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Permalink Reply by Jewelz on December 5, 2011 at 6:41am

But didn't we at least choose to accept the logic and reason?

Unfortunately, religious indoctrination sometimes builds a shield around faith which is impenetrable by most logic and reason. This is why even many highly educated, intelligent atheists were believers well into adulthood before one of their seeds of doubt finally sprouted and broke through.

In my opinion, words like 'choice' or 'freewill' are fuzzy terms anyway as our desires and decisions appear to be dictated by biology or external forces moreso than many of us realize.

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Permalink Reply by Stutz on December 4, 2011 at 7:16am

I think it's harder to be open about your lack of belief when you're an adult. I grew up in an accepting part of the country (Pacific NW) but the "A" word is still not something I like to toss about. It unfortunately still carries the connotation that you're hostile to people's beliefs. I'm not a hostile guy; other than to be depressed/disappointed if you're religious, I don't give much of a damn what you believe as long as you're an open, normal person who's not constantly in God-mode. It's easier to be honest about atheism when you're in your late teens or early twenties and are among your friends, especially if you're all college-educated. I've found that when you get into the work-force and have to work closely with all kinds of people it's not so easy to flaunt your deep thoughts, especially if they include atheism. It may be hard to believe (or not), but a huge number of people have never had a deep thought in their lives, and the workplace isn't a useful place to challenge them. Plus you'll work with older folks and people with kids and conservative people, and it's a bad idea to get a reputation as an un-American God-hater, even if you're not. These kinds of folks will generally believe in belief, if they don't necessarily believe in the literal Bible God, and they'll expect you to at least share their values as a prerequisite for considering you a decent human.

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Permalink Reply by Stephanie Cabrera on December 4, 2011 at 7:38am

I'm still in college so normal "adult world" having a job and such is not anything i'm familiar with. I am fortunate enough that all of my friends for the most part, are other college students who tend to be open minded. And even my professors (im a bio major) are are agnostic/atheist, so I was really sheltered from all this athiesm hatred. I never really realized it was a big deal to be atheist, I kinda thought it was normal! Almost even expected.

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Permalink Reply by Amanda Collins on December 4, 2011 at 11:14am

For a long time, I have equated coming out as an atheist with coming out as gay. In fact, I was just talking about it with another atheist last evening. Thankfully, these days both being gay and being atheist are much more accepted than they used to be. Also, it's easier to admit to being "different" as you get used to saying it. Now, although I don't lead with, "Hi, I'm Amanda and I'm atheist," I do tell people pretty early on, as it enters the conversation. What I hate, though, are the sad looks. I'm sure gays get the same response, but I can't change being atheist any more than gays can change whom they love. It's not really a choice either way; fundamentally, we are who we are.

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Permalink Reply by Sarah Nessel on December 4, 2011 at 11:48am

Greta Christina, a well-known blogger who is both atheist and a lesbian, wrote an excellent two-part essay on  this topic. Her central point, on the main difference between coming out as atheist and coming out as gay: "Coming out as an atheist means telling believers we think they’re wrong." http://freethoughtblogs.com/greta/2011/10/24/were-telling-them-they...

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Permalink Reply by Stephanie Cabrera on December 4, 2011 at 12:17pm

Thanks!! This is is exactly what I was looking for.

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Permalink Reply by Logan Jancek on December 4, 2011 at 12:32pm

I think the way an atheist would be proud is for other people to accept them besides the fact that they are atheist. The fact is, most people in the U.S. do not accept atheists (learned that the hard way!). They argue. They're violent towards atheists. Some people (especially in the Bible Belt) are downright afraid to "come out." It's not right and will only change by proving to theists that we're not bad people.

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