Guest hdskeptic Posted December 21, 2009 Share Posted December 21, 2009 Hello Ex-Christians- I've wrapped up a 9 year deconversion process from christianity. My family memebers are all very involved christians. My wife teaches at a christian school, where both my children attend. My wifes father is a preacher. Most of our friends are either friends from church or christian freinds we have met through other christian friends. As you can imagine, being a recovering christian in this kind of environment was far from easy. At times, its been a bit lonely. I've had to bite my tounge thousands of times in order to keep the peace at home and with my extended family. At some point I'll share some of the issues I've run into as a new atheist living in a christian world, however at this point, I have a different topic on my mind. I would really enjoy meeting some like minded people in my area. In fact, since I enjoy studying science and religion and discussing all of the arguments for and against christianity and have absolutley no one to discuss these things with, I would love to start an anti-bible bible study for other people out there just like me. I have no idea how to find people like us in my hometown or how to organize such a meeting. Any ideas? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shyone Posted December 21, 2009 Share Posted December 21, 2009 Hello Ex-Christians- I've wrapped up a 9 year deconversion process from christianity. My family memebers are all very involved christians. My wife teaches at a christian school, where both my children attend. My wifes father is a preacher. Most of our friends are either friends from church or christian freinds we have met through other christian friends. As you can imagine, being a recovering christian in this kind of environment was far from easy. At times, its been a bit lonely. I've had to bite my tounge thousands of times in order to keep the peace at home and with my extended family. At some point I'll share some of the issues I've run into as a new atheist living in a christian world, however at this point, I have a different topic on my mind. I would really enjoy meeting some like minded people in my area. In fact, since I enjoy studying science and religion and discussing all of the arguments for and against christianity and have absolutley no one to discuss these things with, I would love to start an anti-bible bible study for other people out there just like me. I have no idea how to find people like us in my hometown or how to organize such a meeting. Any ideas? If there isn't an organization in your area that sounds like "Skeptics", "Freethinkers" or "Humanism/Humanistic" then you may find your friends mostly on the internet. How big is Victorville, CA? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShallowByThyGame Posted December 21, 2009 Share Posted December 21, 2009 Do you know of Atheist Nexus? That may help find nearby freethinkers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hereticzero Posted December 21, 2009 Share Posted December 21, 2009 Hello Ex-Christians- I've wrapped up a 9 year deconversion process from christianity. My family memebers are all very involved christians. My wife teaches at a christian school, where both my children attend. My wifes father is a preacher. Most of our friends are either friends from church or christian freinds we have met through other christian friends. As you can imagine, being a recovering christian in this kind of environment was far from easy. At times, its been a bit lonely. I've had to bite my tounge thousands of times in order to keep the peace at home and with my extended family. At some point I'll share some of the issues I've run into as a new atheist living in a christian world, however at this point, I have a different topic on my mind. I would really enjoy meeting some like minded people in my area. In fact, since I enjoy studying science and religion and discussing all of the arguments for and against christianity and have absolutley no one to discuss these things with, I would love to start an anti-bible bible study for other people out there just like me. I have no idea how to find people like us in my hometown or how to organize such a meeting. Any ideas? Check out the groups and clubs at your local college or university. Read the paper and see who the Christians are protesting this week and join their group. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest hdskeptic Posted December 21, 2009 Share Posted December 21, 2009 Victorville is not tiny, about 100,000 - but were clumped together with two other cities, Apple Valley and Hesperia. All total, there is close to 250,000 people here. I've searched for groups online that are based out of the area and have come up short. I figured maybe I'd start my own. I haven't heard of Atheist Nexus, I'll check that out. Thanks everyone... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vomit Comet Posted December 21, 2009 Share Posted December 21, 2009 Good ol' Victimville. (Btw, ever been to Charlie Brown's in Little Rock?) I always got the impression that that neck of the woods was dominated by Mormons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HRDWarrior Posted December 22, 2009 Share Posted December 22, 2009 I've actually met some people who are "like minded" through other meetup groups as well...one in particular in this area that was for people living in this town but not native to it (ie no real connections), and I've met a few people there that have a similar outlook. Although since I'm back in grad school I do meet some people at school as well, but time is limited for a "social life." Oh, I also have met some through the dog rescue that I volunteer through - I would say your best bet it is to just get out and get involved in some groups that aren't church related. You may find there are fewer christians out there than you realized once you manage to network outside of that circle. You may even have luck in some outdoor activity groups, book clubs, etc - whatever interests you - it may not lead to a real debate forum, but its often good just to realize that it's not necessary to focus on the bad so much and just focus on enjoying life. You can always debate the bible and such here! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FourDogBrewing Posted December 22, 2009 Share Posted December 22, 2009 Welcome, I was just happy to find an online community like this one. lol Anyway welcome to the forums. Perhaps this would help? I don't know the geography around you so it may not: http://atheists.meetup.com/cities/us/ca/san_bernardino/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tvaholic Posted December 23, 2009 Share Posted December 23, 2009 I have started going to community classes in my area. I joined a book club through the parks and recreations department of my city and have met some great people. Some of the people in the group are xtians, but a lot of them are not. I live in Southern California also and am surrounded by family and friends that are xtians. I've just recently deconverted so I'm slowly finding ways to meet new friends. My kids go to public school so I've also started paying more attention to the other parents are there - looking for the non fanatical ones. ;-) I think finding friends now means we just have to be a little more creative. All of my life my friennds have come from church or church school, so this is definitely a new experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R. S. Martin Posted December 23, 2009 Share Posted December 23, 2009 I Googled "Victorville + atheists" (I used quotes) and got some interesting results. I don't know the local geography well enough to know if any of it works for you but I think a few of the links might be worth a look. From my cubby-hole here in Southern Ontario, Canada, it looks like groups may already exist, but like I said, I don't know the geography well enough. Also, it looks like I'd have to join a group or contact someone to check it out for sure and I'm not in the mood to bother since it's not for me. If it were for me I certainly would do more research on this providing everything else is right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hungrydingo Posted December 24, 2009 Share Posted December 24, 2009 You could try meetup.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FourDogBrewing Posted December 25, 2009 Share Posted December 25, 2009 If there isn't an organization in your area that sounds like "Skeptics", "Freethinkers" or "Humanism/Humanistic" then you may find your friends mostly on the internet. Shyone is spot on here, for my area there is a group that calls themselves "Freethinkers". Amazingly I found this out watching Dawkins Root of All Evil show. He visited Colorado Springs in his show (where I live) and metup briefly with some local Freethinkers. lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Creepy Doll Posted December 26, 2009 Share Posted December 26, 2009 If there isn't an organization in your area that sounds like "Skeptics", "Freethinkers" or "Humanism/Humanistic" then you may find your friends mostly on the internet. Shyone is spot on here, for my area there is a group that calls themselves "Freethinkers". Amazingly I found this out watching Dawkins Root of All Evil show. He visited Colorado Springs in his show (where I live) and metup briefly with some local Freethinkers. lol Wow. Colorado Springs has freethinkers? I figured after 25 years, Dobson would have taken the place over by now, seceded and created the Republic Of FOTF. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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