I know this is a little long, but at the 8:28 portion Rebecca starts to tell the story of her interview with Wolf Blitzer. However it is around the 9:40 mark that she tells what it is like to be put in a position that every Atheist living in the Bible Belt fears.
Her emotion is so raw, and so honest, that it may serve to explain to those who are religious what it is like for those of us living in America who are not.
I remember that original interview. I cheered.
ReplyDeleteI opened my door once and found one of the local ministers standing there, offering me information and church stuff. The look on his face, when I said "I'm an atheist" was priceless.
I had the same thing happen - with one difference. The idiot actually had the temerity to say, "Aw come on. You don't mean that!"
DeleteAs politely as I possibly could, considering how angry that made me, I told him I was dead serious and that he should leave and take his lousy fucking manners with him.
HE got angry! THAT made me laugh and slam the door in his face.
And I live in SC, so I KNOW the constant, subliminal fear she speaks of. I keep wondering when that one crazy shit is going to try to take my beliefs out on me.
i am glad she has had some positive experiences after her coming out. she seems very grounded and positive emotionally. i am encouraged to hear her story and hope we hear many more in the years to come.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful. Thanks so much for posting this.
ReplyDeleteWatch this video all the way through. By the end, it's just remarkable. I know exactly how she feels. The words "I am an atheist" only escape my lips in very, very limited company: my spouse, a handful of close friends. The fact that I am genuinely scared to tell others is totally unacceptable in the 21st century. (I live in the South.)
ReplyDeleteLike 9:45, I could relate. I was very happy to hear about that website, as that is one thing we miss. My husband has amazing mechanical and engineering skills and would love to share them, but all the opportunities come from strict religious groups. He went one time and found they wasted huge amounts of time praying and preaching.
ReplyDeleteI don't blame her for being "in the closet" about it , seeing she lives in Oklahoma.
ReplyDeleteThat's one of the most red states in the USA, and home to many ultra right groups, and has a huge number of evangelical churches
Saying you're an athiest down in Oklahoma would be like confessing to being a burglar or a drug dealer, or worse in blue states.
G, thank you for posting Rebecca's story.
ReplyDeleteI must have been a very skeptical five or six year old. I had just learned the Pledge at school in 1953, and after that over the Summer my Mom had the "under god" debate on the TV. My side lost and she never knew that I was a non-believer until I was well into my forties and she called me an "INFIDEL!" I have never been required to swear on a bible....but I would tell the truth because it is the correct thing to do in a "civil" society.
I believe that the earth is round and we humans are all in this together. I usually will tell someone that I am a humanist and usually it is okay with them.....I do have a neighbor that could be the spawn of Ann Coulter and Sarah Palin that put out a Catholic Girls' School Fatwa on me when she found out that I wasn't religious or spiritual and all the praying she was doing for me was wasted effort. And as a bonus, I do not need to worry about being elected to a homeowners association office,
RJ in Brownbackistan
Having been raised Atheist and having had limited contact with religious people in my life I find that sharing my Atheist title with others simply comes naturally. I don't understand religious people and I guess they just want to "save" me, but being Atheist is just who I am, it is who my family is and we have been this way for generations and really I've never hesitated to tell anyone that asks that I simply don't think the way they do; I wasn't raised that way and I'm secure in who I am and my life has never included any sort of god. I try not to mock those who have faith and I try my best not to feel sorry for them. If pressed, I simply say I'm a realist. My father always says that some people need something more to get through this life and as long as they aren't harming us then who are we to judge.
ReplyDeleteI do however draw the line at the very real cabal of religious right evangelicals that are trying to do harm to our government and the very foundation of our country through their religious theory. That I find abhorrent and would share that with anyone that cares to listen, but those folks who find solace in any belief in god that does no harm to others, well, if that's how they want to live life then so be it.
Well said, 12:42!
DeleteI completely agree with you about not caring if others want to believe as long as they don't mess with me or mine as the xtians are trying to do.
Unfortunately, they simply WILL NOT ACCEPT that stance and refuse to alter their attacks in any way. They are out to destroy this secular government to install a religious one in its place, completely refusing to accept the fact the nation was created secular.
I sometimes enjoy slapping them down with FACTS! It may not change their ideas one iota, but it certainly goes a long way with most people who listen in! (Provided, of course, they aren't the same idiots.)
The entire video is well worth watching for both religious and secular communities. I live on the east coast and thought coming out was difficult, I can't imagine living in the Bible Belt and coming out in an interview on national television. I'm happy for her family and glad her pets survived and are home.
ReplyDeleteThe idea of an organization to help people see the good that secular people do is brilliant. Maybe we'll realize that what we have in common is more important than if we belong to an organized religion or not.
Gryph:
ReplyDeleteThought you'd appreciate this...... http://www.thinkatheist.com/m/blogpost?id=1982180%3ABlogPost%3A44493