atheist/agnostic tribe - Page 2

[orangebird]

Here with nothing to say (anymore)

And welcome. Fun doing roll call, it is.

[odenata]

Here!

[siobhang]

Originally Posted by heatherfeather

Is anyone in the thick of vacation bible school country? How do you respond when that topic comes up on the playground. We live in a more conservative area and my kids aren't school age yet, but this has come up quite a few times.

this is one reason we joined a UU church. We actually go to UU "vacation church camp" (suusi - southeastern unitarian universalist summer institute) - leaving in a week.

In addition to the community and religious education and all the other stuff we get from our church, we also get (some) protection from all the churchy types in our area trying to convert my kids...

[Lemon Juice]

I'm here! went to join in on the last thread and it was locked (pm'd the mod and got the answer as to why)

Glad it's back!!

Btw...we also say "salud" or "bless you", mostly salud tho (thought about this when my first was a baby...and stuck w/ it all these years)


Oh..I'm also about to change my user name...so I'll update the new one when I do

[voicegrrl]

Glad to find this thread. I have been having similar experiences with VBS, etc. Sometimes it feels like everyone in our neighborhood and our Irish Dance community is involved in church activities. I don't know why I always have that weird feeling inside when someone mentions it. Partly it's because my oldest had a lot of pressure from friends at school last year about not going to church and we had many discussions way past bedtime because she was so stressed about it. I wish I'd looked for a thread like this for support when all of that was going on. We live in the south and it seems like when you meet someone the first thing they do is ask you where you go to church. I already feel judged half the time because I have large tattoos on my arms. Then I give the whole "we don't go to church" statement. I just don't want my daughters to be treated badly for our decisions, KWIM?

[malibusunny]

I say "bless you" because it's culturally ingrained. I am always a little startled when someone says "god bless you" because I don't think of it that way.

Nick is too young for VBS (I think?) but we did have to deal with why he doesn't go to Sunday school, since all the other kids his age at daycare not only go to Sunday school weekly but go to the same church. I blamed our DJ company for keeping us up too late on Saturday nights. : I'm always afraid to say "because god is pretend" when it might affect my kid.

[voicegrrl]

You have a DJ business? I'm a DJ, the kind on the radio, but I used to do some weddings, dances, etc when I was younger. I usually am on the air on Sunday so I have used that as an excuse before ;-)

[orangecanoe]

Thanks for the VBS thoughts. I also have gotten excluded from conversations at gym class as well.

Voicegrrl---what you said about not wanted your kids to be treated badly for your decisions resonated.

more to say, but small people thwart me...

[lalaland42]

About the VBS thing. If it is an evangelist at the door, "no thank you we are atheists and don't plan on converting". If it is someone at playgroup, "no, we have enough going on, thanks."

Now that I dyed my hair purple and told everyone I know IRL we are atheists, VBS comes up surprisingly little.

[prairiemommy]

The two things:

Sneezing: We say "Bless you" but we mean it in a general, "Hope you're okay"-type way. I'm not creative enough to come up with something and "Gesundheit" always made me feel weird growing up b/c I came from a German family and felt like everyone was critiquing my pronunciation if I used it.

VBS: I just say, "No." but we're not in a thick bible belt here. We have a lot of "Christmas Christians" in our area that do VBS b/c their children's friends are doing it etc.... Quite often VBS is a one-day thing even so it's really not a big deal. We do know one family that will occasionally invite us to some function at their church (the un-Halloween party) but we just politely decline. It was hard when my kids were little because they thought they were being invited to a Halloween party and were upset when they found out I said no (the invites would inevitably come home with them from school). So now I just explain - "No, it's a religious instead-of-Halloween party" and they're okay.

Just an aside - the mom from the family that gives us invites once asked me, "So how *did* you name your children? They are such religious names!" (they are pretty traditional names which yes, just happen to be found in the bible). Sigh. I was a little taken aback because I felt like she was saying, "How did you manage to get that right at least?" but I answered, "Oh, we just liked the sound of them.".

More wordy than I imagined. Sorry!

[expat-mama]

I say "GROSS!"

just kiddin'- I don't really say anything because I don't like it when people say "bless you" to me...
I dislike the whole idea of "blessing". I guess I could say "oh, I hope you're not getting sick" or something along those lines...but I don't. Is that rude?

I don't feel neglected when people say nothing when I sneeze
People don't say "bless you" when you cough, burp, fart or hiccup...what's so special about sneezing?

[Sharlla]

Here

[darkpear]

Here, FWIW...

We're a 'gesundheit' house here too.

[Lemon Juice]

Originally Posted by expat-mama

I say "GROSS!"

just kiddin'- I don't really say anything because I don't like it when people say "bless you" to me...
I dislike the whole idea of "blessing". I guess I could say "oh, I hope you're not getting sick" or something along those lines...but I don't. Is that rude?

I don't feel neglected when people say nothing when I sneeze
People don't say "bless you" when you cough, burp, fart or hiccup...what's so special about sneezing?

"GROSS" :

There are a few origins as of why people say "bless you". I grew up knowing the one about your heart stopping when you sneeze, and saying bless you to bring you back, or something like that. There is also one about it being the first sign of the plague and people saying "bless you" to help stop the disease from spreading. I know.

[california_mom]

Originally Posted by LemonJuice

There is also one about it being the first sign of the plague and people saying "bless you" to help stop the disease from spreading. I know.

That's what i was gonna say.

[Lemon Juice]

Originally Posted by california_mom

That's what i was gonna say.

Great minds think alike...and all that

[moon.mom]

I'm here.

We are UU- so I'll probably just cruise those threads.
Or other non-religious websites.

In "Parenting Beyond Belief"- one of the stories mentions that they say
"THAT'S FUNNY!" when someone sneezes.

(It's a great book- BTW- for raising children without religion. We attend a UU church- and if you don't know-being atheist is perfectly okay in most UU churches.)

VBS.....
OMG- I was raised going to it.
As I mentioned- we are UU- and our "church camp" is this next week.
I'm so excited!!! The authors of the book, "Thank God for Evolution" are going to be the theme speakers. Not exactly sure- seems like he uses a lot of religious language. Should be interesting anyway.
We can always just go swimming or take naps if we don't like his stuff.

[cjanelles]

I'm glad to see this thread and the explanation herein for why it was removed and returned.

I'm having some atheist family issues myself, mainly being that I'm about to have to go back to work (I've been a SAHM) and the only quality daycare around here is actually in a church up the street from my house.

We don't vax and we're atheists and I'm going to have to put my 1 yr old in a church daycare. There's going to have to be some dishonesty going on here because we can only claim religious or medical exemption for not vaxing...I'm a little stressed about the whole thing, honestly.

As for sneezing? We say to the baby, "Scat cat!" and to everyone else (also atheist or agnostic) we say "You sneezed."

[jenners26]

I'm here too! Even though I've been lurking forever, I'm trying hard to post more! As far as sneezing...we just say bless you. That's what we said in my religious household growing up, and now, I'm too lazy to think of anything else!

[orangebird]

I usually say bless you.

I found out it is offensive to say god bless you in utah, so it works out good. Though I have no problem saying god bless you, what do I care, but now, living here it's just "bless you".