Not because I needed confirmation, but because I thought it might be a way to connect to other with similar worldviews…
I joined an atheist meetup group. Well, let me just say the only thing we had in common was just that, the atheistic view.
Beyond that it was a random mishmash of people with whom I had nothing in common. And it was immediately revealed to me that there is some kind of sickness in the overall community of those folks, I immediately realized how insane it was to continually discuss something that you don’t believe exists.
I mean yeah, we were all coming because of the stated reason of shared atheistic view, but how irrational is it to hyperfocus on something that doesn’t exist???
And the other thing, I assumed there would be some kind of intellectual rigor that was present in each person that came to be an atheist, and I found that was not the truth at all. These folks were just as ludicrous and ridiculous as people that believe in homeopathy and every other nonsensical concept.
I couldn’t get the hell out of there fast enough, and I will never ever go back. I will never socialize with anybody who’s identity is so deeply tied to atheism
Makes sense. It’s hard to really rally around something you aren’t interested in. It’s a lack of belief, after all. Though some kind of religious trauma support group would have definitely been valuable to me in the deep South.
I have been a part of maybe 3 different groups (it’s been a while) and used to attend some regularly. That was pretty much it for us–a support group where people shared how they were raised and how they came to leave their religion.
I also met with FFRF people a couple of times–once to join a “walk” to raise funds for a cause that had nothing to do with religion or atheism, and another to help erect a solstice/reason sign for the holidays.
I agree there are some weirdos, but it sounds like OP just happened to join a particularly odd group.
Not because I needed confirmation, but because I thought it might be a way to connect to other with similar worldviews…
I joined an atheist meetup group. Well, let me just say the only thing we had in common was just that, the atheistic view.
Beyond that it was a random mishmash of people with whom I had nothing in common. And it was immediately revealed to me that there is some kind of sickness in the overall community of those folks, I immediately realized how insane it was to continually discuss something that you don’t believe exists.
I mean yeah, we were all coming because of the stated reason of shared atheistic view, but how irrational is it to hyperfocus on something that doesn’t exist???
And the other thing, I assumed there would be some kind of intellectual rigor that was present in each person that came to be an atheist, and I found that was not the truth at all. These folks were just as ludicrous and ridiculous as people that believe in homeopathy and every other nonsensical concept.
I couldn’t get the hell out of there fast enough, and I will never ever go back. I will never socialize with anybody who’s identity is so deeply tied to atheism
Makes sense. It’s hard to really rally around something you aren’t interested in. It’s a lack of belief, after all. Though some kind of religious trauma support group would have definitely been valuable to me in the deep South.
That’s exactly it, these people are still suffering from the trauma inflicted upon them
The other side of the coin, in my opinion, is that you actually have to heal from that, you cannot just spend the rest of your life ranting and raving
I grew up in an insane religious cult so I feel this all lol
I have been a part of maybe 3 different groups (it’s been a while) and used to attend some regularly. That was pretty much it for us–a support group where people shared how they were raised and how they came to leave their religion.
I also met with FFRF people a couple of times–once to join a “walk” to raise funds for a cause that had nothing to do with religion or atheism, and another to help erect a solstice/reason sign for the holidays.
I agree there are some weirdos, but it sounds like OP just happened to join a particularly odd group.