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

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Please.  People don't care if you're an atheist.[/quote]

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. [/quote]

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[b] mostly I just don't care about it - not sure what that label is[/b].[/quote]

Apatheist - pronounced APaTHEist[/quote]

LOL.  I love it.[/quote]

Belief is something I too just never thnk about. I never had any inner struggle or debate or even any conversation with myself about it. I was raised without religion really, belief wasn't something that came up in my house. I honestly don't know if my parents believe in god. So, yes, I'm an atheist, but I've never "come out" as one. It's just something that is, not something I feel the need to proclaim or take ownership of.

Fwiw, I was raised in a blue collar community in New England, with a large catholic population. Since I wasn't catholic, I was accustomed to feeling somewhat different and a bit apart from a pretty young age. But in my community it was a small difference, really; I had lots of catholic friends and it never seemed like that big a deal not to share those beliefs. New Englanders in general tend to be much less religious than people in other parts of the country, and those who are religious tend to live their religion quietly. You rarely see anything like the overt religiosity that is common in other regions.

As an adult, I rarely think about religion at all (in my personal life; of course I do think about it sometimes in the context of politics, international relations, etc). I have friends who appear to have no religion and others whom I know attend religios services faithfully. But I don't know if they believe in god or not. It never comes up.

Though I am an atheist, I don't really identify myself as an Atheist, iykwim. I view it more as an absence of something rather than a philosophy of its own. It's not really a part of my identity. If someone asks me what religion I am,[b] I always say, "Nothing." I never say, "Atheist."[/b][/quote]

Try saying atheist and see what happens.   It will be an interesting experiment.  And you're right -- Atheism is not a philosophy -- that would be humanism, which most atheists are.[/quote]

Sure, I could do that. Except I really don't care. ~shrug~

Yes,[b] I do consider myself a humanist[/b].[/quote]

Then do it as a good deed, for the cause of atheists who do care.  Check out this "Openly Secular" site -- short videos of people - some well known, most ordinary, who "come out" as secular. http://openlysecular.org [/quote]

Seriously? IMO, I have much bigger fish to fry. I don't perceive atheists to be very high up on the list of oppressed peoples. I view other causes as more worthy of my time. Not trying to be insulting, just stating the facts as I see them.

In order to do a good deed, as you call it, I have to be aware of opportunities to do so. Which means thinking about this. Which I don't, because, well, I'm an atheist. There's nothing to think about.

I don't need to come out as secular. I AM secular. It's not anything I've ever felt embarrassed about or ashamed of or reluctant to admit. I could not care less what anyone else thinks about my beliefs or lack thereof. This one's just not my fight.
[/quote]

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