Do you talk about your atheism

[Mister Agenda]

If you ask, I'll tell. It's why my father's side of the family knows I'm an atheist and my mother's side doesn't. Both sides are Pentecostal fundamentalists, just different flavors. Some people at work know because they asked. I assume that it's not as novel now as it was when it first came up at work when I was in a different division about 13 years ago so I figure most of my current coworkers don't know because the grapevine buzz has died down. I learned later from the first time that I had associates who were hesitant to come to my office because of it and I suddenly got rated 'cold and distant' on surveys which I didn't connect to people knowing I'm an atheist until I heard the previous bit, but it didn't last.

In real life, I'm a teddy bear: a soft touch, a sucker for a sob story. It's hard to believe that people were afraid of me because I'm an atheist, but it's not as common a reaction as it used to be.