Do any of you attend a freethinkers meetup?

I would wonder what the point would be. Perhaps just that one would not be troubled by religious enthusiasts. Of course, once upon a time, one did not discuss religion or politics in polite society. I’d not be interested other than for social reasons. What kind of “atheist” discussion would you have?

I don’t believe there is a god.

Neither do I.

{Long silence]

Read any good books lately?

I haven’t and don’t think I would, especially being slightly older lol. Atheism just isn’t something I’m super interested in. I went through a phase where I criticized it heavily, but I like to keep things light hearted in actual social situations.

Well that and I’m too cool to join a club, I’m a lone wolf lol.

What did Groucho say? ” I don’t want to belong to any club that will accept me as a member.”

On Fridays a group of us get together online to talk science. The Friday meeting is 2 hours while listening to Science Friday on NPR, and on Sundays, much of the same group gets together to listen to a BBC radio show called Naked Scientist. Most of us are atheist, but anyone interested in REAL science is welcome to join. Trolls get muted.

I’ve attended a few meetings of the local chapter of the American Humanists Association. It led to some interesting discussions, but since I was the youngest attendee by nearly 25 years, I had very little in common with the other members apart from our shared religious views.

I’m a member of several social Facebook groups for nonbelievers, including one for secular homeschoolers in my area.

I also attend SciFri with @cazzie

None of us sit around and discuss our atheism, except as peripheral to our lives. It’s just a way to make friends without the dreaded surprise of having your new friend turn out to be religious, and their surprise at finding out you’re not.

Yes, it’s often enough a problem to go out of your way to avoid it.

Some examples of things you might only want to talk to nonbelievers about:

“My parents found out I’m an atheist and now they call CPS on me all the time to try to get my kids taken away.”

“My mom has treatable cancer and won’t let the doctors work on her because some woo friends told her about IV vitamin C. I’m afraid my mom’s going to die for no reason.”

“Ugh, another first date in the bin when he tried to pray over dinner. Everything after that was so awkward.”

“I am looking for a group science class for my seven year old that teaches actual science, bonus points if he’s not going to end up arguing with a religious ten year old about whether evolution is real.”

And then there are the camping trips and bar crawls, which are just for fun.

Regarding science and religion. In my experience the majority of religious people also study and are interested in science. It’s just an extreme fringe that completely reject it. Sure, there might be a larger number than “fringe” who reject evolution, but evolution is only a small part of many scientific topics.

I guess scientists are more likely to be atheists than the general population maybe? I just don’t see why God would come up at all when discussing a scientific topic.

You probably don’t have much experience talking about science.

Evolution is not simply a small topic. It is one of the most thoroughly proven, evidentially supported scientific theories known to man.

If you reject evolution you reject the scientific method. Period.

My father ran committees that evaluated scientific method for research for the government. I don’t think he ever once approved a study involving evolution. He was over mental health research, but there is all sorts of medical research done that doesn’t require specific attention to evolution.

Then add botany, geology, chemistry, all sorts of interests that evolution might never come up. My most religious/Christian friend is a biologist.

@JLeslie So, botany excludes evolution? WHAT? Since when?

No, of course it doesn’t exclude evolution.

There nothing worse than meeting someone you thought was a nice person only to find out later that they are Christian. Oh, the horror. I only hope you all are able to overcome your Christianophobia. Those people are out there and they’re hiding in the most unlikely occupations.

And Reductio ad Absurdum has arrived.

I was wondering how long it would take.

A Freethinker’s group is no different than a group for people who share a political ideology, or an MBTI score, or an interest in birdwatching.

It’s just a way to meet people you have something in common with, and occasionally to discuss things relevant to that shared interest.

Do people actually discuss religion with people in social settings? It seems such an odd idea to me. I have absolutely no idea what most people I know believe/don’t believe in the area of religion/faith. One neighbour, who is in her 80’s, does talk about church – but it’s mostly about social events at church and what she’s baking/buying for them.

I think I see it now. What they have in common is their disdain for those that think differently. I guess that’s why they call it ‘Free Thinkers’.

And now we have a straw man.

What they have in common is a lack of orthodoxy.

This god/no god crapola is just not a part of my real life. It never comes up. When the holy rollers come to the door, I’m very polite—as i close the door in their faces and return to my real life.

There is a local “humanists” meet-up that I’ve thought of attending but I’ve found a welcoming and comfortable place for my personal atheistic growth in the local Unitarian congregation. There is no conflict there between believers and non-believers and also no dispute over the veracity of science.

I know ETPro who was a Jelly is a member of a freethinkers group.

There isn’t always conflict. I’m an atheist. I have a very good relationship with my neighbours. Upstairs are JW’s, and my new neighbours are delightful and are 7th Day Adventists. It does make it impossible to have Home-owner’s meetings on the weekends, but we make due with Monday evenings.

That being said, back in the ol’ USofA, where my family is, I have sisters, brothers and sisters in law who think I’m guilty of child abuse because I’m not raising my child Christian and nor have I baptised him. So, yeah, sometimes it does come up.

There is a tradition here in Norway where when children reach the age of 14 or 15, they go through a program, traditionally Christian, to be ‘Confirmert’ or Confirmed. It is historically a rite of passage into adult hood. It means you no longer have to go to bed with the children, but can stay up with the adults and ‘party on’ into the evening wee hours. These days there is a very large Humanist Association, one of the largest in the world, actually. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norwegian_Humanist_Association They run a program so teens can still go through being confirmed by sitting in classes to make them more aware of the world around them, teach them more empathy and open their eyes to the role they take as citizens in one of the most advantaged countries in the world. The year my step son was involved (he couldn’t partake fully due to his profound issues with ASD) they had the kids walk all day and into the night where they met several problems meant to simulate just a little of what refugees face when they have to flee their homes in war torn areas of the world. It was awe inspiring and tear rendering, I can tell you.