~*~ Nonbeliever / Non-religious Check-in ~*~

RedPhoenix625

Happy Thursday, Ladies!  Happy Thanksgiving to my American friends.  And Happy Not-Celebrating-Native-American-Slaughter to the rest of you!

This check-in group is intended for those of us who would like to connect with like-minded TTCALers for the purpose of providing non-religious support, which we may have difficulty finding elsewhere. We grieve differently than those with more mainstream religious views, and may also feel uncomfortable sharing our grieving process with others for this reason. There is a lack of communities and support structures available to non-religious individuals; I hope we can build one here.

***Please note, this group is NOT intended to offend anyone of religious faith.***

In order to try to eliminate any potential drama, and to avoid offending other posters, here are some ground rules to keep the peace. Please let me know of anything you think should be added or changed.

Ground rules:

~ Please keep these threads respectful, to each other and to the women with differing views who may read the posts. Our goal is support.
~ Though the topic of religion will inevitably be a frequent point of discussion, please refrain from anything that would likely be interpreted as bashing other religions. This is not the place for that. Yes, share your thoughts and experiences, but keep it tasteful.
~ Of course all posters are welcome here, but let's avoid theological debates on this thread. There are plenty of places on the web for theological debates. There aren't plenty of places for support for non-religious TTCALers.
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Members
If you would like to be added to the check-in, post here and I will add you to the list of members. 

alysiasienicki - spiritual but not religious
BootsOrHearts - spiritual but not religious
dandywarhol - nonbeliever
eroplane - atheist
heather52904 - atheist
jalara48 -
JennOH85 - agnostic
Kateinthecity - agnostic
katharine25 - it's complicated
lindseyanne79 - agnostic/spiritual
LSzwaya - agnostic/spiritual
mdharrison - spiritual but not religious
MissMheMhe - agnostic
mlal78 - agnostic
MsAmandaPants - it's complicated / agnostic/atheist
pkaren - agnostic
rachaelhudson - spiritual
RedPhoenix625 - atheist
RequiresExalted - agnostic
shellyco - atheist
SwittyMcGee - atheist
Veganlady - agnostic
wickedsugar - spiritual but not religious
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

QOTW:

Since many of us will be at family gatherings today, which may likely involve prayer...what is, or would be, your response when a prayer is said and expected to be participated in?  Like at family dinner?  Or (god forbid, pun intended), at work? (Yes, this has happened to me.  In a public school, for crying out loud!)

 

Also, thinking about Native Americans made me wonder about about everybody's ethnic make-up.  If you care to share, I think that would be really interesting!

Hope everyone's having a great week!

RedPhoenix625

Regarding peer pressure prayer, I always sit quietly but do not bow my head.  If hand-holding takes place, it makes me feel uncomfortable, but I will usually participate because I don't know how to respectfully decline, and also because the hand-holding to me is more about connecting with each other than with god.  Or at least it makes me feel better to think that.

Family or otherwise more private prayers don't really bother me.  It pisses me off to no end though when my boss is leading the staff in prayer.  It is not her right to choose for an entire staff if, when, and how to pray, or to make anybody feel as though it is required.

For those curious, I'm a mutt.  Larger parts Irish and Native American, with a sprinkle of German and Dutch, I'm told.  I mostly just look Irish, though.

LSzwaya

I haven't check in on here in forever. #Fail. When it comes to a family prayer, I would just bow my head and wait for it to be over. It doesn't make uncomfortable and so I just sit there I guess.

 

I am mostly  Polish and Irish with a drop of English. I mostly look Polish. 

lindsayanne14

Hello Ladies!

Like most of you I tend to just sit quietly and wait for it to be over.  DH's Grandparents are extreme Catholic, so we pray a lot at their house!

 A funny prayer story from when I was little...we never prayed before a meal at my house, but I guess the woman that baby sat me always prayed before meals and I obviously observed it.  According to my mom, we were at a large extended family gathering when I was about 4 and when we sat down to eat someone asked who would like to say Grace.  I spoke up and said I would like to say it.  My mom says in her head she was thinking "WTH is she going to say?"...well, everyone got quiet and then I said, simply the word "Grace"...prayer over.  I guess everyone had a good laugh at my expense!  That story is the extend of my praying before a meal!

 OK...ethnicity, I am Irish, German and Italian, I'm not sure if I look like any of them in particular! 

heather52904

Similar to everyone, during prayer I just bow my head and wait. Neither my family or DH's family pray, unless extended family is there and wants to do it. DH's parents like to toast before a meal on holidays etc, so that's nice.

For ethnicity, I am mostly English and German I think. Both sides of my family have been in the US for a long time.

katharine25

I just keep quiet. I don't see anything wrong with silent reflection. I hate the "amen" part though - sometimes I surprise myself and say it too.

 

Ethnicity: I'm a 1/4 Spanish, 1/4 French, then sprinkle in some Canadian Native American, Irish, Danish & German. DH is a mix of Persian, Russian & Romanian - I think we'll have some pretty nifty looking kids. I have high hopes that somehow the his recessive gene with take over and we'll have blue eyed & dark haired kids

ravenclaw1

H and I are Jewish, my family is Catholic. It's loads of fun.

We go to church with them out of respect whenever we're with them for holidays. Prayer used to be awkward for me (I converted about 5 years ago), but I've gotten to the point where I'm ok not participating. I just let the signs of the cross and thanking Jesus go, and if I'm asked to participate, I just politely decline. It used to be a sore point with my mom, but it's gotten better. She loves to pray and fully believes that it will change the world and bad luck and all sorts of other stuff, so I let her go with it because I don't want to try to take that positivity away with my negativity toward it. 

lindsayanne14

katharine25:

I just keep quiet. I don't see anything wrong with silent reflection. I hate the "amen" part though - sometimes I surprise myself and say it too.

 

Ethnicity: I'm a 1/4 Spanish, 1/4 French, then sprinkle in some Canadian Native American, Irish, Danish & German. DH is a mix of Persian, Russian & Romanian - I think we'll have some pretty nifty looking kids. I have high hopes that somehow the his recessive gene with take over and we'll have blue eyed & dark haired kids

My DH has dark hair and beautiful blue eyes...like you I hope my future children get that combo...or at least not my boring brown eyes!

KatieintheCity

I just bow my head for a moment of silent reflection during family prayers. I have never had the work thing!

I'm a western European mutt, but mostly Italian (50%). The other 50% is a mix of Irish, German, Swiss, and French.

DH is Pennsylvania Dutch, his family has been here since the 1600s. The areas of Europe they came from are now Germany/France.