I should clarify that I have never exactly been in the closet about being an atheist as far as my daily life goes. I have always been very open about my lack of religion/faith and had never seen a reason to keep it a secret… until I realized how downright cruel and determined many people can be once they feel the comfort of anonymity that a computer gives someone. While I have brought up the topic of religion and the many faults of organized religion in a few posts here, I have not exactly worn my atheist pride on my sleeve. Until now.
Many people find the fact that there are people who reject the belief of a god offensive. There are also a great amount of people who believe that without religion, a person has no basis for morality and thus become god-rejecting serial killers with no morals. I could go on about the myths the religious right have conjured up and the fact that they contain not even a fraction of truth, but the point that I want to bring up is that those who are religious have no problem with and even demand the right to wear their religious pride on their sleeve, preach their religious beliefs to anyone who will listen and even to those who won’t, and their often degrading, judgmental, and cruel words, myths, and badgering are all protected under the first amendment. However, when an atheist speaks about the fact that they are an atheist, it is immediately said that we, the atheists, are being offensive.
In the United States people are very quick to start screaming free speech and freedom of religion from the rooftops, but something I find myself thinking of quite a bit is the fact that while we are told that we have this right, we truly do not. Someone who is an open Catholic finds it acceptable to preach their religious beliefs to those who they may know do not believe in the same god or set of religious bullet points as they do. Someone who is an open Muslim is often criticized and degraded by those same Catholic people simply because they do not believe in the same god or set of religious bullet points. These religions can be interchanged, of course, but in the society we currently live in, religions and lack thereof are most often subjected to the scrutiny of the Catholic church time and again.
It is about damn time that atheists come forward and refuse to be silenced and degraded by both the religious right and those people who firmly believe that we are offensive and it is for that reason that Menstrual Poetry is officially out of the atheist closet and part of the Out Campaign.
Even if the religious have the numbers, we have the arguments, we have history on our side, and we are walking with a new spring in our step – you can hear the gentle patter of our feet on every side.
Our choir is large, but much of it remains in the closet. Our repertoire may include the best tunes, but too many of us are mouthing the words sotto voce with head bowed and eyes lowered. It follows that a major part of our consciousness-raising effort should be aimed, not at converting the religious but at encouraging the non-religious to admit it – to themselves, to their families, and to the world. This is the purpose of the OUT campaign.
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I think people who are atheist are just fond of being in the sect “different”. People tend to be different to be noticed. Its like being vegetarian bu not talking about vegetables and not eating meat but rather not accepting God and or His principles. One characteristics of being atheist is that they are very open to discuss about what are they – being non-believers and they tend to force others to believe them. If you are an evil or just having nothing to do – dont talk about your sh*t. Refrain from inviting people to your cult and brainwashed them.
I think the people you have atheists confused with are Catholics. Catholics talk more shit and “invite people into their cult to brainwash them” every chance they get. To simply believe that atheists enjoy being different is the poorest assumption I have heard, although I have heard it often. You forgot to add that atheism is just a phase because that is often a great critique that we hear.
The bullshit you just spewed can be turned around to reflect onto yourself, especially considering you have accepted society's way of handling a different opinion. Instead of accepting people for who they are, you choose to become angry and bash atheism most likely because you do not fully understand what it means to be an atheist. People are often very afraid of what they do not understand, which is what you have demonstrated throughout your comment. Doesn't the Bible reference the fact that you should be accepting of those unlike yourself? Please read up on your own belief system before scrutinizing what you refuse to understand.
If the stigma of atheism is to disappear, however, atheists must have the courage to defend what they believe. And, as Richard Dawkins puts it, they must work to raise the public consciousness to the enormous prejudice that many atheists face everyday
Personally, I don't see a lot of prejudice against atheists in society. What I do think it is, though, is that the majority of people are deists of some sort or at least superstitious. Of course, atheists are not into that, so maybe they just feel left out or slighted.
Seeing how many atheists and non-believers are afraid to even admit their lack of belief(especially to family and friends) your argument doesn't hold much water. There might be some atheists out there who are open to discussion about their opinions regarding theology but I definitely would not call that a characteristic of atheists in general. If anything I'd say that's a characteristic of theists more so than atheists. You aren't going to see atheists asking people if they've found Jesus, harassing people on Sundays going door to door, expressing their love of non-theism the way many theists (especially Christians) do about their deities. There are MANY atheists, myself included, who will avoid religious discussions/topics like the plague just because the reactions people give you when they find out you do NOT believe in god/Christ/whatever or follow <insert one of the thousands of religions worldwide> can be particularly nasty. While I'm sure there are atheists out there who can be very enthusiastic when it comes to discussing atheism if asked, when it comes to trying to force their believes on others, theists take the cake. Hell you could look at the sheer amount of Christians trying to shove their non-sense into the gay marriage debate for a perfect example. As if everyone has to live by their religious principles. Or how evangelicized our military has become and what type of discrimination atheist soldiers have to deal with. Your last sentence could also apply to MANY theists I have met.
Great Write up and right on the mark. More folks today than ever before are starting to take the blinders off and really taking a look at what religion is all about. My advice for those that have doubts. Do the research and don't be fooled.
I am an atheist.
I am an atheist.
Atheism is often misunderstood not only by religious people but also by those who claim to be agnostic. Atheism does not deny the possibility of a god, but the burden of proof is on those that claim there is a god. Atheism is the default logic position.
There are MANY atheists, myself included, who will avoid religious discussions/topics like the plague just because the reactions people give you when they find out you do NOT believe in god/Christ/whatever or follow <insert one of the thousands of religions worldwide> can be particularly nasty.
1 agree with you 100%. But it's a sensitive issue so wise judgment is needed before commenting. As about coming out of the closet? Well I don't think so. Atheists have nothing to be shamed of at all!