Oh, sure, there are lots of closet atheists. If you look around the forum, you'll see stories of people afraid to tell their family lest they be disowned. I've never experienced anything personally, but I don't go around advertising it, either. Most people will just assume you believe in god if the subject never comes up. I think most people that spend enough time around me, however, know due to off-hand comments I will make.
It is bad enough, though, that you never know who will freak out when they find out you don't believe in god, so it's pragmatic just to not mention it.
It is bad enough, though, that you never know who will freak out when they find out you don't believe in god, so it's pragmatic just to not mention it.
Even if the open windows of science at first make us shiver after the cozy indoor warmth of traditional humanizing myths, in the end the fresh air brings vigor, and the great spaces have a splendor of their own - Bertrand Russell
