Just because people are agnostic/ atheist doesn't mean they're smart, compassion, liberal...you name it! There are assholes of all types out there, even here.....trust me!

Be proud of what you do and keep up your good work.

I agree with Marionville, on top of that keep up the good work and your peace of mind.

Sadly, social media has given assholes the power to spread their manure and poison the water of civil discourse on all platforms. I have seen some of the most innocuous posting draw strange and inappropriate responses from people with nothing whatsoever of interest to say. Negativity has overtaken those who can offer nothing of value to the conversations. I enjoyed your post and feel certain that your kind and compassionate conversation with people on that help line has made many feel better and surely saved lives. All I ca say is ignore the ignorant, they thrive on baiting and negativity, don’t let them get you down.

I don’t think you’ve done anything wrong. For your own well-being you have to get things off your chest. As long as you don’t name names I think you’re OK.

Sorry, I just don't get it. While working at the Univ. of Maryland European Division we had a worker in the mail room who was transgender and got an operation (this was in the mid-80's). No one cared and even his supervisor (an old gnarly German man) supported him/her

Here, on island, there is a couple who are both transgender. They have a successful farm and are supported by the whole community. I think there are a lot of people in the world who have a real problem with their self image and feel the need to take out that loss of self identity on others.

Yeah, the person who pointed out that you were posting way to much info was trans and most probably has experiance(s) with being on the other end of the call, so maybe listen to what they say as opposed to whinning about it and claiming their misinformed when you don't know jack about them. Someone from your area could have figured out who you were talking about (possibly), which would be a really, really shitty thing to happen to them. How would you feel if that had happened, and something worse then happened to them?

People who answer hotlines should keep thier mouths shut about the people they talk too to strangers. Why don't you run your actions by your supervisor and see what they have to say about it?

You have the support of all the right minded people here...and we are the majority! I’ve reluctantly had to block a couple of persistently nasty types here, recently, There are certain people who, no matter how carefully you phrase your posts, will deliberately misconstrue your words. Being an atheist is no bar to being an arse...unfortunately!

Hot lines are difficult. I volunteered for a long time, quite a while back now. I'll share part of a call - my longest and most tiring and if course I couldn't say much, but listen and lead. A women called to talk about being, literally, raped by god in her bed. After of and on hours she said goodbye, only to call 20 minutes later to thank me - she just needed to be heard.

Stop! You do Not have to justify yourself to assholes. Period.

Trolls are everywhere, and if they are a pain then that is what the block feature is for.

As to the critics who told you off for revealing a confidence, they may well be good well meaning people, but you will find that no mater how carefully you type a post, some people will still misunderstand what you said, or even what you were talking about. Try to be as careful as you can, when you type up a post, it does help, but when you are still misunderstood, just shrug and move on. If you stick to it you will build a relationships over time, and people will understand you better.

Welcome to agnostic. com. Unfortunately, just because some people purport to not believe in god, that says nothing else about their intelligence or character.