Yes, It Can Be Hard to Be an Atheist in America; Now We Have the Data
By: Religion Dispatches
Look at the chart below and see where your state fits in.
I grew up in Western PA not far from Pittsburgh but religion was just one of those things that people either did or didn't do. We just never really talked about it that much. It would have been very rude for a neighbor to come over to a new neighbor's house, empty-handed, and ask them if they had a "church home" before even introducing themselves...which exactly happened to my family when we first moved into the house we live in now. Everybody in the neighborhood went to the same church because we constantly asked that question until they got the idea we were not interested in their church.
There's something in the honeysuckle in the south.....
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Are the nonreligious a marginalized group in America? When I brought this question up to a friend who lives in New York the other day, he was skeptical. Practically everyone he knows is an atheist, he says, as if this were the most natural thing in the world. As someone who grew up in central Indiana and Colorado Springs, where I was sent to evangelical schools, his attitude both bemused and concerned me. The disconnect just serves to illustrate that how one answers this question may vary wildly depending on where one sits—in some cases quite literally.
According to a new report from American Atheists* called Reality Check: Being Nonreligious in America , those living in "very religious" communities reported substantially more discrimination in employment, education, and other services than those living in "not at all religious" communities.
Visual from "Reality Check: Being Nonreligious in America," courtesy of American Atheists.
The Secular Survey, from which the report was drawn, includes data from 33,897 nonreligious Americans—those who self-identify as atheists, agnostics, humanists, skeptics, freethinkers, secular, and/or simply nonreligious. The survey's designers consider a lack of data on nonreligious Americans an obstacle to effective advocacy for the needs of this group, which the report describes as "an invisible minority."
In a webinar for journalists and advocates, American Atheists' vice president for legal and policy, Allison M. Gill, stressed that most data we currently have fail to distinguish between the various stripes of the religiously unaffiliated (i.e. "nones"). Nones may retain some religious beliefs or consider themselves religious without belonging to a formal institution, but this is not true of the nonreligious proper, as the report defines them. As Gill observes, this "can sometimes obfuscate the needs of our community."
According to Reality Check , "Participants' analysis of community religiosity aligned well with geographic expectations." In other words, regions you'd expect to be highly religious were reported by participants to be so. In addition, "While nonreligious beliefs may be casually accepted in states like California and Vermont, nonreligious people living in states like Mississippi and Utah have markedly different experiences."
"Stigma and Community Religiosity by State" chart is from "Reality Check: Being Nonreligious in America," courtesy of American Atheists.
Indeed, the 554 survey respondents from Utah rated their state more religious than respondents from any other state, although Mississippians reported a slightly higher degree of stigmatization of nonreligious people. The study measured stigma using a scale based on nine microaggressions targeting nonreligious people, and respondents were asked to note whether and how often they had experienced each one over the year prior to taking the survey. Per the report:
Nearly two thirds of all survey participants were sometimes, frequently, or almost always asked to join in thanking God for a fortunate event (65.6%). Nearly half (47.5%) of survey participants recalled sometimes, frequently, or almost always being asked to or feeling pressure to pretend that they are religious. Nearly half of participants were sometimes, frequently, or almost always asked to go along with religious traditions to avoid stirring up trouble (45.3%), and nearly two in five (37.9%) were treated like they don't understand the difference between right and wrong.
Of participants, 26.3% reported that sometimes, frequently or almost always "others have rejected, isolated, ignored or avoided me" and 17.3% reported sometimes, frequently, or almost always being excluded from social gatherings and events because of their nonreligious identity. When RD recently spoke with American Atheists' Gill over the phone, she also noted that her organization and others like it "hear from constituents every day who have complaints about their children facing discrimination and bullying in school, how they're at risk at work for talking about their beliefs, how they're not able to access government services."
Stigmatized minority or bullies without a pulpit?
The representation of nonreligious Americans as a stigmatized minority is bound to be contentious, particularly when the Secular Survey's respondents—a convenience sample recruited through secular organizations rather than a representative sample—skew so disproportionately white (92.4% vs. a U.S. Census Bureau estim ate of 76.5%, including white Hispanic/Latinx) and male (57.8% vs. 49.2%), a profile that inevitably recalls elevatorgate and the racism , misogyny , and alt-right views that have come to characterize far too much of visible movement atheism in recent years.
If one's primary associations with being nonreligious are people like Sam Harris, Richard Dawkins, Bill Maher, and their vocal and all too often abusive fans, it's only natural to find it absurd and even offensive that such privileged and powerful men could be considered in any sense marginalized. But before we jump to too many conclusions, in addition to recalling the disparate geographic experiences noted above, we should also note that Secular Survey respondents skew disproportionately LGBTQ (23% vs. an estimated 4.5% of American adults as noted in Reality Check ). In addition, Reality Check takes care to note disparate outcome s among African-American, Latinx, ex-Muslim, and LGBTQ respondents, the intersections of whose racial, ethnic, sexuality, and gender identities can affect their experiences as nonreligious Americans.
After reading Reality Check , I recently decided to test the waters on how the politically engaged, broadly progressive public might relate to the representation of nonreligious Americans as a stigmatized minority. I did so, as a queer nonreligious American myself, by posting a 24-hour Twitter poll in which I asked respondents, "Can the language of 'coming out' properly be used by anyone forced to conceal an aspect of identity, or does it belong only to the LGBTQ community?"
I noted that the question was inspired by the new report on the Secular Survey, which found that many respondents—particularly those in very religious communities—are forced to conceal their nonreligious identity. The Twitter poll results are, of course, unscientific, but the replies were passionate and deeply divided in ways that matter for the kind of public discussion the Secular Survey is intended to spark:
Based on the frequent reactionary behavior coming out of atheist communities and how that fed people directly into the alt right
I am not happy with atheists using "coming out" unless they're also queer.
Atheists as a group have not been good allies to queer people
— Mean Fat Girl- ️ (@Artists_Ali) May 6, 2020
It's not oppression olympics they just aren't the same thing and y'all can get your own word esp given how hostile the atheist community is to lgbt people — El (@sooofanxy) May 6, 2020
All forced concealment.
I'd also include survivors of sexual assault, because regardless of the reason, if you have to hide a part of your lived experiences or face violence, rejection, public scorn or humiliation, then you are disclosing a truth that can - and will- hurt you.
— Jillian Onthehudson ️ (@jillianonthehud) May 6, 2020
As an LGBT non-believer with mental health issues, I'm surprised the majority of folks are saying "coming out" should only be used by LGBT people. Depending on where you live and what group of people you know, the stigma against other characteristics can be as strong or stronger. — Jami (@jamiblakeley108) May 6, 2020
While some respondents insisted that being nonreligious is a choice in a way that one's experience of one's gender and sexuality is not—and even some self-identified atheists replied to the effect that they don't consider their atheism an identity—the fact remains that in many parts of the United States, being recognized as an unbeliever can come with severe social consequences. In addition, although one's beliefs about the nature of reality should ideally be a matter of conscience, children have no control over the beliefs they're raised with or the communal norms that surround them.
If we recognize that forced religious conversion is an act of violence, then we should recognize that living in a community where it's unsafe to disagree with the prevailing religious consensus and to refuse to participate in religious activities is also to experience violence. As a transgender woman and ex-evangelical, these issues are very relatable to me, as they are to many who have left high-control religious groups , and it's my fervent conviction that they need to be part of our public discourse .
According to Reality Check :
Nearly one third (31.4%) of participants mostly or always concealed their nonreligious identity from members of their immediate family. Nearly half of participants mostly or always concealed their nonreligious identity among people at work (44.3%) and people at school (42.8%).
Family rejection can come into play as well, with the Secular Survey finding that 29.2% of respondents under 25 whose parents were aware of their nonreligious identity had somewhat or very unsupportive parents. By including questions about loneliness and isolation, the survey was able to suggest that such situations result in higher likelihood of depression, and it also showed that lack of family support for nonreligious Americans resulted in lower educational achievement. The report's prediction of likely depression corresponds well to recent social scientific findings on the psychological harm that comes to people who consider leaving their high-control religious communities but choose to remain.
In addition, some atheists are at risk of physical violence over their lack of religion. Only .8% of survey respondents reported being physically assaulted over their unbelief, although for African-American respondents the number is 2.5%. Meanwhile, 12% of respondents experienced threats of violence, and 2.5% experienced vandalism (14.2% and 3.2%, respectively, for Latinx respondents).
None of these facts make the experience of "coming out" as nonreligious the same as coming out as LGBTQ, but they do nonetheless show that disclosing one's nonreligious identity can be fraught and risky depending on one's social environment. While the report itself did not use the language of coming out, its framing is recognizable as that associated with social justice advocacy. The report's inclusion of intersectional analysis is also particularly noteworthy for an atheist organization, but is unsurprising given the diversity of American Atheists' national staff and the organization's willingness to partner with religious organizations to work toward the common good, as the pluralism inherent in democracy demands.
With respect to the terminology of "coming out," one of the qualitative responses included in Reality Check , identified as coming from a female respondent in Kentucky, reads in part, "Joining an atheist/humanist meetup group helped me have the courage to 'come out' with my secular beliefs. Prior to having a social group, I felt alone without a way to overcome judgement from religious family members." American Atheists' Utah Director Dan Ellis also recently commented , "When I came out as an atheist, I experienced discrimination from family members," adding that he "lost friends—even ones who weren't particularly religious."
Gill, herself a transgender lesbian, noted in our phone conversation that the Secular Survey's questions about identity concealment were indeed meant to get at "a coming out experience," though the survey deliberately did not use that language in order to avoid possible confusion.
Asked whether she thinks the phrase "coming out" belongs only to the LGBTQ community, Gill remarked, "I would vehemently disagree with that; I think it belongs to everybody. And I see a lot of similarities between being nonreligious and being LGBT." She stressed that this does not mean that the stigma and discrimination faced by nonreligious people and members of the LGBTQ community are the same, but observed that "the process of coming to awareness of one's identity and beliefs and revealing it to other people and facing possible rejection is similar."
The use of the terminology of "coming out" outside of LGBTQ experience will likely remain contentious. But the hardships that many nonreligious Americans face for being nonreligious, while distinct from those faced by LGBTQ Americans, are still very real. Christian privilege and supremacism are pervasive in the United States, and much work remains to be done to render them more visible so that, along with white supremacism and patriarchy, we can work more effectively to dismantle them.
*Full disclosure: I am in regular contact with the leadership of American Atheists, and I was slated to speak at the organization's 2020 convention before it had to be postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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I've experienced this first hand.
I imagine it's not just atheists who might be marginalized by religious communities, but also those of "minority" religions in a religious majority community.
I can only imagine if a Muslim family moved into our neighborhood. I doubt if my town even has any Muslim families
For the most part it is not bad here in Western NY, but there are a few times that I find it difficult in regards to my job. I was told my pentagram necklace made some people uncomfortable so I shouldn't wear it to work. Meanwhile tons of people wear torture devices and corpses around their necks & that shouldn't make people uncomfortable. I am lucky with my supervisor. She understands when I ask for my Feast days off, but I do not feel comfortable discussing my Sabbats with others at work although we hear about Christmas ad nauseum.
I feel marginalized here on NT more than anywhere else. Some of the articles written and seeds that are posted make it seem as if Christianity is the one and only way of being a good citizen or patriot in America. It makes me angry.
I believe that Western NY is not much different than Western PA but I do know that there were some that would be offended by a pentagram. There were lots of crosses and crucifixes on display where I grew up.
I think that if you love your country and want it to be a better place, you're a patriot. It doesn't matter what your religion is. Christianity is the predominant religion in the US so we non-believers are marginalized no matter where you go.
Hang in there, Veronica.
Hanging in every day... only way to survive is to move forward regardless of how hard they try to move us backwards.
I agree to an extent. Minority religions are generally "tolerated" by Christian communities (not all), however atheists are looked at more as devil worshipers and such. Even though Satanism, technically, is just another sect of Christianity.
The look of utter disbelief and horror that people give me, if they find out I am an atheist, is unbelievable.
No doubt there are certain individuals here who really believe Christianity is the be all end all, and only those who follow their god and/or religion can be moral, ethical, ect. In fact, someone said in another article (I am paraphrasing) that atheists lack morality, ethics, and basically are incapable of being good people without god/religion. The sanctimony of certain theists us mind boggling.
I've heard some theists equate atheism with Satanism, which is absurd. But then, the same type of individuals also seem to think atheism is a religion. That is just plain stupidity. But also not surprising.
The official Satanic Church of America is a Humanist organization using Christianity as bludgeoning tool to show the hypocrisy of the Christian right. They are not religious.
Yeah, I've been hearing that online for many years. It never ceases to amaze me, though.
I'm not an atheist but I'm definitely a non-believer. It offends me when someone says I have no morality or ethics because I don't believe in religion. I've married to the same man for 30 years (only one) and I never cheated on him. I raised my children to think of others besides themselves. I don't cheat on my taxes. I help people in need. I don't abuse animals. I don't throw my lit cigarette butts out the car window and I don't litter. What more do they want?
I have been saying that for years & they continue to blame us, Wiccans.
But according to some, you're immoral by default and bound for hell.
I see that a lot here & the worst thing it has to be their god, worshiped in their way. The sects even call other Christians not Christians because they don't worship the same way.
I am always told I will be going to hell... I simply state I do not believe in hell. That seems to stress them out A LOT.
Even though so many of them break the biggies on a daily basis.
Glory Hallelujah!
Oh, my favorite is when of the bible believers (I almost said thumper...) think that Roman Catholics or any of the Orthodox Christianity sects are not Christians. That is downright hateful because they all believe in the same fundamental basics. Jesus was born to a virgin, was crucified, buried, then rose on the 3rd day.
I've seen that too. Such level of delusion and sanctimonious arrogance knows no limits.
That's exactly what it is...arrogance! I kept trying to find the right word for the "attitude".
Arrogance is a nice way of putting it. I can think of more blunt ways of puthing it.
Indeed.
You tend to not get thought out responses to atheism from some theists, more knee jerk reactions since the claim is (to them), unthinkable.
Yes, I know. But I was talking the theist impression of satanism, not the actual truth of the matter.
The bizarre part of this is that it is being said by a person, that follows the teaching of a book, that advocates and promotes, slavery, marriage by rape, and many other actions that are considered immoral.
I never expect thought out rational responses from theists on matters like that. I usually get emotionally based or biased responses, with very few exceptions.
"Then you're going to hell", seems to be the most common response.
But if you ask them, "Specifically, why do you believe in a God?", you can literally see the gears start grinding. Part of the religious indoctrination is to never ask "why".
I think if they would just admit that it's a feeling or an emotional reaction with no logic behind it, you guys might go easier on them.
I believe in a Higher Power, you could even call me a Deist. I never went full on atheist after I left the RC Church. Now go ahead ask me why I believe in a God, Higher Power, The Force, whatever...
Just ask someone who takes the bible literally if slavery is immoral or not and watch the logic pretzeling commence. Or probably a complete avoidance of the topic.
If they would go by the truth, it would be easier than them. Vast majority believe in God because that is the way they were raised, by parents that were raised to believe in God, who were raised by their parents to believe in God, etc., etc., etc.....
Why?
Already did (see above), and believe it or not, am seriously and truthfully interested in your answer.
It's like I said in my first sentence. It's a "feeling", an emotional reaction with no logic or reason to it. It can't be explained. Faith cannot be explained. If faith could be explained with solid evidence, then it's not faith anymore.
I find myself saying little prayers throughout the day for stuff that I know is irrational because nobody is listening. I think I say them to comfort myself. I don't believe in a personal savior because that whole virgin birth and rising from the dead makes absolutely no sense. I don't have enough faith for that.
I look around at a world that is full of wonder and beauty and do think, could there have been a force behind it, a God, who created this wondrous and beauteous world then just walked away? Is God the reason for the Big Bang? Who knows. We will probably never answer these questions, but it's fun to sit back and think about things like that, especially on a Friday nite with a few beers.
I hope that answered your question, but if you have more, please feel free to ask. I don't mind discussing my "faith"
That is one of the best things to ask, for sure.
1 Peter 2:18
"Slaves, be subject to your masters with all reverence, not only to those who are good and equitable but also to those who are perverse."
Exodus 21: 7-8
"When a man sells his daughter as a slave, she will not be freed at the end of six years as the men are. If she does not please the man who bought her, he may allow her to be bought back again."
Leviticus 25:44-46 NLT
However, you may purchase male or female slaves from among the foreigners who live among you. You may also purchase the children of such resident foreigners, including those who have been born in your land. You may treat them as your property, passing them on to your children as a permanent inheritance. You may treat your slaves like this, but the people of Israel, your relatives, must never be treated this way.
Exodus 21:20-21 NAB
When a man strikes his male or female slave with a rod so hard that the slave dies under his hand, he shall be punished. If, however, the slave survives for a day or two, he is not to be punished, since the slave is his own property.
How about CANNIBALISM...?
II Kings 6:28-29
"And the king said unto her, What aileth thee? And she answered, This woman said unto me, Give thy son, that we may eat him to day, and we will eat my son to morrow. So we boiled my son, and did eat him: and I said unto her on the next day, Give thy son, that we may eat him: and she hath hid her son...."
I have no such "feeling", is there any evidence you can offer that what you "feel" is supernatural in nature?
If it cannot be explained, why do you believe it? I have faith the sun will rise tomorrow morning, that is based on almost 60 years of my personally witnessing that occur. Why do you have this faith for an invisible, intangible, entity that no one has ever seen or documented?
If you cannot justify your faith, why do you have it?
I can understand that, we all need a little something to help us out throughout our lives. The question is why do you think these prayers mean anything other than a personal little pep talk?
Rose colored glasses. The world is indeed wonderful, but you have to look at the ugly as well as the beautiful. Have you ever seen a blobfish? Yuck!
Is God the reason for cancer, pedophilia, rape, murder, hatred, earthquakes, tsunamis, etc...?
Why does he kill so many children every single day?
Why does he allow evil to destroy good?
Why did he create the Coronavirus (more topical)? Why did he create ebola, small pox, measles, etc...
Indeed. Slavery is a perfect example to use,especially if someone claims morality comes from God or if God is the arbiter of morality. Note how neither god or the bible actually condemns or prohibits slavery.
They want you to come to their church. They want you to be saved and break bread with them.
You shouldn't. Your spirituality is as right and authentic as any other. Only those that feel threatened will have a negative, irrational response to you. And they will dissipate.
You are not the only one who feels that way Veronica. The fact is that if person here is not a Christian they are considered to be a non-human being and servant of Satan by the CINO's here who loudly claim to be Christians, but, fail to walk the walk in any direction.
Those here who are true Christians don't need to scream and spew spital in everyone's face while bragging about their piety in being a 'real' Christian.
As I am not a Christian, nor embrace any other 'accepted' religious organization. I follow the religious beliefs and traditions of my Cherokee ancestors, much of which is Spirituality. And for that I am considered by some to be a heathen, or a demon. That is because they do not understand the basics of Spirituality. And anything they do not understand is not acceptable to them so it must be evil.
So, never mind the mindless and don't let them define you. Not all Christians are heroes, without sin, and have no more value than those who truly walk the walk of their Christian faith. They just think they are.
JMOO
Veronica, please don't feel alone. I've been called a whore, a baby-killer, and a pedophile supporter by the phony baloney Christian brigade here on NT more times than I can remember.
I was raised Southern Baptist. It took me 20 years to recognize the hypocrisy. I still see it in my own family. It makes me sick to know that those who yell AMEN! the loudest, are most often the ones with a 2-tiered belief system. They wear a cross around their neck (literally and/or figuratively), but all the while they are breaking the same Commandments they use to sit in judgment on others. Most of them bow to a president who wouldn't know a Commandment if it bit him on the ass.
But here is the thing: Most here on NT respect you, your beliefs, your values, and your participation. You possess a gentle soul that is an inspiration to others. Please don't let the phony baloneys chase you away.
Faith can't be justified. That's the whole point
I think they are as you said, personal pep talks.
I look in the mirror every day so yeah I see the ugly as well. And I also see much ugliness around me especially when people are being hateful and just downright mean
I don't believe in a Mainstream God like the Christians, Jews, and Muslims do. The God I believe in (I prefer to call her Mother Nature) does stuff because she can. There's also billions of years of evolution involved in all the diseases that can kill us. As far as horrible people go? They could be the product of their environment or it could be organic. That's a hard one to figure out and come up with a definitive answer.
I don't know. Maybe my area is/was more open. An area that was/is a getaway from people in New Orleans and with the military bases we get people from all over.
I remember the first time I saw women in full hijabs I was a teenager. I was talking to one of the women's son, it was Halloween and they didn't really understand the decorations. They were wondering why we would hang up a skeleton.
It seems lately it has gotten more oppressive. Now with the mixing of religion and politics (a pet peeve of mine), it has gotten noticeably worse.
without going into details, there's been several religious people in the past decade that probably now wish they had kept their thumper mouths shut in my presence. my favorite response to a stranger that wants to know if I've talked to jesus lately is to ask them if they would like to meet him in person in a few minutes.
The next time someone asks me if I've found Jesus I'm going to tell them I didn't know he was lost
He’s not the one who is lost.
I watched a vid a guy made where he said he was tired of the Mormons coming to his door, so he decided to answer the door completely naked.
He said they never came back.
I've lived coast to coast and north to south all over my country and am so glad that we seemingly don't consider this matter all that important or at least anyone's business. Other than the very occasional visit by someone from the JCLDS sect (who have been very polite and take no for an answer) I can say I have never had my religion or lack thereof questioned either personally or professionally. I guess most realize people realize that their opinions are just their opinions and no one else's business.
Yeah I've never felt like a victim myself. I guess my butthurt meter is set too low and my superiority complex doesn't allow me to detect micro-aggressions.
Lol I was actually going for a more community respect vibe than a personal butthurt angle but as long as it works for your it's good
That's what I was implying. When you're raised a certain way in one community it can be very jarring and difficult to understand when you do to a new community and it's the complete opposite.
I remember getting to my first duty station in Texas after being in Alaska for 3 years. The first thing out of my OIC's mouth was what church do I go to. I'm pretty certain that it's not only rude but against regulations to even ask that question. I mumbled something about attending Mass once in a while and he very smugly stated "at least you believe in something". Seriously, was it any of his business? That's what I'm talking about trying to get used to people's attitudes when you move to an entirely different world. I have been a fish out of water ever since leaving PA.
Have you ever lived in the Bible Belt?
I have and they get offended if you don't go to a house of worship. Lots of personal questions ensue.
Yes, quite a few of them do. Where did you live? How did they react when you said you worship at a synagogue? How many asked you what a synagogue is?
No I don't think I've ever lived in the bible belt.
Then I can see why you say you've never felt oppressed
Well first of all, they called it the "Jewish Church" which I found amusing. Then they want to know why Jews went to the Jewish Church on Sat. when everyone knows the sabbath is Sunday (Ummm... no. Jesus went on a Sat, too). A few asked me if they could feel my horns.... no joke.
Where was this?
Talk about ignorance.....feel your horns????
Jewish church...I laughed when I read that
Robins, Georgia, and even in the not so deep south, like Pax River, Maryland.
I have to say the feel your horns part got to me. I felt like it made me feel like a monster. But I was young and so I just giggled it off and pulled away when one of them went for my head.
I have to say, that I was still shocked that these feelings were still around in the 90's. My hubby had a business trip to Charleston and he met a guy he had been talking to on the phone. He was an older dude (we were in our 30's at the time) and he was telling us about the walking tour. Here was his description of a "fact" he learned on the tour:
Did you know that Charleston never burned down during the civil war? It burned down after the war. Now there was this Catholic Church and this Jewish Church right across the street from each other, and apparently they were friends. When Charleston burned down, the Jewish Church lent the Catholic Church money to rebuild at usurious rates, and the Catholic Church paid them back soon after, since the Pope has all the money.
Yeah, that was a doozy. Manged to insult both faiths in one breath. And I am sure the tour guide said it exactly like that/ sarc.
I've gotta imagine that was pretty offputting and prolly against regs. For most of my career it's been definitely against regs not to mention rude, even before regs were changed no one I know here would have ever asked such a thing. Currently our religion isn't even recorded anywhere in our documentation
I have lived in Arkansas and Missouri,
My first day in AR there was a knock on the door and the invitation to attend services.
I lived in every Southern state except Florida, and going to church is indeed a requirement. Especially, one of the churches that speaks in tongues. When they ask me if I go to church I say yes. And then they want to know what kind of church, and I answer a Tipi. They look at me odd and then ask, do we speak in different tongues, and I answer yes. We speak Cherokee.
They shrug and hurry away, mumbling among themselves.
When my hubby and I purchased our house 5 years ago there was this wall decal above the slider that said "All things are possible with Christ". We were in the process of painting and moving things in, so I had yet to take it down. The person that was renting the house before we bought it had not yet changed her address so we were still getting her mail. I told my husband that I wanted to change the locks right away, but it was lower on his list than mine. Then one evening I was sitting on the front stoop and he and my son were unloading some boxes when she pulled into our driveway, seemed to be surprised that we were there, and she said "Oh, I am just stopping in to collect my mail." THEN she asked me if I was Christian. I said no and she said "Well good thing I left Christ for you". I was annoyed and bluntly said "I don't need your Christ and you need to change your address." I walked into the house and my husband sent me to Lowes to get new locks.
The whole world needs Jesus. Can’t wait for His return.
maybe you could meet him halfway
And a whole other quarter of the world thinks it needs Allah, and neither of you can prove your personal religious fantasies exist.
You aren’t looking forward to the 2nd coming?
Speak for yourself. Only children need imaginary beings.
Lol sure you can, just like everyone else who has lived and died waiting these past two thousand and twenty years
Didn't believe in a first coming. I should look forward to another imaginary event?
where has he been? what has been keeping him?
He will come when He’s good and ready to do so, only the Father knows the day and the hour of the event.
How convenient. Keep the time ambiguous so the bs story can be dragged on.
This is like the theological version of being stood up for a date.
Except in this case, people who are rooting for the date to still happen tell the person being stood up that they're certain the other person will be here soon - surely just got stuck in traffic, or held up at work. Just give it time, and the date will be wonderful. The restaurant is closing down, but you're still supposed to wait. But don't you dare have any doubts, or give up and go home, or your date will take you to a remote location and strangle you.
Too late to flag this comment for proselytizing and also some of the other comments you've made here.
However....this is a warning. You were not forced to come to this seed to start preaching.
fuck that, do it anyway. there's no statute of limitations on ignorance.
I wish I could but there appears to be a statute of limitations on flagging and deleting comments. I can flag yours but nobody else's
I never noticed that before but you are right. The only flags available are the newer comments.