I’ve met plenty online, but never face to face. As I didn’t grow up with religion, I wasn’t aware of the wide range of beliefs and the various terms people used. When I was first starting out in life, I thought there were atheists, and believers, and didn’t understand there was a gray area in between. A deep soup of “spiritual” beliefs that people ascribed to, mixed and matched, and would still describe themselves as “atheist”, and strictly, they were sometimes, it just wasn’t how I thought of atheism. It took me a while to sort through all that.
I remember in grade school, when I had first encountered the word “atheist” and knew that described me, I mentioned it to a kid. That kid was my sometimes-antagonist, almost-bully. When I said I didn’t believe in god that little shit was shocked. He never talked to me or bothered me again. LOL.
I try to be respectful of other’s beliefs, we’re all just trying to get through life, and some of us don’t have as many cards to play with. That “respect” usually means I don’t talk about such things with them, and that usually works just fine. But, as I’m sure we all know, there are a few who just can’t stop themselves from “spreading the word” with every encounter. Them I avoid.
I’ve met plenty online, but never face to face. As I didn’t grow up with religion, I wasn’t aware of the wide range of beliefs and the various terms people used. When I was first starting out in life, I thought there were atheists, and believers, and didn’t understand there was a gray area in between. A deep soup of “spiritual” beliefs that people ascribed to, mixed and matched, and would still describe themselves as “atheist”, and strictly, they were sometimes, it just wasn’t how I thought of atheism. It took me a while to sort through all that.
I remember in grade school, when I had first encountered the word “atheist” and knew that described me, I mentioned it to a kid. That kid was my sometimes-antagonist, almost-bully. When I said I didn’t believe in god that little shit was shocked. He never talked to me or bothered me again. LOL.
I try to be respectful of other’s beliefs, we’re all just trying to get through life, and some of us don’t have as many cards to play with. That “respect” usually means I don’t talk about such things with them, and that usually works just fine. But, as I’m sure we all know, there are a few who just can’t stop themselves from “spreading the word” with every encounter. Them I avoid.