Do you recall your first encounter with a atheist? What was your thought?

by jam 25 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  jam

  Growing up in the south everyone I knew believed in God, even the

  town drunk. I remember watching some special TV program around Xmas

  about people who did not celebrate Xmas when I was a child, WTH.

  As a JW I can not recall any encounters with any atheists in the door

  to door work. I'm sure that over the years I called on atheist and they

  didn't bother to discuss their belief with a know it all. LOL

  My first encounter was with a young lady I dated in high school, a preacher

  daughter. I was a JW at the time and we met in a store.

  She had heard I was a JW and ask could I come by her home, she had

  some information she would like to share with me.

  Can not recall the name of the book but a book written by an atheist and

  I read it.

  It was the strangest feeling, a preacher daughter and not believing in God.

  IF I had express any doubt to my mother or father about God, they would

  taken me to a head doctor, after they had beaten my ass.

  But it was weird talking to someone that didn't believe in a God, and openly

  talking disrespectfully about God. I was sure her house would be struck down

  by lightning.
• 

  Watkins

  I've never actually met an atheist in person. I know some who believe in God but are not Christians, and a few agnostics, but they still believe in a Creator. I'd never heard their reasons until reading on this site.

  Watkins
• 

  erbie

  Hurry up and shut the door so I can move on to the next one!
• 

  jam

  I thought it was just me but it's rare still in my community.

  In the 50's and 60's it was unheard of. You would have been viewed

  as a person from another world.
• 

  GoodGuyGreg

  Having grown up in Scandinavia, meeting atheists wasn't really uncommon. I had some openly atheist teachers in school, mom used to try to start a study with a biologist, etc.

  @OP: Since atheism usually is the result of getting more information rather than being some kind of moral statement, I'm less surprised if the town drunk wasn't one than that more prominent members of the community with a better education weren't.
• 

  Julia Orwell

  My first encounter? I grew up an atheist.
• 

  maninthemiddle

  I live in the south also, north Georgia if you are curious. around here the second thing most people ask after meeting you is what church do you go to.

  so I also don't remember meeting any in service.

  after I left the JW mindset, I set out a a journey (in a way) asking people at work about their church, and researching other mainstream Christian beliefs.

  that path led to me research how the bible came to be, as well as read real scholarly work on evolution. This led me to a place of non-belief. At that point I actively sought out a atheist group to meet and talk to them directly. There are not many groups like this, but I live close enough to Atlanta that the group is fair sized.

  A couple of the folks I met have turned out to be really good post-jw friends. including several ex-Mormons so we have similar stories to share.
• 

  Phizzy

  I was born in England in the 1950's. Most people then claimed to be "Church of England".

  My first encounter with an Atheist, or so he said, was when I was about 13 and knocked on this guys door, as soon as he realised I was selling religion he said:

  " No thank you, I'm an Atheist, thank god". and shut the door.

  I walked away, chuckling, not quite sure how sincere he was in his unbelief, but admiring the way he got rid of me.
• 

  Giordano

  I think most people don't like the term Atheist.....even atheists! It's sort of like liberals now calling themselves progressives. I think Madalyn Murray O'Hair set back the Atheist movement. She had all of the charm of Rutherford. "O'Hair later founded American Atheists and became so controversial that in 1964 Life magazine referred to her as "the most hated woman in America". [

  I prefer non believer as in no belief in any religion or any god. Gentle cynic is another way of expressing this non belief aspect.

  What I find very interesting is that Non's now make up 1.3 Billion of the world's population according to PEW. I also feel strongly that many many people who identify with a religious tradition in surveys really are non believers. Show up once a year for Christmas, or Easter or Muslim celebrations or the Memorial.

  People are getting smarter and have more information available. The gods are no longer needed for explanations for the things we didn't understand.

  My first encounter with a non believer was Eric Hoffer's (book) the True Beliver back in 1958.
• 

  maninthemiddle

  I agree Giordano, where I live in the American south Atheist is just shot of a swear word.

  Most people here would be more likely to call themselves non belivers or simply lie.