About Teen Atheist
Teen Atheist (name withheld) is a teenage girl who lives in a little third-world country where 94% of the population is Christian. She will only refer to her homeland as Predominantly Christian Country, although various hints left around the website may clue you in to what country it is. Guesses are welcome. She does not care if the location, or even her real identity, is divulged; she just feels that names are not important on this blog. After all, she is Teen Atheist, not [insert nationality here] Atheist.
She currently lives with her family: two parents she can barely mask her contempt for, and a brother who will only be referred to on this site as Pete*. (Teen Atheist initially thought of referring to him as “Motherfucking Dipshit Douchebag,” but “Pete” is easier to pronounce/type.) Teen Atheist is currently not on speaking terms with Pete. All three family members are still Roman Catholic (but barely), and do not approve of her newfound atheism. They’ve all been rather bigoted about it, which is no surprise to Teen Atheist.
Teen Atheist aspires to become a Creative Writing major at her Dream College, which is run by Jesuits. Her short-term career goal is to be a columnist for a magazine, although she secretly longs to be a television screenwriter for a hit dramedy. Or a writer for Rolling Stone, whatever comes first.
my guess would be [censored].
And that guess would be right. Shhh, don’t tell anyone!
Aww, man, I wanted to guess it first! Guess my Google-ing wasn’t fast enough.
… by a whole day, according to your time. That’s kind of weird.
Oh, and the fact that I repeated “guess” like that really bothers me.
Okay then, new rule: I’m censoring all guesses after I read them so the rest of you will still have a shot at figuring it out.
(Though, honestly? There are so many clues here that it’s impossible not to get it right the first time around! :P)
steps to finding out the location.
[censored]
*grins* Yes, overcaffein8d, that did cross my mind. There are also clues littered in the first post (i.e. religious demographic and the divorce statistic). So many things. It’s a real cake walk!
and that’s exactly how i did it.
i suppose great minds think alike.
[though i suppose i'm slightly psychotic...haha]
there were only like three dots– two in the west coast of north america and one…well, yeah.
nakidaan. nakitambay. nakiusisa.
nice blog you have here! i really enjoyed reading your posts! looking forward to reading more of your teenage atheist life.
rakenrol!
Hey there, me again. Just thought I’d forward this link to you, from an American advice columnist. Thought it might interest you, and strike a chord:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ucda/20071009/lf_ucda/momusesemotionalblackmailtogetherchildrentochurch;_ylt=Ar2oE3r87kDPdYvkWLUW6zZY24cA
Take care!
John
Here’s my guess as what country: [censored].
John: Bingo.
Funny, that was the first thing that popped into my mind.
Here in the San Francisco Bay Area we have a huge [bleep] population, needless to say. You should come here for a visit and let me know how the [bleep] cuisine is.
BTW, do you know that [bleep] has officially been banned from your country by the government?
Yeah, my friend Camille lives there. She’s not crazy about the cuisine there, though.
I do plan to visit her sometime when I save up enough money.
As for [bleep] being banned from the country, yeah, we’re a terribly, annoyingly sensitive race, although we’re just as racist as the rest of the world. I can’t help but roll my eyes sometimes.
Well, hey, if you ever come over here, seriously, let me know. I’d be happy to show you around. There’s a great show you should not miss called “Beach Blanket Babylon.” (Ask Camille, I’m sure she knows about it.) And there are lots of churches, even in my neighborhood, so you could poke around and see if any miracles take place!
http://www.wired.com/culture/geekipedia/magazine/geekipedia/faith_smackdown
Hey, where’d you go? You okay?
John
I’m still standing, John — in fact, new blog post up!
Good to know. Yours is probably my favorite blog.
Heya. I’ve added you to the [censored] Atheist’s blogroll.
Thought this might amuse you…
http://inrepair.net/2007/12/04/who-blesses-the-atheist/
happy christmas, Teen Atheist [insert your real name here]
I’m sorry for my rather weird question, I’m so interested; could you please answer me how do you understand the word “God”? I’m interested in what atheists think about it… greetings!
Sure. I see “God” as a mere concept of something. God is an imaginary being, kind of like Zeus or Hades.
Hello Teen Atheist,
I just found your blog, and I’m enthralled. I’m in a very similar position to yours: 16-year old, former Catholic, now atheist libertarian, living in a small and predominantly Christian country (not third-world though). Apparently there are more of us! I’ll subscribe to your feed right now, and I hope I can become a regular commenter
Cheers,
hexphreak
Ah yes, and… [censored]? (stats plus ClustrMap)
Hexfreak: Yup.
Nice to see more people like me around! If you ever need any advice or just someone to talk to, I’m just a Contact page away. 
Hey there, do you live in [censored]? I like your blog. Demographically, we’re different but I can still relate. Keep up the good work
Thanks, Dave!
And yes, I do live there.
I stumbled across this blog http://samnunnally.wordpress.com/2008/01/15/i-like-atheists/ and was amused by this “smart and reasonable” post that any intelligent eighth grader could see is full of holes and biases. So I answered some of his points. Turns out my comment is “awaiting moderation,” which means it’ll probably be rejected, so I thought with your permission I’d post it here so at least it would have some life on the internet. Why do these kooks give such terrible arguments and think they’re so brilliant?
—
jgrab1 Says:
I find it interesting that religious people keep putting up straw men to knock down, because they can’t argue the real points. Atheists don’t have problems such as the existence of God and the problem of evil. The existence of God is plenty of a problem, but you folks keep inserting doubts about evil, I guess in an effort to make atheists look immoral. Atheists don’t doubt evil, and in fact would be quick to point out organized religion such as that in which you believe as a magnet for it.
Then you say “Most atheist writings I’ve seen are deeply concerned with the character of God. What makes God worth following? Good question.”
No it’s not. I can’t find an atheist who asks such a thing. Nice straw man again. They don’t believe in the existence of God, so how can they be worried about if he’s “worth following”? What’s with the constant red herrings with you guys? Is it because you have real argument?
Then you say “Unfortunately most atheists are too busy reading very angry books by Hitchens, Dawkins and Harris ”
I’ve read these books. How are they “angry”? The Bible isn’t angry, is it? Jesus and God smiting people, castsing them to eternal damnation because they don’t worship as God wishes, or worship at all? That’s nice compassionate stuff. Dawkins, Harris et al offer logical arguments against religion, rather devoid of emotion at all if you’d actually read them. Would a follower of the Big Band say his rejection of Hoyle makes his belief “angry”? Nice straw man again, though.
“…that reinforce their predetermined assumptions. And we know everything in those books is “spin-free,” right?”
Just as is everything in your post.
> You have to expereince God to know he exists.
Yeah, Tom Cruise was saying that recently too about Scientology. I haven’t been indoctrinated, neither have you, so we’re both clearly delusional and he is right. See how easy it is to see The Truth when it’s revealed via Divine Revelation rather than logic?
Oh, I should have added I don’t mind arguing about atheism vs. theism, though I, unlike them, realize you can’t prove a religion. But what I don’t like is how they constantly put up straw men. I’ve never seen on religious argument that stays on topic. It’s like when you talk to the UFO nuts and they’re *astonished* you don’t believe in flying saucers. They say, “How can you be so egotistical to think that you’re the only intelligent life in the entire universe of ten billion billion billion billion trillion stars?” To which I say, “Nowhere did I say I’m the only intelligent life in the universe.” To which they say “You just said you don’t believe in flying saucers.” You cannot convince them the two are not the same issue. Yet even an eighth grader can see, if they’re not a cultist, that these are separate and very distinct questions. These people don’t want the truth, however; they just want the satisfaction of pretending they’re searching for it.
ABC News
Anti-Gay Church to Protest Ledger Funeral
Church, Known for Protests of Soldiers’ Funerals, to Picket Actor’s Memorial
By RUSSELL GOLDMAN
Jan. 24, 2008
A fundamentalist church whose members demonstrate at the funerals of
soldiers killed in Iraq and believe God hates gays will protest the Academy
Awards and the funeral of Heath Ledger, because the actor played a gay
cowboy in the 2005 film “Brokeback Mountain.”
Members of the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kan., are trying to
find out where the 28-year-old actor’s funeral will be held and have already
made signs to hold outside the Oscars that read “God Hates Fags and Fag
Enablers,” “Heath in Hell” and “Mourn for Your Sins,” Shirley
Phelps-Roper,
daughter of the church’s controversial founder Pastor Fred Phelps, told
ABCNEWS.com.
Though Ledger was not gay, the church believes he “misused the giant
megaphone given to him by God Almighty to speak the truth about fags,”
Phelps-Roper said, and instead “used his position of prominence to say God
is a liar and that homosexuality is not an abomination.”
The time and location of the Ledger’s funeral remain unknown, but it is
widely believed it will take place in the actor’s native Australia.
George Amado, the general manager of New York City’s Frank E. Campbell
funeral home, told The Associated Press that funeral arrangements for the
actor are complete and his relatives are expected to arrive in New York City
Friday.
He refused to elaborate further, saying, “The family doesn’t want us
to
give out any information.”
“They are going to try and hide the body like a bunch of ghouls so we
can’t protest. The only thing in this country people worship more than
filthy sex acts is the dead,” Phelps-Roper said.
[REPEAT: "The only thing in this country people worship more than filthy
sex acts is the dead," Phelps-Roper said.]
She said members of the church had already purchased plane tickets to
picket outside the Oscars, scheduled for Feb. 24 in Hollywood.
A press release posted to the church’s Web site, http://www.
godhatesfags.com, reads: “Heath Ledger
is now
in Hell, and has begun serving his eternal sentence there — besides which,
nothing else about Heath Ledger is relevant or consequential.”
According to the Web site, the church, founded in 1955, has held more
than 34,000 protests. But Phelps-Roper said there are currently only 50
members.
Hate Group, or Religious Freedom?
The Southern Poverty Law Center considers the church a hate group
because of its “platform, writings and statements by its leader, which are
egregiously anti-gay,” said Mark Potok, director of the center’s
Intelligence Project.
“The group is made up of people who are almost literally out of their
minds,” Potok said. “In addition to regularly picketing the deaths of
American soldiers killed in Iraq, they have picketed the funeral of little
girls killed in a school bus crash because they wanted to link the death of
children with ‘America’s sin.’”
Last year a Baltimore jury determined the Westboro Baptist Church was
too vulgar and offensive to be covered by the First Amendment. The church
was ordered to pay nearly $11,000,000 to Albert Snyder, who brought a suit
after the Phelps clan picketed the funeral of his 20-year-old son Matthew,
who died while serving in Iraq.
The group routinely uses young children on its picket lines, sometimes
giving them signs featuring explicit images to carry.
According to Potok, the only members of the church are Fred Phelps’
family members.
“I doubt there is anyone in America who thinks more about gay sex than
Fred Phelps,” Potok said.
Ledger, 28, was found dead at the foot of his bed in his rented Soho
loft Tuesday with several bottles of prescription drugs nearby. A
preliminary autopsy completed Wednesday was unable to determine what killed
the actor.
Copyright © 2008 ABC News Internet Ventures
Guh. That’s exactly why I stay away from a lot of news stories — they usually just make me angry or depressed.
Saw this letter in The (UK) Independent, and thought it was illuminating:
How faith schools encourage atheism
Sir: Robert Bottamley (letter, 28 January) is quite correct to take issue with non-believers’ concerns about faith schools and the daily act of worship in particular. However, not for the reason he gives.
I was brought up without any faith at home but was sent to a Seventh Day Adventist pre-primary school. The reasons for this were complex and had something to do with a good deal my father negotiated over school fees.
The enduring result of exposure of my innocent mind to the hellfire and damnation that accompanied every lesson was that by the age of six I was thoroughly atheist, even though I hadn’t ever heard the word, nor had my parents ever hinted that my sisters and I should or shouldn’t have a faith.
It is what happens at home that determines whether or not children will grow up religious. Faith schools are a waste of time: they won’t convert anyone nor will they maintain a faith if it isn’t maintained at home.
Dan Kantorowich
Brigstock, Northamptonshire
Interesting article:
http://gnxp.com//blog/2007/01/10-questions-for-heather-mac-donald.php
Alright, gotta guess, is it [censored]?
Also, love the blag.
Can you be Catholic *and* an atheist ?
Thanks, G! Yup, you got it right.
Gorgonzola Happiness: They’re two directly opposing ideas, so I would say no. You need to believe in God/Jesus to be a Catholic, and you need to not believe to be an atheist, so it’s one or the other. However, you can be a Catholic on paper but an atheist in practice. (I think?)
[censored] and …[censored]?
Yes to both, Leslie.
Hey, TA, when you do your quote of the month what widget do you use?
I’m having trouble finding something that gives me spacing. “Text” just lumps everything together on one continuous line.
Thx.
I use the Text widget, actually. The trick is to use HTML tags for the spacing and formatting.
I’ll try that, thanks.