(April 8, 2014 at 6:49 am)alpha male Wrote: There are lots of threads in which atheists consider coming out as atheist to family, coworkers, friends, etc. The problem is that coming out will likely cause some emotional turmoil for some or all of the people involved. That said, why bother even considering it? Why not just keep it to yourself?
I think Esquilax and Ben Davis already gave good answers. In addition, it bothers a lot of people to live a lie. The decision to tell or not tell people should be their own, and not dictated by outside pressures of making people "upset". You can't control how other people will feel about things; that doesn't mean that you have to go around appeasing everyone's sensibilities all the time. If that were the case, then religious people would have to keep their opinions to themselves, too, as would anyone with a political preference.
