Education and Religion

[Rosa]

It wasn't very long ago that we didn't have a computer & the internet in almost every house. (when did it become normal to be online 24/7? Sometime in the 90s? Later? I honestly don't know.)

That's a really good point - a lot of people didn't have anyone to talk to about stuff like this. I keep meeting atheists online who have nobody in their regular life who knows they're an atheist, because they're afraid to tell them. Before the internet, nobody would have known. And that contributes to people never talking about their doubts, because they don't have anyone neutral to talk about it with.

[Lainey]

My friend recently moved to Calgary for grad school...but she denies the conservative Christian element. She said most people were United, if religious at all. I don't believe her. One of my high school friends moved there because her father got a job. She left a nice Sunday Protestant, open minded girl and came back born again telling me my beliefs were unture and of "the Devil". She said, I didn't have proof for my beliefs whereas she had the tomb of Jesus. I said, "Really? Were you there when he died? Did you see it with your own eyes?" She obviously said no and I told her then it is belief, something she has faith in but no proof of. She stopped talking to me. She recently added me to FB and is nice enough. She isn't fundie in the sense of legalism, gender roles, dress code etc. She's had a job and things. But she believes in a literal interpretation of the Bible and no sex before marriage. Her sister is my age and has had a kid nearly every year so I'm not sure their stance on birth control. I know she is anti choice though.

A lot of people from here go out West for work in the summer. My friend was working on a construction site in Alberta a couple summers back. He's an atheist and someone mentioned religion. He's not the lying type so he told the truth. He said everyone dropped their shovels and stared at him. He felt really nervous about it.

I mean obviously this is only one section of the population, but they DO exist.

Well, your friend just may not have met the fundie-light types (they are all pretty fundie-light, from what I can tell). I swear they just find me. :? I met all of my fundie-light friends at various workplaces.

On the other hand, I've met friends who aren't religious at all (although I sought them out because I felt kind of alone, like I had to hide a part of myself all the time). My husband's an atheist...probably more of one than me because he hasn't ever had experiences with any ghosties. ;) I don't know how to explain it...it's just kind of weird here. It's not like everybody is an anti-evolutionist nutjob, but they are there. I am surprised that a bunch of construction workers would care if someone's an atheist, though. In my experience, they tend to not be the religious sort.