Feeling pretty lonely as I couldn’t find atheist people near me.
My country is full of religious people and people who follow religions just to have company and benefits which religious organizations provide. I hate these fake religious people even more because they simply take the side from where they’ll get maximum benefits. There are no real atheist in my country who’ll openly declare themselves as atheists.
And as per demographics of my country, having (or faking) religion is beneficial. But I hate doing either.
So how and where to find real atheist locally?
False dichotomy.
I like interacting with other atheists because I do not have to worry about being judged for not having a religious affiliation nor a deity-centered belief system. This is not the same as gathering “in the name of atheism”.
I relate to the desire to escape situations in which religious thinking is expected and even assumed. I understand why not thinking like that feels lonely to someone surrounded by religious people. I imagine it’s very hard for OP to say “I’d like to talk about cricket, but no religious people, please.” and so looking for atheists first and then finding common interests second is much more likely to result in finding new friends who will not be religious.
To the OP, I think you will have difficulty finding atheists in your local area, because they are strongly motivated to remain hidden. If you can find an atheist group online, then perhaps you can feel comfortable meeting people there while you are also hoping to find by accident some atheists in your local area. If you look for atheist activist groups in your local area, then you might feel disappointed that many of those people have built an identity around fighting religion, and maybe that’s not what you want nor helpful to you.
Good luck.