Hello from The Deep South Bible Belt

SV650M77T
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Hello from The Deep South Bible Belt

 Hello Strangers, just joined up a few minutes ago.  I have been reading hambydammit's blog for quite a while.  I'm in South West Georgia, where to be atheist or simply "not religious" is like saying you are a Satanist, a baby killer, or an extraterrestrial.  While I should move, my business is here, my family is here(more on that), and many of my great friends are here.  I was raised Pentecostal until about age 16, when I just got sick of going to church because it was boring(I had no real conviction to be a non-believer).  Of course, the terrible brainwashing I endured and subsequent "going to hell fears," however irrational, remained in my otherwise healthy brain.  Maybe they still do at times, but I recognize them now as irrational fears that I can't completely erase because when you are raised in a religious cult, it severely damages your brain for a long long time.  I'm hoping to read any information I can find about dealing with life post-brainwashing or post child abuse(I view religious upbringings as child abuse by some other name).  I'd be very interested to read any links people might have about their own theist upbringing stories and how they improved/de-brainwashed/deconverted themselves.  I'm in a region where nearly everybody is Christian, but I'm committed to bringing my child up non-religious.  What advice might ya'll have for me about dealing with Bible-thumping/Jesus-Loves-You-Baby grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc?  Thanks to everybody here that reads this! sv650m77t


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Move,Just kidding. I don't

Move,

Just kidding. I don't know what to say other than to always state to your kid never to blindly buy a claim someone is selling just because it might sound nice. But I will say this, always love your kid, even if they don't end up believing the same things you do.

I can't stand parents that say "I'll disown my kid if they get pregnant. I'll disown my kid if they say they are gay. I'll disown my kid if they don't want to take over the business I own. I'll disown my kid if they (whatever).

There are no absolutes in life. Just do your best to expose them to science and if they insist on exploring religion show them the common myths and motifs in all religions, but ultimately they will at some point be old enough to decide for themselves.

"We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus -- and nonbelievers."Obama
Check out my poetry here on Rational Responders Like my poetry thread on Facebook under Brian James Rational Poet, @Brianrrs37 on Twitter and my blog at www.brianjamesrationalpoet.blog


SV650M77T
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 "Move" sounds about

 you may be right

 


butterbattle
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Welcome to the forum.

Welcome to the forum.

Our revels now are ended. These our actors, | As I foretold you, were all spirits, and | Are melted into air, into thin air; | And, like the baseless fabric of this vision, | The cloud-capped towers, the gorgeous palaces, | The solemn temples, the great globe itself, - Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve, | And, like this insubstantial pageant faded, | Leave not a rack behind. We are such stuff | As dreams are made on, and our little life | Is rounded with a sleep. - Shakespeare


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Hmmmm I have one of those

Hmmmm I have one of those bible thumping/hypocritical moms. One minute she will be the most devious person and cuss you for everything you're worth then turn around and tell you that god answers prayers and try to make you listen to Joel Olstine. Ickk!

Anyway I hope your kids granparents are actually loving yet understanding bible thumlers lol. Mine wasn't. I had my daughter at 14 and she disowned me in a sense. Then tried to take over because obviously, I had no clue what I was doing.

I would have to say if the grandparents can handle respecting your wishes, explain to them what you want for your child and how you wish to raise him/her. That's your child and nobody has the right to push on your child what you do not want pushed on them. Welcome and good luck with the grandparents/familySmiling

If all the Christians who have called other Christians " not really a Christian " were to vanish, there'd be no Christians left.


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Welcome from another Bible Belt sufferer

Welcome aboard. There are alot of us on here that are stuck in the Bible Belt, surrounding by people with all sorts of ridiculous pre-conceived notions as to what a non-religious or Atheist person should be. This is a great place to  get away from all of that and get some good solid arguments to refute any fundamentalist rhetoric that you may be exposed to.

I can relate about de-programming yourself from all of that religious indoctrination.

Coming from an extremely strict religious background (Not Pentecostal though) it took me quite a while to shake all of that off. Even after I stopped believing in the ridiculous idea of God, I still had a whole lot of the Christian ideas about faith and morality floating around in my head. Best thing that I have found that took care of that was one thing, TIME. Sadly enough, I could not shake every bit of that indoctrinated crap from childhood away as fast as I would like. BUT, I do have one suggestion that might help. I went back inside of a church, and listened to one of the sermons, on a Sunday morning, about a year after I decided that I was an Atheist. Rest assured, there was no relief, no feeling of coming back home. no joy, only sickness and disgust that I could have ever bought into these stupid lies and only irritation at the congregation for swallowing all of it hook, line and sinker.Going back inside of a church after time away was great therapy, sealed any doubts or hesitations about their beliefs into concrete.  I would suggest picking up a whole lot of books about the true origins of religion and it's man-made fallacies as well. Trust me, the more that you read and learn about religion, the more materials that you touch that THEY never told you about and the more scientific things that you study, will help get rid of alot of those clinging Christian notions. They did for me anyway.

As far as family is concerned,most of mine have either abandoned me because of my belief or it is a subject that they will not touch when I am around. They pretty much came to understand a few years ago, that this was not a passing phase. But each family is different and I know a little bit about the Pentecostal faith and how it can behave towards those that are outside of their belief system. So I can only say to play it by ear and see what happens with them.

Good luck raising your child with non-religious beliefs. Probably the best thing that you can do for your child. Far better than perpetuating an endless cycle of guilt, shame and superstition that the church pushes on people. Again, Welcome aboard and hope you enjoy the articles and posts on here as much as I do.

“It is proof of a base and low mind for one to wish to think with the masses or majority, merely because the majority is the majority. Truth does not change because it is, or is not, believed by a majority of the people.”
― Giordano Bruno


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 Harley Sportster fan, I

 Harley Sportster fan, I take it? (Insert "yeah, genius" joke please)


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Yeah genius

SV650M77T wrote:

 Harley Sportster fan, I take it? (Insert "yeah, genius" joke please)

 

Hehe, yeah just a little bit of a fan of the Sportster Model.  1200 cc Custom model to be totally exact.

“It is proof of a base and low mind for one to wish to think with the masses or majority, merely because the majority is the majority. Truth does not change because it is, or is not, believed by a majority of the people.”
― Giordano Bruno


SV650M77T
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XL1200

 Nice.  I like motorcycles.


SV650M77T
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Where to Start?

Any recommended starting point on here?  So many topics

 


harleysportster
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Recent posts

SV650M77T wrote:

Any recommended starting point on here?  So many topics

 

 

Well, one way to keep up with the latest action is to hit the "recent posts" tab underneath your profile information. Sort of gives you a general idea of what is hot and what is not. Hmm, I'll be honest and say that I have done alot of browsing through several of the topics, but some of the ones that have comments up in the hundreds I have not completely read through yet. So, it depends, I do alot of searching through the recent posts and alot of browsing as well. If I see a title that looks interesting, I click on that and start reading.

“It is proof of a base and low mind for one to wish to think with the masses or majority, merely because the majority is the majority. Truth does not change because it is, or is not, believed by a majority of the people.”
― Giordano Bruno


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A belated hello and welcome

A belated hello and welcome from a fellow, if expatriated, Southerner. Speaking of which, moving doesn't really help. I am so far north now that English is not the primary language, and still there is 1 church for every 20 people here.  If you think a radio Bible sermon is monotonous down there, try listening to one in Inupiaq.

It takes a village to raise an idiot.

Save a tree, eat a vegetarian.

Sometimes " The Majority " only means that all the fools are on the same side.


SV650M77T
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moving

It is futile!  

 

 

 


harleysportster
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The Borg

SV650M77T wrote:

It is futile!  

 

 

 

 

The theists are almost like the Star Trek Borg, RESISTANCE IS FUTILE !!!!

But it is still fun to try.

“It is proof of a base and low mind for one to wish to think with the masses or majority, merely because the majority is the majority. Truth does not change because it is, or is not, believed by a majority of the people.”
― Giordano Bruno


Anonymouse
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SV650M77T wrote:Any

SV650M77T wrote:

Any recommended starting point on here?  So many topics

 

Don't bother with topics that have titles all in CAPITALS, or have too many exclamation marks !!!!! Start reading those and you'll either facepalm yourself unconscious, or you'll burst your appendix from laughing too hard, and crying at the same time.

The rest of it can be quite interesting and informative.

Welcome, btw


harleysportster
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LOL, The Resident Calvinist

Anonymouse wrote:

SV650M77T wrote:

Any recommended starting point on here?  So many topics

 

Don't bother with topics that have titles all in CAPITALS, or have too many exclamation marks !!!!! Start reading those and you'll either facepalm yourself unconscious, or you'll burst your appendix from laughing too hard, and crying at the same time.

The rest of it can be quite interesting and informative.

Welcome, btw

Hehehehe, I get an idea that I know who your talking about, but it does get quite funny.

“It is proof of a base and low mind for one to wish to think with the masses or majority, merely because the majority is the majority. Truth does not change because it is, or is not, believed by a majority of the people.”
― Giordano Bruno


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harleysportster

harleysportster wrote:

 

Hehe, yeah just a little bit of a fan of the Sportster Model.  1200 cc Custom model to be totally exact.

    One of my biker friends has an old 1968 Iron Head Sportster ( like the ones in my current avatar ) I wish he'd sell to me.  It's a totally old school Sportster; drum brakes front and rear, foot shifter on the right side, rear brake on the left side, rigidly mounted motor ( ie, mucho vibration )  Long rides are physically challenging but it's still a fun bike to cruise around on...

 

  Also, welcome to SV650.  Always room for one more.


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The classic rides

The classic rides can be physically challenging and subject to oil leaks, but MAN are they cool. I rode a 77 Shovelhead that leaked oil all the time, had to spend time knee deep in grease for every ten hour ride, but have very fond memories of that ride.

“It is proof of a base and low mind for one to wish to think with the masses or majority, merely because the majority is the majority. Truth does not change because it is, or is not, believed by a majority of the people.”
― Giordano Bruno


SV650M77T
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Momentarily, let us pray

Momentarily, let us pray that this bike comes to the USA!!!

http://www.motorcycledaily.com/2010/08/kawasaki-w800-retro-on-its-way/

I might convert for this one!

 

 


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SV650M77T wrote:Momentarily,

SV650M77T wrote:

Momentarily, let us pray that this bike comes to the USA!!!

http://www.motorcycledaily.com/2010/08/kawasaki-w800-retro-on-its-way/

I might convert for this one!

 

 

  

 

    Wow, it looks like the Kawasaki stylists / engineers did an excellent job of capturing the look of a retro-brit bike.  Looks good.  I also trust Kawa to make a mechanically reliable machine ( just my 2 cents ). Actually I like all "rice burners" both street and dirt.

 


SV650M77T
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 I like ALL motorcycles!

 I like ALL motorcycles!


smartypants
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Wayull, Howdy Y'aaaalllll

Welcome to the forum. Here's a post I wrote about Confederate Motors: http://rwarchitextures.blogspot.com/2010/08/true-americans.html  It's one of the most often visited posts on my whole blog. I'm proud of what I wrote, as with all my work, but I think it's because I included some of the highest-res pics that can be found by Googling. You probably know all about them already.

This won't really be much help, but Richard Dawkins once interviewed this woman who had been the victim of an extremely conservative, twisted religious cult in Northern England (Christian-based, I believe, but sort of like Quaker meets Westboro Baptist on crack). You might get something out of the interview video (you can find it on Dawkins' YouTube). More than that, she's taken her experience to council other victims of this kind of thing, which she also now considers child abuse. It might be a good place for you to start, because the impression I get is that there are networks of people who deal specifically with the therapeutic healing of the repercussions of these kind of experiences, that is, as distinguished from more widely-discussed forms of child abuse. She may mention an organization with which she's involved, or since it sounded as if she's a somewhat prominent figure on the issue, doing some research on her might lead you in the right direction. Sorry I can't remember her name...maybe someone else on here knows who I mean.

Enjoy RRS!

Ryan