So, atheists and other "nonbelievers" make up, I believe, five percent of the population. And sleevers are, what, 1% of the population? Less?

So agnostic/atheist sleevers like me are literally one in a million! I KNEW my momma was right when she said I was "special!"

I was thrilled when I first saw this subpost because it was so rare to see space given on a mainstream site to the nonreligious like me. So yes I assumed it would be a safe place to "hang" and just tall about whatever related to nonbelief...not just about the sleeve.

Now I would expect and welcome a question or statement like.....when I checked into the hospital did they asked you your religious affiliation?

Or what was have u found to be more shocking to people.. ...your decision to be sleeved or that you were a nonbeliever?

Can't we all just praise nothing and get along

And just my feelings on the matter, if you don't like what's being said on a sub forum or specific thread, it's a big site. Shuffle around. After all, there are only so many ways your religious affiliation or lack there of can be related to your research for this surgery.

I was thrilled when I first saw this subpost because it was so rare to see space given on a mainstream site to the nonreligious like me. So yes I assumed it would be a safe place to "hang" and just tall about whatever related to nonbelief...not just about the sleeve.

Now I would expect and welcome a question or statement like.....when I checked into the hospital did they asked you your religious affiliation?

Or what was have u found to be more shocking to people.. ...your decision to be sleeved or that you were a nonbeliever?

Unfortunately there's not much being discussed in this subforum, but somehow this one thread really took off. There's just no telling when a thread is going to gain traction and roll. But really, being a non-believer is kinda like being a non-Eskimo. You don't sit around discussing the fact that you're not an Eskimo. But, you certainly could.

So you're saying I was being too harsh?

Was that a trick question???

I told you I wasn't sticking my nose back into this thread, hehehe...

Was that a trick question???

I told you I wasn't sticking my nose back into this thread' date=' hehehe...

[/quote']

I knew you couldn't stay out.

Nonbeliever is a generic term encompassing lots of groups like; Freethinkers, Humanists, Atheists and Agnostics.

Nonbeliever is a generic term encompassing lots of groups like; Freethinkers' date=' Humanists, Atheists and Agnostics.[/quote']

Actually Agnostics are semi-believers, I think.

Agnostics state that there is no way to really know one way or the other if there is a god. You could consider ones self an agnostic atheist or a agnostic theist. Agnostic simply means without knowledge.

http://atheism.about.com/od/aboutagnosticism/a/atheism.htm

Perhaps it's because I work in academics... and feel like I run across a lot of atheists in my work and personal life... but I have a feeling that the real number is much much higher.

Most atheists and non-believers do not identify themselves because there is a huge social stigma that comes along with it. I believe I read a study once that cited that atheists were one of the most disliked/mistrusted groups in all of the US.

The Pew Research Center is the gold standard for research about religious issues.

In 2014 Pew found that, since 2007, self-identified US Christians declined from 78% to 71% of the adult US population.

The survey also found that 22.8% of adult Americans identified as religiously "unaffiliated," up 7% from 2007. These respondents included:

3.1% atheists

4.0% agnostics

15.8% "nothing in particular"

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/americans-christian-atheist-agnostic-survey-article-1.2219229

I'm curious as to what keeps you two from beleaving. Do you know something I do not?

What I do believe in is reality, I know, based on limited amounts provided to all of us, what science and reason knows. I know what is possible. Bigfoot is possible. Bigfoot has NO evidence that it exists. When (or more accurately, if) someone finds reliable and compelling evidence of such, I can consider it a possibility. Also know that humans have a lot to learn, I keep the minor possibility that a superior being could exist but with NO evidence what so ever, I can not believe in it.

Faith, the go-to answer for many is NOT enough. If one jumps off a building all the faith in the world will NOT make him fly. He will hit the sidewalk the way the theory of gravity teaches us so.