anyway no, i would not be mixing meat (you, now) and milk (them), and congratulations on your escape from the cult of sol invictus, yeh. Some Scrip you may not be fam with yet, No son of man may die for another's sins, No one has ever gone up to heaven, et al. So maybe just maybe the Bible isnt as flawed as you believe?
try reading with One Eye maybe

ah and fwiw this one was pretty eye opening, [biblicalhistoricalcontext.com]

fwiw may i suggest that the Bible is written in such a way so as to hide wisdom from the wise (in their own eyes) right? And who gets more furious than ppl who are convinced of themselves, eh?
Contemplate Jesus of Nazareth as a handy rabbi-speak way of saying "John Doe, from Nowhere," as hard as that might be to justify at first glance, but Jesus (Joshua) was the most common male name then, and Nazareth was literally "Nowhere," esp in the first century, when it apparently was not even inhabited, as near as we can tell? Before and after, yes, but i guess not then

Sometimes I wonder if there are intelligent individuals on here, other times I can sense there are!!!

It's nice to talk intelligent rational people

Who is starting the religious discussion?

I live in a religious Southern community myself, however no one I meet makes religion a topic of conversation,

I know exactly how you feel.
I was raised in rural Alabama and had to attend an Assembly of God Church every time their doors opened where they spoke in tongues. My step mother was adult Sunday school teacher, church secretary, Choir leader, and janitor crew. I had to cut their four acres of grass as well as our two acres of grass every week.
My father moved us there to become the minister of this church, but he got a Charlie horse in his leg during an alter call and yelped as he jumped up, so everyone thought the gift of the spirit had been poured out on the congregation and they all started jumping around babbling as they do and he just wandered out and went to the house never to return again. He was brutally disappointed that his fellow Christians were so stupid having just seen what I had seen every time I had ever gone.
His absence made no difference to my Step Mother and we continued to attend until I graduated from high school.
Worse they were big supporters of G.C. Wallace the racist governor of Alabama.
Right after Nixon I was hoping George McGovern would become president and got labeled as a "hippie, liberal" and lost all respect from everyone in my entire world.
Imagine if they had known I was also trans.
Hell is for children.

It’s really none of their business. There is no need to get adversarial about it. Just say you are not religious, if they persist walk away. You won’t change their minds and you still ( for the time being) need to live with them, and they are in the majority. Look around, I’m sure you will find others in the same predicament.

Consider also that the religious believe everyone in the family tree is in heaven. When you do not agree with that it is a real slap in the face to them. Heaven is a goal. Why was everyone wrong and what are we living for? The most ancient view of this is the religious killing you for non-belief.

@Somnium posted a video about coming out which I thought was good. Only you know what choices are good for you. While I admire atheists/agnostics who are wide open about their beliefs and advocate for them, I tend to hold my cards close and be selective about who I open up to.

Maybe the first step is taking it slow and finding one person who you can trust and will be sympathetic and keep your confidence.

"This is just brilliant!!! Never be afraid to be yourself
coming out | a road map for before, ..."

My best advice is to just try to steer away from all talk of religion or belief in your everyday life, and save the venting for here. We are good listeners and you’ll probably find we’re in agreement with you, instead of being in a minority of one!

Try some science research from science versus religion sites. The only thing that will beat science is better science.

Religion ... pure and faultless is this: to help widows and orphans in need and avoiding worldly corruption. James 1:27

When you talk about "religion ", you used biblical association for this religion you speak of, but it has nothing to do with biblical religion.

I don’t care one rats ass about who likes or doesn’t like my opinions on religion. And it’s even better when I tell them I was once a believer but now no longer. Others opinions aren’t my problem.

I see nothng to be gained by stirring the anthill. Not so long ago it was considered the height of rudeness to bring up either politics or religion in social conversation!

I feel you.
I'm in the South, too, but I don't hide my atheism.
I don't care what they think of me, and I don't care who gets pissed off by it.
I don't miss the ones who've turned their backs on me because of it either.

It'll be okay.
When you're ready to let.them know, you will.

It is tough to be different in your way of thinking and trying to stand up for what we don't believe in. People are so quick to judge when they don't understand or even try to listen. I can't speak for everyone hear but I can bet there a lot of us that feel this is a sense of therapy and safe place to fall and feel accepted.

Do they pay your bills ?
Will they wipe your behind if u are sick or broken ?
If the answer is no , u don’t need them .
And if they can’t accept u and love u the ways u are / not believing , and previous answer still no, then actually u don’t want them too .
Better alone than hiding with company .
My opinion , of course .

I've had to walk on eggshells in the presence of Xtians.