Minnesota Atheists July/August Newsletter

The Minnesota Atheists July/August Newsletter is up and ready for your viewing pleasure. The PDF version (click here) has all of the amazing pictures from Pride Fest and the Fossil Hunt, so be sure to check that out, as well.

Atheists Ask Atheists

One of the best things about meeting other atheists is hearing atheists ask questions of others.  I expect these kind of questions from religious people, but not necessarily from freethinkers.

Atheists Ask Atheists 2

My niche at MNA is writing the fluff.  Someone needs to.     If you have any questions or have heard any good ones you’d want me to answer, send them over my way.

Thank Mr. Gore for Inventing the Internet Companion Piece

In my latest, Thank Mr. Gore for Inventing the Internet, I talked about sites and ways to meet other atheists online for friends or possibly more, and promised I’d share my personal story.  Here it is:

I was getting sick of dating people who were religious or believed in the supernatural.  I wasn’t mad at these guys, I just knew that their way of viewing the world really didn’t jive with mine.  I was becoming more and more adamant about my atheism and my lack of belief in the supernatural, and I desperately wanted to find someone who shared my worldview.
My sister said to me “Go on MySpace, there are tons of people on there!  I’m on there.”  Yeah, she is.  View the site here.  I’d warn you, but she’d probably get mad at me.

I didn’t want to be like everyone else, so I posted a page that had a picture of me at a Bigfoot Crossing sign, and I wrote pretending that I was searching for cryptozoological creatures.  This turned out to be a mistake, as it turns out there actually ARE people who are serious about this, and that was the bulk of my correspondence.  (My page as it exists today.)
I decided to take matters into my own hands, which is something atheists are pretty good for.  (Not a lot of sitting back waiting for ANY kind of intervention, really!)  I went on there, I searched for guys in my age range, in my area, who also were atheists.

That’s when I saw this funny picture of a guy leaning on a buddha statue.  I clicked on his profile, and he seemed to be just like me.  It was almost kind of scary!  I was able to see everything he liked, disliked, who his friends were, his blogs from years ago, his ideas, and pictures of him.  (Online profiles can be great for seeing what someone else is about!)  I struck up an internet conversation, but a few weeks later let him step up and ask me out.  That was more than two years ago, and we are now engaged.

I’ve never felt happier or more complete being with someone who shares my outlook on life.  Every day seems wonderful now.  It turned out that being with another atheist was something that was really important to me.  It’s also pretty fun, we can read books and discuss them, we both love to watch documentaries, and more recently, we’ve become more active with Minnesota Atheists together.  It’s so nice to always have someone to talk to about what you’re thinking and not have to censor yourself!

So, is the internet a scary place to meet people?  Heck yes, it is!  But not if you do it right.  Take your time, make sure the person’s real, get to know them slowly, just like you would anywhere else.  I found that the internet helped me narrow down my possibilities, which helped me to find the perfect person for me in only a few clicks!