How old were you when you safely came out of the closet as an atheist?

[Anonymous]

Was raised as an atheist and it was not until I was 45 or so that I could say it and not worry about the implications.
The few times I was dumb enough to say that in public as a child, I took a lot of glares and verbal attacks.
Either I am more confident and don't care about what others think, or people are easier going about this, but it was very hard before.

[Anonymous]

Please. People don't care if you're an atheist.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Please. People don't care if you're an atheist.

NP here and this is not always true. It seems many people hear atheist and think amoral.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Please. People don't care if you're an atheist.

I take it you're not an atheist?

People care very much, and judge you as devoid of ethics, morals, or values. I have been told this numerous times by faith-believing people.

I was not raised Atheist, but it took me until my early-mid 20's to "come out" to a few people, and later to be more open. Till this day I still feel judged, and sometimes just say that I'm not religious, as opposed to being an atheist. It's still very much frowned down upon even in the US, and in a large metro area.

[Anonymous]

Junior / senior year at a Jewish high school. My parents were more accepting, but I got into a few arguments with the rabbis.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Please. People don't care if you're an atheist.

I take it you're not an atheist?

People care very much, and judge you as devoid of ethics, morals, or values. I have been told this numerous times by faith-believing people.

I was not raised Atheist, but it took me until my early-mid 20's to "come out" to a few people, and later to be more open. Till this day I still feel judged, and sometimes just say that I'm not religious, as opposed to being an atheist. It's still very much frowned down upon even in the US, and in a large metro area.

Same here, although depending on where I am (hello deep south), I'm "not affiliated with a specific church". "Not religious" comes next. Sometimes "agnostic" or "atheist", but mostly I just don't care about it - not sure what that label is.

[Anonymous]

OP here, I used the term agnostic for a while. It took some time to be able to say atheist though. Look, the attacks are real, and as a child, I sometimes got so scared, I made up religions.

[Anonymous]

Like ... 14 or 15? No big deal.

[Anonymous]

I'm 42 and haven't admitted it to anyone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Please. People don't care if you're an atheist.

I take it you're not an atheist?

People care very much, and judge you as devoid of ethics, morals, or values. I have been told this numerous times by faith-believing people.

I was not raised Atheist, but it took me until my early-mid 20's to "come out" to a few people, and later to be more open. Till this day I still feel judged, and sometimes just say that I'm not religious, as opposed to being an atheist. It's still very much frowned down upon even in the US, and in a large metro area.

I am the only Christian in my core group of friends (the rest are atheist or agnostic). They have it much easier than I do.

[Anonymous]

I am agnostic as is my husband but we still don't go around advertising it.

[Anonymous]

I was never in a believing social circle, so there was no coming out. Had I been religious, now, *that* would have been a coming out!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Please. People don't care if you're an atheist.

I take it you're not an atheist?

People care very much, and judge you as devoid of ethics, morals, or values. I have been told this numerous times by faith-believing people.

I was not raised Atheist, but it took me until my early-mid 20's to "come out" to a few people, and later to be more open. Till this day I still feel judged, and sometimes just say that I'm not religious, as opposed to being an atheist. It's still very much frowned down upon even in the US, and in a large metro area.

I am the only Christian in my core group of friends (the rest are atheist or agnostic). They have it much easier than I do.

+1

Not this again, OP. Sorry I'm not tuning up the violins for you. I guarantee that you as an atheist have it much easier (in general religious terms) than do those of us who are evangelical Christians living in the heart of NW DC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Please. People don't care if you're an atheist.

I take it you're not an atheist?

People care very much, and judge you as devoid of ethics, morals, or values. I have been told this numerous times by faith-believing people.

I was not raised Atheist, but it took me until my early-mid 20's to "come out" to a few people, and later to be more open. Till this day I still feel judged, and sometimes just say that I'm not religious, as opposed to being an atheist. It's still very much frowned down upon even in the US, and in a large metro area.

I am the only Christian in my core group of friends (the rest are atheist or agnostic). They have it much easier than I do.

+1

Not this again, OP. Sorry I'm not tuning up the violins for you. I guarantee that you as an atheist have it much easier (in general religious terms) than do those of us who are evangelical Christians living in the heart of NW DC.

It doesn't hurt that more and more people are becoming atheists. Seriously, OP, it's really, really, really common.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Please. People don't care if you're an atheist.

I take it you're not an atheist?

People care very much, and judge you as devoid of ethics, morals, or values. I have been told this numerous times by faith-believing people.

I was not raised Atheist, but it took me until my early-mid 20's to "come out" to a few people, and later to be more open. Till this day I still feel judged, and sometimes just say that I'm not religious, as opposed to being an atheist. It's still very much frowned down upon even in the US, and in a large metro area.

No one cares that much, unless you frequently socialize with many people from a specific religious community. I really don't see the need to 'come out' to anyone. In most situations it's easy enough to deflect. Coming out seems a bit melodramatic.

As an atheist myself, I rarely tell people because it rarely (if ever) comes up in conversation. I often find other atheists more self-righteous and judgmental than evangelical Christians.