I usually don’t make New Year’s resolutions, but this year I have made one that I am going to follow through with. I am going to be totally open about my atheism and will no longer hide it. I am not going to be obnoxious about it like xians and go “witnessing” to people or knocking on doors or standing on street corners passing out pamphlets and carrying signs, but I will no longer sit silently and allow religious folks to think I agree with them or “respect” their superstitious, judgemental belief system. I can no longer just sit and smile politely while someone tells me I am going to a place called hell for simply not believing in their magical being, and who act like they are so much better than I am because they have an imaginary friend and I don’t.
I have already started gradually over the past couple of years, and have already been shunned by my niece and her self-righteous fundie husband for it. Does it bother me? Yes. But does pretending for the sake of peace and giving in to their guidelines and catering to their beliefs bother me? Yes…so I would rather be honest and be bothered than hide and be bothered because of things I want to say but do not.
I received an email from Martian from Martian Anthropologist some time ago, concerning the issue of atheists “coming out of the closet”, and he suggested this topic would make for a good discussion. I know that for many atheists, admitting openly that they are atheists poses great risk to their jobs and could even put themselves and their families in physical danger. We would all love to know about Sean for instance, about his talents, his life, his background and family, but for his family left behind, that could have consequences that one must be ready to deal with. And consideration must be taken for the safety of job and family. Who would think we need to be this secretive about who we are in the “Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave” in the 21st century?
There is a recent article at American Atheist titled Atheists say they’ve been threatened over their views The article illustrates just how cautious one must be when expressing ones views if they are the “wrong” views according to those so-called loving xian folks.
TommyKey of Exercise in Futility says he has a bumper sticker he wishes to put on his car, yet is hesitant to do so even though he lives in the vicinity of NYC. My son has a science fish on his car, and so far no one has bothered it. But he doesn’t deny that he could one day come out and find a nasty note like this fellow in the story at A.A. had happen to him:
The note on Blair Scott’s windshield wasn’t a nice one.
The anonymous writer had to have seen Scott’s atheist-themed bumper sticker, an uncommon sight in the small south Alabama town where he lived at the time.
“It just amazed me that people would take time out of their day to return to their car, grab a pen and paper and write a ‘You’re going to hell and you’re going to burn in a lake of fire,’ and stick it under my windshield,” said Scott, a 36-year-old veteran who installs computer systems in prisons.
While atheists cannot have a simple bumper sticker on our cars without fear of vandalism and hate-filled notes being placed on our windshields, we must be tolerant of 50-foot-tall execution symbols along highways, billboards that advertise Jeebus and tell us we are going to hell, xian fishes and crosses on cars, etc. and we are not to vandalize these things. We are expected to “respect” them.
The article ends with this quote:
“I think there’s almost an unwillingness to come out of the closet for most atheists, especially in the Bible belt, because of the type of repercussions from people of faith,” he said. “Some nasty stuff has happened to people, some really nasty stuff. And people are afraid of that.”
I, for one, am getting to old and fed up to be afraid anymore. I AM who I AM. Anyone who doesn’t like my worldview, can just learn to “respect” it.
Sean wrote a similar post on this on May 23rd, 2006 titled: Are you an “out” atheist?
Memorize this: Matthew 7:1a: “Judge not, that ye be not judged”, whenever you have the feeling that a xian is bothering you ask them if they are good xian than thru this into their face!
I salute you for your courage and remember you are not alone. I am a open Atheist and I am fortunate to be In USA and whenever I have the feeling some religious person is cutting me down, I stop their speech and say: I am happy to live in a country that we have religious freedom. Usually they feel stupid and shut up.
Happy New Year.
“Anyone who doesn’t like my worldview, can just learn to respect it.”
My guess is that you meant tolerate, rather than respect, in your last sentence. Clearly, those who suffer from AIFS (Adult Imaginary Friend Syndrome) want us to respect their faith, but while we tolerate their faith we cannot respect it, so I would expect the same from them. Toleration would be a step up in many places.
Sobex - When I used the word “respect” it was with a sarcastic tone. Tolerate is what I meant.
Stardust,
May I be the first here to applaud your courage and integrity, since everything I read and hear about the power and attitude that religious people have in America make it the place that I’d be least likely to visit. I wish you the strength to prevail in your convictions, but I doubt that atheists will gain respect in your country, given the power and wealth that religion has there.
Happy New Year to you, and everyone at GIFS.
Sorry, should have said ‘one of the first’
Sobex, also…how I really wanted to end it was “if anyone doesn’t like my worldview, they can just kiss my ass”…
And waited for your explanation regarding the usage of the word ‘respect’!
Old Git…Happy 2007 to you too.
Now that’s what I call a good start to Hogmanay!
Their “holy” book justifies their intolerance and even goes an additional step:
Deuteronomy 17
17:2 If there be found among you, within any of thy gates which the LORD thy God giveth thee, man or woman, that hath wrought wickedness in the sight of the LORD thy God, in transgressing his covenant; 17:3 And hath gone and served other gods, and worshipped them, either the sun, or moon, or any of the host of heaven, which I have not commanded; 17:4 And it be told thee, and thou hast heard of it, and enquired diligently, and, behold, it be true, and the thing certain, that such abomination is wrought in Israel; 17:5 Then shalt thou bring forth that man or that woman, which have committed that wicked thing, unto thy gates, even that man or that woman, and shalt stone them with stones, till they die.
Good luck Stardust!
I have an FSM “fish” that hasn’t found its way to the back of my car yet. Sad. I’m not ashamed of my rejection of superstition, but I am afraid of the unfounded and intolerant assumptions certain theists have about atheists.
But perhaps there are more of us than we know, and the only way to find out is to come out so that we can be found by like-minded individuals.
I post comments to atheist websites under my real name (for the most part). Is that “out” enough?
I don’t want to possibly mess up the paint on my car.
Their “holy” book justifies their intolerance and even goes an additional step:
vjack, this is exactly what I was recently telling my sister in a conversation we had after her “loving” xian daughter and husband banned me from their lives because I simply asked them to please not prosetyze to me. She was saying how they just “love” me and are doing this out of “love” etc. I told her that her holy book is as bad as the Koran and she said that it wasn’t because Muslims promote killing and xianity does not. I told her that she does not know her bible then and should go re-read all of it, not just parts her sheeple-herding pastor tells her to read. It is filled with reasons and advocacy for killing and maiming other human beings. If fundie religious folks were let go here in the U.S. to do as they please, I am positive there would be a large number of xians who wouldn’t hesitate to kill atheists and justify it with their ancient texts.
I have an FSM “fish” that hasn’t found its way to the back of my car yet. Sad. I’m not ashamed of my rejection of superstition, but I am afraid of the unfounded and intolerant assumptions certain theists have about atheists.
MomSquared - My husband and I don’t put bumper stickers of any kinds on our vehicles (they are fairly new and don’t want them damaged by some idiot), however, I am going to get myself an American Atheist lapel pin and necklace and wear that. If anyone asks me what it is, I will tell them. I would like to see someone try to “vandalize” a 52-year-old menopausal woman who also has an Irish temper! LOL! It will drive my fundie relatives absolutely bonkers to have to sit in the room with me and look at it and smile politely at me like I have done with their xian crosses they flaunt all those years.
I post comments to atheist websites under my real name (for the most part). Is that “out” enough?
Todd - I would say it is. In today’s world and the nature of the blogosphere, I would say that is pretty brave of you. I use my real name on my writing and photography blogs and can easily be found there. Lots of people know me by Stardust, but my real name is Debra.
Yes Todd, by putting your name to your views, you are pushing forward the struggle against superstition. All respect to you (and that’s respect of the non-ironic sort).
Stardust - Thank you for sharing your name - it’s lovely.
My other name, that my Mum calls me, is Christopher.
Filip wrote:
>>Memorize this: Matthew 7:1a: “Judge not, that ye be not judged”, whenever you have the feeling that a xian is bothering you ask them if they are good xian than [sic] thru [sic] this into their face!>If fundie religious folks were let go here in the U.S. to do as they please, I am positive there would be a large number of xians who wouldn’t hesitate to kill atheists and justify it with their ancient texts.
Well, y’all know my name.
My dad was not happy about my atheism, but we never really talked about it much. I found it interesting that he never asked me why.
I had the sense that he was a Catholic because he was raised one and it was ingrained into him at an early age that it was simply the way things are supposed to be. I’ve mentioned elsewhere one of the reasons why religion is so entrenched in our society is because they provide milestones in our lives. For Catholics, it is taken for granted that a child will be baptized, attend catechism, have their holy communion, confirmation, and be married in the church and then repeat the cycle with the next generation. Jews have their bar mitzvahs and such.
Even I felt compelled to have a church wedding and have my kids baptized, but as far as I am concerned, it ends there.
I’ve been “out” for years and to be honest, religion is a subject that hasn’t come up too terribly often even though I live south of the Mason-Dixon line. I think I’m fortunate in that most of my friends, family and my employer are atheist, agnostic or just don’t really care about the subject very much. I have worked in environments where you have to be very careful what you say and so feel for those who are stuck working in such places and may feel under seige or threatened.
I try to be sensitive to coworkers who are religious and do my best not to make them feel ignorant or stupid for their beliefs and they return the favor by not “witnessing” to me. It has worked pretty well so far, thankfully.
However, I did get into a “discussion” with my roommate the other day about the virgin status of a certain someone’s mother. He suggested parthenogenesis as the solution to that particular problem as he refuses to believe it’s not possible. I hate to say I laughed outright and wasn’t very kind as I scoffed. Oh well. No one’s perfect.
Like Stardust, I don’t put bumperstickers on my car, but I never deny it when approached.
I have several friends and relatives that are quite religious, which I’m fine with as long as they respect my beliefs. Every now and then it’s an issue but here in laid back SoCal no one much bothers me.
My husband wears a T-shirt with “Your Friendly Neighborhood Atheist” displayed across the front. No one has made any comment about the declaration to date. Neither of us has been in the closet. We were so relieved to no longer have to “witness” to the Xian “gospel” with everyone we met that stating our disbelief is pure joy. Even the JW folks who showed up in our backyard one day seemed less threatened than one might expect by our pronouncements of skepticism and the suggestion they read Skeptic magazine.
I highly recommend coming out of the closet to every atheist. You may be surprised at how few people give a dam what you believe.
Almost everyone I know is an atheist, agnostic, or identifies as “Christian” but rarely bothers to go to church or anything.
Of course, I have the blessing of being an Australian middle-class teenager, but it still really shocks me that atheists are treated like that in the States.
I did some research in the not too distant past on paraphilias, in particular transvestism. For those not familiar with what transvestism is, briefly it is classified as heterosexual men who like to cross-dress in female clothing. Now it so happened that I came into contact with a large number of ‘trannies’ or ‘CDers’ as they call themselves through websites and fora which cater for them.
Many of these people live in the US, and quite a number of them have problems reconciling their cross-dressing with their religious views, and those of their respective churches. A common query on these fora was, “I want to go to church dressed ‘en femme’, but my minister/pastor/religious leader won’t hear of it as it is against god’s will; what can I do?” My advice was always to discard their religion, but their rejoinder was, invariably, that becoming an atheist would result in them meeting even greater opprobrium form their families, neighbours, and former co-religionists than simply being a transvestite would!
Incidentally, I have met a similar attitude over here (the UK) with regard to homosexuals who are religious. Whilst the churches here “abhor” gays, they seem to reserve their deepest dislike for atheists.
Seems that being an atheist brings out the worst in religionists!
It’s funny, really- reading stuff here was part of the catalyst for me to say, “yeah, I’m an atheist” a few months ago- it was an evolution that took started in High School and ended some twenty years later. Although, I have to say, reading of the early ages some of the folks here engaged in critical thinking makes me a little embarrassed it took me so long.
There was no backlash, however, and no real surprise from the people who know me. My Mom was pretty supportive too- even though she sometimes hangs around the fringe of new aginess, the questions she’s been asking me lately have been good ones, and it’s cool seeing HER start to think a little more critically.
Living in SoCal often feels like an island unto itself- most of the folks I work with don’t care about theism one way or another, are fairly liberal, and vote democrat. I don’t have to deal with a lot of the issues that I read about here and elsewhere.
Because it’s so easy to be an atheist where we live, it doesn’t feel particularly courageous(or brave) to be one. So I am continually amazed by all of your courage and bravery.
Stardust, good for you!
I am a gay atheist and out on both fronts, even though I was a good catholic altar boy as a child! It is mostly okay. I have the luck of being a mathematician. Believers are the ones in the minority in mathematics departments, even in the US. And to top it of, I lived in the San Francisco Bay Area until not so long ago, so I could not ask for a friendlier environment.
I think visibility is very important. Being socially open and casual about our atheism is the key to social acceptance.
A little while ago, a deeply Christian student of mine (whom I had helped both in and out of the classroom) was shocked to learn I was an atheist. She had assumed I was Christian because “I had been so kind and supportive of her”. No matter what she used to think, this young lady will never assume again that atheists are evil or inmoral.
Just like my student, any person who discovers that a friend they love and respect is an atheist will stop being afraid of us. That is the way to social normalization, just like with homosexuality. And that is why social visibility is important.
So, yes, all of you still in the closet, if you can, come out now! And if you cannot, I will continue being open and casual for both of us.
Hi,
My problem would be that I know some really nice Xians who do things like prison visiting, I’d find it tough upsetting them.On the other hand I’d have no embarassment telling some Xian Fundie Whack-job
Happy 2007 Star!
Good for you on your resolution. I hope you’ll keep us updated along the way as to how it goes for you to be “out.” I had decided not to hide my god-less pagan-ness anymore last year and it’s been mostly good. I don’t feel the stress of having to be so secretive anymore. However, I cannot say that I’ve always been civil about it. I get so pissed off at stupidity. Luckily for me, I have a husband who knows just when to make a skillful change of subject.
Best to you and your family in the New Year.
Good for you on your resolution. I hope you’ll keep us updated along the way as to how it goes for you to be “out.”
Audrey and all,
I found out last night that my older younger brother has no god beliefs, and my father admitted to being a skeptic after watching Dawkins with us!
I knew my brother avoided going to church with his catholic wife, and avoids going to family gatherings when Baptist members of the family will be there. But this is the first time he has come out and said that he has no god beliefs.
My father said that he agrees with Dawkins on many of the things he says, especially that those students who attend Jerry Falwell’s university should leave there and go to a “proper university”. My father said that he doesn’t know what will happen when he dies, but what he does sense is that when they put him in the ground and cover him with dirt, that’s it.
That would be very bad news for my Baptist sister and her Baptist fundie daughter to hear. She is already extremely depressed and upset that me and my hubby and children don’t believe, but it would be devastating to her to think her own father was “going to hell” also!
All this pain and sadness she is putting herself through is so pointless and unnecessary.
(Audrey - Best to you and your family in the New Year, too!)
I’m thinking of having a Tshirt made with the following:
I am practicing my God-given right to be an Atheist.
Just to confuse the fuck out of ‘em.
What does it mean to be open about your atheism? I’m an atheist, and I don’t consider it a secret. However, I rarely talk about it because…well, what’s to talk about? I don’t believe in God. If someone asked me, I’d tell them.
But I have no more interest in telling people about my atheism than I do in hearing somebody talk to me about his or her faith in God.
Revenant,
That won’t confuse them, they already know god made you just so he’d have someone to send to hell, LOL!
In October I sent a copy of an article that had appeared in the London Times to Marcus at GIFS. In it, the Chief Rabbi declared that God had made atheists to keep religious folks right, LOL! I think I subsequently destroyed the clipping, but I’ll have a search for it - or maybe Marcus still has the scanned image I sent him; may be interesting to re-read.
But I have no more interest in telling people about my atheism than I do in hearing somebody talk to me about his or her faith in God.
Publicus - if one sits silently and not get involved, then the religious folks just decide for you about things that affect the lives of you and your family. What we are talking about here is no longer remaining silent or pretending to go along with god beliefs just so people don’t think bad of us, or get mad at us, etc. We are not talking about atheist evangelism, we are talking about being able to be open and honest about who we are without repercussions as well as keeping religion out of our secular government.
Found it!
From The Times 21 October 2006, an article by Rabbi Sir Jonathan Sacks, Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregation of the Commonwealth, entitled,”Danger ahead -there are good reasons why God created atheists.”
Main points:
“God sends us atheists to remind us that what passes for religion is not always religion”
“I only wish I had as much faith as the learned professor [Dawkins in ‘The God Delusion’]. It would be nice to believe that if you cured people of believing in God, you would therefore cure them of hate, violence, anger injustice, cruelty and the urge to control, exploit, dominate and oppress.”
“To seek to impose your will on another against his or her will is the first step on the road to dehumanisation. It leads people to kill in the name of the God of life, hate in the name of the God of love, and wage war in the name of the God of peace. If Richard Dawkins has done no more than warn us of this danger, then may he forgive me for saying that he is a fine example of why God created atheists and why sometime theirs is the prophetic voice.”
For me, Sacks comments are more of an indictment of religious believers that of atheists, though I find his unsupportable assertion that his god created me to help keep the credulous in line.
Congregations!!! Not singular!!! Smacked wrist to an old duffer (me).
The Old Git wrote:
Total gibberish, of course. And typical of he way religious people attribute something to gawd which has no basis in anything.
If there were any merit in such an argument, then why did the gawd of the OT (not to be confused with Operating Thetan) command Moses and Joshua, among others, to kill those who did not believe in their gawd? I’m sure the good wabbi could come up with another equally gratuitous gawd attribution to explain such a dichotomy.
Happy New Year, everyone. It embarrasses me to say this, but I was a theist until I was in my late 30s. I had doubts, I read the Bible/Book of Mormon/Quran and shook my head at how stupid they were, but I could not wrap my head around the idea that god was made up and that naturalism was true. Suffice to say, my brain has become wrapped around said ideas, and I am now a nonbeliever. I have found in the past several yrs that xians freak out when i say I do not believe in god. The guys tend to get very angry and yell at me (also pointing out that I must be the most arrogant bitch on the planet to assume I KNOW there is no gof), and the women freeze me out. About 15 yrs ago I had a license plate frame that said, “WWBD? What would Buddha Do?” and my car was vandalized several times with gum, spray paint, etc. It never occurred to me to be related to the frame. When I swtiched it to a football team frame just for the sake of change, the vandalism stopped.
I also desire to be more open about my atheism, but I do not call myself an atheist. I prefer the term naturalist, and I will use that. Maybe they will think it means my boobs are real.
Jennifer
Revenant said:
Of course it’s total rubbish, flowing from the unproven assumption that this god of his exists. The other fatal flaw with the argument is the one you pointed out; his god exhorts the murder of unbelievers throughout the [Load Of] O[ld] T[esticles], or Book of Bollocks, as we purists like to call it.
Jennifer,
You really want to be careful! The average dumbass red-neck inbred fundie imbecile wont’ know the difference between ‘naturalist’ and a naturist, so they probably believe you like to strut you stuff in the nude!
If I were you, I’d make sure that I kept my curtains closed at night!
Good luck being “out” in 2007, Stardust!
I live in upstate NY (near Albany) and I had a Darwin Fish on my car for many years, with no repercussions or nasty notes. The only reason I don’t have one anymore is my new car is just too pretty to put any decals on it.
As for being “out”, I agree with Publicus above, that my atheism is not a subject that comes up very often in normal conversation, nor should it (any more than xianity should). I don’t hide that I’m an atheist, but I don’t flaunt it either.
My favorite moment of being an open atheist in recent memory was when some bible-bashers came to our door and started their shpiel. The middle-aged guy with his daughter in tow started in, and I quickly cut him off with a polite, “I’m sorry, we’re not religious.”
Not to be deterred, he countered with, “But surely you believe in God, and–”
“Actually, no, I don’t. We’re atheists.”
His jaw hit the ground, he stared at me blankly for a moment or two. I wished him a good day and they were gone.
I felt all warm inside.
I prefer the term naturalist, and I will use that. Maybe they will think it means my boobs are real.
So where do you live Jennifer?
I am in and out of the atheist closet. Mostly in at school (public, urban) where I teach grades 4 - 8. I am definitely in around the students, in fact I am very careful about separation of church and state. I know one teacher who keeps a bible on her desk every day. She doesn’t “use” it in her teaching, but I wonder how it would go over if I left a copy of “The God Delusion” out on my desk in plain view?
I know that some parents wouldn’t mind while others would want to remove their children from the influence of an evil spawn of satan.
Fortunately I have tenure, but I’m still not going to out myself in front of students. One student outed himself to me. He said that every morning when the pledge of Allegience is spoken at assembly, he would change the words to “one nation without gods” and nobody ever challenged him for doing so.
I am out of the closet with some of my teaching colleagues and with friends and relatives. Fortunately, I was born into a godless home, never christened or polluted by church-going.
Luckily, I work for a company that is exceedingly tolerant…we have the religious conservatives working alongside openly gay liberals, so my lack of belief hasn’t been an issue. However, my evangelical in-laws have a problem with the darwin fish on the back of my vehicle. They’ve even threatened to rip it off the bumper. I had to explain to them that would be considered vandalism and very unxian, which got them to back off a bit. And, by the way, my wife is a believer, but respects my views, as I do hers. Talk about a mixed marriage!
And, by the way, my wife is a believer, but respects my views, as I do hers. Talk about a mixed marriage
Rik - I am amazed when I hear about people making this type of mixed marriage work, particularily when the religious one is of the fundamentalist variety of xian.
OMFSM!!! Where do you work!? (j/k, that’s private info) At my job it would be dangerous to both my health and my employment to reveal my true [lack of god] beliefs. My company doesn’t seem to mind offending anyone with company prayers and religious entertainment (at mandatory meetings). I’m surrounded by rednecks for 9 hours a day.
Away from work I am just me. I dress just strangely enough that I think religious people assume I’m an atheist (they usually say “devil worshipper”, actually). I make t-shirts with stencils and my new one is going to say “atheist.” in white mid-size letters across the front. I’m curious as to how the religious in my town will react. It’s been too long since I’ve been confronted, which, for me, means I’ve been too quiet. Of course, we do a lot of pretending for my grandparents and such. My parents and I have an unspoken agreement to disagree and just don’t discuss it (like sex or mental health, in my experience). My father-in-law is a church-going agnostic; he’s 72 and goes to meet women. In his small town (population
This is a great site I just found today. I have been out of the Atheist closet for over a decade and it is wonderful. The only people in my life who don’t know are my in-laws. They are nutty catholics, so is my husband, but I have made him into a very liberal “agnosticish” catholic.
I never hide what I am. I don’t advertise either, but living in Mormon controlled Salt Lake Utah it is very hard not to keep religion from conversations.
Atheisim doesn’t keep the LDS missionaries away here, but asking them to join you while you sacrifice a small child in the back yard for your atheist ceremony, does tend to keep them from knocking on your door…at least for a while.
Lol, or asking them their blood type, and whatever the answer is, reply: “Goooood, that’s very goooood.” Whilst wringing your hands and giggling.
I proudly wear my atheist pins, etc. And I have told my fat-ass fundie brother-in-law when he tries to preach to me to shut the fuck up. Although I am a slightly-built 58-year old guy, I don’t take anyone’s shit and never have. Being a martial artist helps, though, as well as carrying around a mouthpiece in my pocket. When things get hot, I just pop in the mouthpiece and see who wants to back up their blatherings with more than just hot air.
And I have told my fat-ass fundie brother-in-law when he tries to preach to me to shut the fuck up.
Spencer N - LOL! Regulars here know why I find that so damn funny (because of my Baptist niece and her pastor wannabe husband who is a real asshole.)
Good for you wearing your atheist pins and speaking up!
My wife and I moved to a Bible Belt retirement community nearly four years ago. You can’t swing a dead cat here without hitting three born-agains, and the churches are piled one atop the other. Thus far I have displayed the Darwin fish, and I interchange two magnetic signs I had made: “Geez if you love Honkus” and “Celebrate Punctuated Equilibria.” I love the signs because my targets must intuit that they’re being put down in some manner, but they can’t be sure how. It has to be frustrating. Anyway, no repercussions to date. I’m not so naive that I think it can’t happen, but I’m compelled to express my disdain in some manner. As to day-to-day personal encounters, I see little to be gained by expressing my beliefs (or disbelief) when they haven’t been solicited. If someone asks — or tries to proselytize — I’m more than happy to identify my position.
Atheisim doesn’t keep the LDS missionaries away here, but asking them to join you while you sacrifice a small child in the back yard for your atheist ceremony, does tend to keep them from knocking on your door…at least for a while.
LDS missionaries? Those are the young, cute, in a suit and tie ones, right? I flirt with them. It is very effective and it so catches them by surprise.
There is an article at Richard Dawkin’s site by Daniel Dennett that sumarizes well some of my opinions on being out:
http://richarddawkins.net/article,471,Not-Yet-The-Majority-But-No-Longer-Silent,Daniel-C-Dennett
An excerpt:
How times have changed — and for the better! It is now possible for homosexuals to be elected to Congress, to star in television shows, to be honored for their accomplishments and treasured by their friends. Could an atheist be elected to Congress? Probably not now, but if we can just raise the consciousness of Americans to the fact that some of their best friends are atheists, this will change.
I put a lot of emphasis on the casual part of being out of the atheist closet. I do not want to be “in your face” about it. It mostly amounts to correcting somebody when they assume I share their believes, and not being afraid to point it out when somebody is full of BS.
Celebrate Punctuated Equilibria
Dave, I love it! LOL!
I do not want to be “in your face” about it. It mostly amounts to correcting somebody when they assume I share their believes, and not being afraid to point it out when somebody is full of BS.
Zipi, this is how I feel, also. I do not want to turn into an “evangelistic” atheist. I don’t even care to discuss religion or atheism in my everyday life, but so many xian people do and like you say, they just assume that I believe as they do and I am not going to just sit silently and let them believe that about me anymore.
I never remember a time that I wasn’t an Agnostic/Atheist. It was never an issue with my parents who never took us to church. I have Fundy in my family but they’ve learned to leave me alone. I’ve married Baptist, Catholic and Baptist again and it was only an issue the first time.
I don’t shy away from the bible beaters though I don’t seek them out.