What is an Atheist supposed to look like?

A boy came to my door today and said he was from such in such church and he was selling candy for his youth group, so they could go to Disneyland. I asked him how much the candy was and he said 5 bucks. I sd " I'll take one box and you pick it out for me." He said "My favorite are chocolate turtles." I said, "Chocolate turtles it is then."

I gave him the a five dollar bill and before he walked away he said, " Thank you, is there anyone you would like me to pray for?" I said, " No thank you, I am Atheist." He looked at me with confusion in his eyes. I asked him what was wrong. He said, " You don't look like an Atheist." I said, " What is an Atheist supposed to look like?" He thought for a moment, looked at me, and said "Like a witch." I told him, "I assure you I am not a witch neither are any Atheist I know." He proceeded to walk away, then turned around and said, " Naah, your not a witch. Thanks for buying my candy." I of course said thank you and shut my door.

I thought for a moment about what the kid said. Me a witch? Is that what the majority of society think of Atheists, think of me? I play poker at a casino with all walks of life. The next time I go, I will ask the players, when they hear the word Atheist, what comes to mind? Not the literal definition, but what they think personally. I will get back with those results, I'm sure there will be lots to talk about. =)

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Comment by Pam on April 29, 2009 at 8:32am: I'd be surprised if the kid knew what "atheist" really meant, or if he just heard parents and/or church members speaking derisively about them.

Comment by SabreNation on April 29, 2009 at 4:08pm: I'm with Pam, he probably had no idea what an atheist is. If he did then he most likely got his information from a priest or something similar. God only knows what they told him. The good side of it is that whatever they told the poor kid was probably completely unravelled by you which could very well lead him to question the other things they are telling him.

Comment by ANGEL TAFOYA on April 29, 2009 at 5:13pm: I agree, I don't think he knew what Atheist meant literally, but thought it might be something bad(according to his beliefs) since i said no to his praying for someone for me. Or maybe he did know what it meant given how much he was into the church ( selling candy, youth group and all).

Sabrenation: I hope that short encounter does give him the courage to ask questions and learn there's another side to the story.

Comment by Dan on April 30, 2009 at 12:06pm

Comment by Chelsea on April 30, 2009 at 12:14pm: Very timely discussion...Please see the Think Atheist Foundation forum and feel free to comment:
http://www.thinkatheist.com/forum/topics/the-think-atheist-foundation

Comment by a7 on April 30, 2009 at 2:26pm: Its a nice wee story, maybee it could turn out into a kids story book. The kid and the atheist. It goes to show how easy it is to install dogma into the young. Pure and simple brainwashing.

a7

Comment by LaRae Meadows on May 2, 2009 at 10:38pm: Damn, you can't be a witch atheist? *Scratches off one life goal from bucket list.

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