effort, and that feels FAR more amazing than imagining some thing helping me along. I would also find it selfish asking for help with a run if there was a God or Gods, because I'd much rather them direct their efforts to starving children then me shaking a pound off. Maybe that's just me.

I also think atheists do have a bad rap. There have been multiple surveys done in areas that ask about trusting people. The people decide that the "non-trustworthy" ones are usually Atheists. In fact, more people would trust a convicted felon than a declared atheists in some locations. Will M. Gervais, Azim F. Shariff, and Ara Norenzayan, published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology ("Do You Believe in Atheists? Distrust Is Central to Anti-Atheist Prejudice") once which basically had one of the guys filmed coming into a school, hitting a car with his car, pretending to write down his insurance information for bystanders and then driving off after leaving a blank note on the car. Later he's seen taking money out of someone's wallet. The students surveyed were asked if they believed the unethical man in the video was a "Teacher" or a "Teacher and something else." Basically, if you think they are something else, it would show your prejudice against that something else. Like, if you think someone is a Teacher AND a biker in order to be unethical, you would think that bikers are generally unethical. Most people chose a "Teacher and an Atheist." I think 48% or something. Next in line were "Teacher and a Rapist" Like 46%. Muslim in third, and Christian were a whopping 4%. In other words, most people would think that to do unethical things, one would need to be an atheist first, worse than being a rapist by a small margin.

Many of these studies have been done and it's usually the same conclusion. Atheists are not trusted by the vast majority of society, in fact, we are often less trusted than convicted felons. Yeah, we are weary of mentioning we are atheists in most situations. It's also not true that Atheists are more untrustworthy in normal situations. Those stats have been shown as well. In shear numbers more than likely a crime committed is a Christian, but that's not saying ALL Christians commit crimes. I don't instantly point the finger because someone is in a group of people of color, faith, ethnic background, or Gender. I might be a little more willing if you chose to be in a gang or something, as statistically speaking those people DO commit crimes.

I digress a tad.

Anyway, I think most people don't step forward as Atheist in a weight loss forum because we generally don't need support as Atheist for weight loss, and it's possible we don't step forward because of the instant distrust others give us for simply not believing in their God or Gods.