If you’re not religious, do you hide your lack of religious belief? Why?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm not religious, and usually don't bring it up. But if asked, I explain that I have trouble believing in God. Which is probably a mistake because a believer (a friend) who has my best interests at heart then invariably tries to "save my soul"!
Oh, and then I must be terribly confusing when [because I have a penchant for being silly] I say stuff like "Jesus loves me" as a joke when I hit a freakishly lucky shot in pickleball!
I feel I should apologize to everyone for that -- believers and non-believers!

Maybe you should just stop saying it.

Keep saying it. It's funny. No need to apologize.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I say I'm not religious if asked directly, but don't volunteer that info. Same way as I don't announce 'I don't follow football', unless the discussion is about the teams people support.

Of course, this topic ever only comes up in company of believers, usually in context of churches people attend. Not once has our common not-believing-in-god been a topic of discussion with other atheists.

maybe because the other atheists that you know, don't bring up not believing in god that way people just assume that other people believe in God?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If it comes up I will say I'm an atheist- I don't advertise it. Not for any reason, it would just be weird to say "BTW, I don't believe in god" out of nowhere.

Yes, that would be weird. Meanwhile, the society expects that everyone believes in God. How did that happen?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:While it seems like there are more and more non-believers, it also seems, to me, at least, that people are hesitant to acknowledge it IRL, while religious people frequently telegraph their religious status, e.g., by wearing a Cross necklace or casually mentioning their participation in religious services.

What do you think that’s about?

Yes, because I'm only a cultural Christian. I don't actually believe that God cares about me or anyone else, if there even is a God.

[Anonymous]

NP. People who loudly proclaim their beliefs in whatever are mostly super annoying these days. I don’t want anything to do with those loudmouths.

[Anonymous]

I understand, but really think it's too bad, particularly because it's an opportunity to normalize atheism.

Coming from Europe, the US does seem weirdly religious, but still, I haven't been in a situation where I'd been uncomfortable to reveal my atheism. I'd say atheism is already accepted.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:While it seems like there are more and more non-believers, it also seems, to me, at least, that people are hesitant to acknowledge it IRL, while religious people frequently telegraph their religious status, e.g., by wearing a Cross necklace or casually mentioning their participation in religious services.

What do you think that’s about?

Yes, because I'm only a cultural Christian. I don't actually believe that God cares about me or anyone else, if there even is a God.

In other words, I'm not Christian, yet I send my kids to Christian school, attend services attached to that, go through the motions of prayer, and sometimes go to church with my parents. It doesn't mean I believe any of it. I don't. If God existed, my kid wouldn't have cancer, my husband wouldn't have a mental illness, and I wouldn't have lupus. Yet here we are, being tortured until we die. 'God is good', my mom says - I think WTF?! I smile and let her belive watching life torture us is somehow good for everyone.

[Anonymous]

Read the studies on who has the worst chance of being elected. It’s atheists. Why would they outwardly promote their beliefs, which are clearly not popular among this country of highly religious people. It’s probably getting less and less safe for them to do so anyway with Gilead setting in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If it comes up I will say I'm an atheist- I don't advertise it. Not for any reason, it would just be weird to say "BTW, I don't believe in god" out of nowhere.

Would you wear some kind of an atheist emblem (like Christians wear a cross) if they existed?

DP, but I would not. My identity isn't tied up in not believing.

Similarly, I think a lot of believers' identities are not tied up in believing, but the society encourages the wearing of religious symbols and mentioning church the way people would mention any other place.

Also, society discourages mentioning lack of belief. Maybe that should change

I just disagree that people wearing crosses or religious garb, or talking about religion, do not have religion as a strong part of their identity.

And I disagree that the default position is religious. I think if you're silent about religion and not wearing symbols, people assume you're not religious. They may be wrong in their assumption, but that's the assumption precisely because so many religious people broadcast it.

[Anonymous]

It seems majority of politicians have no god and they only worship self interest hence they pretend to be religious because majority of voters worship god in some way and expect the same from their elected officials.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m an atheist and it rarely comes up. I don’t go out of my way to advertise it because people who look like me are generally pretty religious and would either worry about my soul and/or think I must have no morality. There are a LOT of things that I don’t believe, that I don’t bother telling everyone about.

I have no problem discussing with actual friends if it comes up. But otherwise, there is no upside.

I meant to add that people wearing overt signs of their religion are likely interested in like-minded community centered around their religious beliefs, but why would an atheist need a community centered around atheism?

Raised Christian and wear a cross. I'm atheist. It's just a symbol, like a flower necklace or a design.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Atheists are not victims these days. If anything, it would be worse for someone in my office to come out as a Christian than as an atheist. I'm guessing (at least) two are strong Christians but are hiding it (once in a while you see a remnant of ashes, or another's donations).

I have really only worked in politically progressive environments where people are either not overtly devout, simply non-practicing, or, I assume, atheists or agnostic. I have never heard people talking poorly about religion or religious people, even if religion is somehow brought up. I never got the sense that it would be socially acceptable to do that, and I certainly would not have felt comfortable with being demeaning about people's religion, I never heard anyone make fun of religious beliefs, other than maybe an offhand remark about a very non-traditional or uncommon religious group. You might hear someone mention going to church in a very matter of fact way, in the context of talking about what they did on Sunday. If anything, it is just not a common topic of discussion.

See bolded above. I think that when people off-handedly mention going to church, they are purposely or mindlessly giving listeners unneeded information about their religious activities. I'd prefer they didn't mention it at all.

What a stupid take. It's like me saying 'oh, we stopped at Cava on the way home from the doctor'. Neither the Dr or Cava should be triggering, neither should church.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If someone outside of my family and close friends asks me if I believe in God, it's because they either want to change my mind or they hold some bigoted beliefs about non-believers. It's really none of their business and I don't want to have a conversation about my religious non-belief. I don't want to discuss it. It's boring. It's annoying. People who bring it up are rude jerks.

If someone asks me if I believe in God, I usually say "I was raised Catholic" and leave it at that. It's a true statement and there are a million lapsed Catholics in the world, so most people assume that I'm just a lapsed Catholic.

On the other hand, one coworker at a law firm felt the need to explain to me why Catholics aren't really Christian and I should consider joining a "true" Christian faith. Evangelicals can be such wieners.

It seems by saying that you were raised Catholic that you're actively deflecting the issue of your current non-religious status. Why do that unless you're trying to hide it?

DP

I do it all the time. It's a way of saying 'I don't need conversion'. No one follows that up with 'would you like to learn about Jesus?'. No, I would not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Atheists are not victims these days. If anything, it would be worse for someone in my office to come out as a Christian than as an atheist. I'm guessing (at least) two are strong Christians but are hiding it (once in a while you see a remnant of ashes, or another's donations).

I have really only worked in politically progressive environments where people are either not overtly devout, simply non-practicing, or, I assume, atheists or agnostic. I have never heard people talking poorly about religion or religious people, even if religion is somehow brought up. I never got the sense that it would be socially acceptable to do that, and I certainly would not have felt comfortable with being demeaning about people's religion, I never heard anyone make fun of religious beliefs, other than maybe an offhand remark about a very non-traditional or uncommon religious group. You might hear someone mention going to church in a very matter of fact way, in the context of talking about what they did on Sunday. If anything, it is just not a common topic of discussion.

See bolded above. I think that when people off-handedly mention going to church, they are purposely or mindlessly giving listeners unneeded information about their religious activities. I'd prefer they didn't mention it at all.

What a stupid take. It's like me saying 'oh, we stopped at Cava on the way home from the doctor'. Neither the Dr or Cava should be triggering, neither should church.

+1. We have church, we Girl Scouts, we have a trip to see Grandma, it's all stuff that normal people mention.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m an atheist and it rarely comes up. I don’t go out of my way to advertise it because people who look like me are generally pretty religious and would either worry about my soul and/or think I must have no morality. There are a LOT of things that I don’t believe, that I don’t bother telling everyone about.

I have no problem discussing with actual friends if it comes up. But otherwise, there is no upside.

My feeling is that concerns about your soul or morality is their problem and you should not try to save them from it.

Totally agree. If there is a God, the relationship is with that person and God. Why do so many people feel they are so important they need to nudge their way into a relationship where they clearly don't belong.