Why is it so hard to be openly atheist in today's world

[thefemaleatheist]

I honestly believe that more of us need to come out and show our country that we aren't what they assume, or aren't what the church teaches we are. We have to start educating the masses, if you will, another way to view our position! Through the SSA at my university, we have been able to open up an honest dialogue with believers in our area, and although we may not convince them that their faith in God is misguided, we can help them to stop seeing us as some spiritual enemy--they can see us as human beings who just happen not to accept the existence of imaginary deities. That is all atheism is. We have to stop being afraid to come out in our professional and personal lives, no matter how risky. The more of us stand together, the faster we can change our world.

[Pyrrho]

I honestly believe that more of us need to come out and show our country that we aren't what they assume, or aren't what the church teaches we are. We have to start educating the masses, if you will, another way to view our position! Through the SSA at my university, we have been able to open up an honest dialogue with believers in our area, and although we may not convince them that their faith in God is misguided, we can help them to stop seeing us as some spiritual enemy--they can see us as human beings who just happen not to accept the existence of imaginary deities. That is all atheism is. We have to stop being afraid to come out in our professional and personal lives, no matter how risky. The more of us stand together, the faster we can change our world.

There are people from all around the world on this forum.  In some places, it would be very dangerous to be public about being an atheist.

Also, in places like the U.S., it could mean the loss of a job or some other such thing, depending on all of the particulars.  (Yes, it is illegal to fire someone for their religious beliefs in most cases, but that does not mean it would not happen, with something else being used as an excuse.)

If your situation is such that it isn't risky, then go ahead.  But not everyone's situation is the same, and some would be well-advised to keep their opinions private in order to avoid serious problems.  In short, everyone must judge the matter for themselves, and do what they think best regarding this.

[thefemaleatheist]

I honestly believe that more of us need to come out and show our country that we aren't what they assume, or aren't what the church teaches we are. We have to start educating the masses, if you will, another way to view our position! Through the SSA at my university, we have been able to open up an honest dialogue with believers in our area, and although we may not convince them that their faith in God is misguided, we can help them to stop seeing us as some spiritual enemy--they can see us as human beings who just happen not to accept the existence of imaginary deities. That is all atheism is. We have to stop being afraid to come out in our professional and personal lives, no matter how risky. The more of us stand together, the faster we can change our world.

There are people from all around the world on this forum.  In some places, it would be very dangerous to be public about being an atheist.

Also, in places like the U.S., it could mean the loss of a job or some other such thing, depending on all of the particulars.  (Yes, it is illegal to fire someone for their religious beliefs in most cases, but that does not mean it would not happen, with something else being used as an excuse.)

If your situation is such that it isn't risky, then go ahead.  But not everyone's situation is the same, and some would be well-advised to keep their opinions private in order to avoid serious problems.  In short, everyone must judge the matter for themselves, and do what they think best regarding this.

Although I understand what you are saying and realize it is risky, I do still think eventually we must come out of hiding so that people can learn that we are not terrible.  I realize that in some countries it would be much more risky to do this, and I certainly don't think everyone should just all do it at the same time.  But the only way for believers to realize that we aren't a group to be hated so deeply is for people to actually meet nonbelievers and have the opportunity to have their minds changed.  This would no doubt be a slow process, but it has to happen at some point.  As our country, the US, becomes more and more secularized (even though it sure doesn't feel like it right now with all the crazy laws being passed), the young kids today are going to change the country and more people will be able to slowly open that door and peek their heads out.  I mean, we can at least try and work toward this goal.  Every little bit counts.  The ones who can come out, need to, if for nothing else than to start shifting the perceptions of what it means to be a nonbeliever.

[Bob Kelso]

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At least here in the United States. I live in Phoenix, Arizona which is dominated heavily by Catholics and Mormons and other Christian denominations. I had this really good friend who was Mormon, and we've been best friends since Freshman year. And just last November I told her I didn't believe in God and she got quite mad about it and said that she didn't want to be my friend anymore because of it. What's ironic is that her other excuse is that she only wanted to hang around people who believed in God because they're a better influence, but she's the one who goes to Vegas and drinks and grinds with random men at clubs.

It seems like all we really want is to just be treated equally and not like subhumans or second class. I read somewhere that an open atheist cannot run for office in this country. (Not 100% how true that is, but if someone knows anymore on this; please, let me know). I don't go around forcing my atheism on others. But apparently Christians somehow think they should be permitted to force their religious beliefs down everyone's throats through government and such. But if someone who's an atheist lets out a small little peep, they will demonized and publicly shammed for it. At least in the part of the country I live in.

This is just something I've never understood.

Now I do know that atheism is widely accepted in countries in Northern Europe.

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While I can commiserate with you over people being close minded, hypocritical, twats about atheists, I think you might be overreacting. I'm an atheist in Tennessee; home of a large population of Young Earth Creationist, close minded, bigoted, hillbillies... yet I have no problem being open about my atheism. I'm not saying that door to door proselytizers, that I deal with quite a bit in my area, don't get pissy with me upon learning that I'm an atheist (they do), I just don't let it bug me.