I need a support group.

ArcturusXIV
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I need a support group.

If you've read my other thread, you already know the situation. I'm going to be debating a creationist soon, and I needed a bit of ammo. However, I'd like to expound on this topic further.

 First off, I live in St. George, Utah, where there are ONLY creationists. I know I run the risk of being charged with logical fallacy for that claim, but bear with me: empirically, the evidence is against me finding other atheists here, since even the government conspires to shut us down. For instance, one of my friends was kicked out of a local mall and almost arrested for wearing an anti-religious t-shirt. The cops even had the propensity to tell him that "freedom of speech only extended to what he said, not what he wore on his t-shirt." In addition, I can count the number of atheists I've met here on the fingers of one hand. So yeah, that many. We're few in number, and when we do dare speak out, we're often clobbered for our views.

In addition, I live in a Christian family. This is very hard on me, since the pressure is to become like them, a born-again, when in reality, I want nothing to do with it. I can't move out at present, as I'm confined to home due to a disability, and waiting on vocational rehab to pick up my schooling tab so I can move wherever I want, and get an education paid for by Uncle Sam. I'm not so much of a moocher that I want to be on disability, but I hardly have a choice. It's a personal matter.

Anyhow, I've come around full circle, so all I'm going to say is I need a good support group. I'm hoping to find it on this forum, and to challenge some christian arguments with logic and common sense, since I can't find it in real life. The problem I'm running into is most Christians rely on a set of circular arguments, or simply present emotional arguments for the existence of a higher deity (i.e. How can you NOT believe in a God? If you take a pen apart and shake it in a bag, it doesn't simply reorganize itself! There HAD to be a God! The whole universe cries out for it!). On a side note, I've never understood why the universe needed an explanation, but God didn't. And obviously, I'm not dealing with the brightest bulbs in the socket--these people have no grounding in evolutionary theory, philosophy, or physics, and yet they're willing to, as happened to me in church the other day, call evolution a "junk theory"--as if it was something evolutionists came up with on a drunken Friday, to paraphrase someone else (whose name eludes me). I'm very frustrated, and I don't know how to combat these people. My own mother is saying I'm "not rational" and have "no logic" due to my beliefs. It's a bit harder to maintain my cool when I'm not surrounded by others with similar beliefs, but that notwithstanding, I still am having trouble containing the pressure of this environment and maintaining my own belief system of evolution, simply because it seems nutty to argue with all these people.

So, anyway, this was more of a vent than anything, but I hope to make a few friends here. This will be my second introduction, but oh well. If any of you can offer any additional support or ideas for how to combat these idi*ts, feel free to post a reply. All I really want is for ONE PERSON to listen to me! I know these creationists have flawed views, but they are my family, and somehow I need to get them to accept logic, so if anyone has any idea of how to speak to them so they'll understand (in children's terms), throw me a friggin' clue.

Also, I'm on MySpace, so feel free to add me if you're an atheist, and feel like you want to discuss philosophy or science. The addy is: http://www.myspace.com/spiralsamadhi. I'd really appreciate some support at a time like this.

Farewell,

 

James K. B_____