(March 29, 2015 at 4:51 pm)Pyrrho Wrote:(March 29, 2015 at 4:20 pm)thefemaleatheist Wrote: 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.
