New Hampshire Brights

Let's form a community of like minded people with a naturalistic, a-theist, world view. I know there are many of us out there, even in the "Live Free or Die" state.

Together, we can have a voice in everything from local policy to national politics and help keep church and state separated (and out of our homes). More importantly we can "find" each other and speak in terms that otherwise have to be kept "religiously correct".

First one here? / jetsetdork on 23 Feb 2008

Hello NH Brights!

I hope that I'm not writing this just to myself and that soon there will be plenty of New Hampshire-ite Brights on this site. :)
I'll be honest and say that I'm for the most part 'closeted' about my atheism and that finding this safe-haven for NH Brights is a pleasant surprise. Lately I've been feeling like the only atheist in NH, although I know there's plenty of us out there! I was raised Baptist (but 'New England' Baptist, so a lot more boring than Southern Baptist, but just as fundamental) but there was a skeptical streak in me from a very early age. My life as a Christian was defined by my wrestling with skepticism, but ultimately I've come out on the other side of belief as a free thinker. It's a relief and a source of growing pride for me, but still a pride I cannot share with my family. I may have lost my fear of Hell, but I know if they knew about my non-belief that they wouldn't be able to look at me without picturing hell fires. That wouldn't be because they hate me but because they would see an eternity of torment ahead of me... which would kill them to think about. Also, the goal of Xian* parents is to raise godly children so having an atheist for a daughter would be a damnable failure ("raise [kids] up in the way they should go and the will never leave the path"... forgot where that comes from in the bible). Of course, maybe if I was out it might stir some skepticism inside them and they too may be able to "break the spell".

If anyone has any advice or experience with 'coming out' to staunch Xian friends/family please get in touch with me. :)

But enough about me... what about us? People have said that organizing atheists (and other people that can qualify as Brights) is like herding cats, but I feel that the term Bright coupled with the recent outburst in pro-atheist thought in popular culture might lead to an Pride movement. Of course, websites like civilbrights is a testament to that, so what I'm saying is nothing new. Therefore, returning to the original question, what do we want this group to be and what (if anything) should we do?

Also, what do you think of the term "Bright"? It's still fairly new to me so I'm still working out my opinions on it, but I'm wondering if anyone out there has mulled it over and come to any conclusions. For example, if you call yourself a Bright, what (if anything) did you call yourself before? How did you make the switch or decide to layer Bright onto your self?

These are a good handful of questions so I'll stop here, but I hope this is just the beginning of a conversation and perhaps a community.

Cheers,
Erin

* xian, it's like x-mas. I use it a lot.

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