Why tell anyone?

[John V]

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?

[truthBtold]

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 its a load off of that person. . I was raised Catholic and its been 6 years now that im an atheist and when people were finding out that I was, the first thing thay would say was.... what?? Then I would say to them.. have u read the bible? And it seemed to die off from there.. so the answer was no they never did.

[Esquilax]

You could ask the same of many christians. I get the feeling that, barring any kind of motivation to proselytize, the answer will be the same; you want the people close to you to have the correct image of the beliefs that constitute who you are.

[Ben Davis]

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'll flip this one on you, alpha: why should anyone be expected to repress their beliefs?

[Whateverist]

And do you recommend that gay people also keep it to themselves? In general, everyone should attempt to emulate some ideal conception of normalcy and not upset others by sharing how they diverge from the goal? Of course this begs the question what the goal should be and who decides? (This way of living had no appeal for me.)

[RobbyPants]

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.

[cromwell]

You don't have to come out about it at all. You are not part of anything, you simply just don't believe in god, thats it, end of story. If anyone asks if you are a christian, just say no, simple.

[KUSA]

I generally keep it to myself. I live in the Bible belt. My job requires me to have close relationships with many customers and all of them are infected with the jesus virus. I have to be very careful.

There have been times that people ask questions and really push me. They get their feelings hurt when I put their religion in the figure 4. See below for an illustration.

It would be nice to be able to be open all the time about it but it would be nicer if religion didn't exist. That way I wouldn't have to think about it.

[Ben Davis]

It would be nice to be able to be open all the time about it but it would be nicer if religion didn't exist. That way I wouldn't have to think about it.

It would be even nicer if religions stopped teaching their adherents to think badly of those who believe differently. I know this is an issue of tribalism rather than religiosity but religions have proven themselves to be capable transmitters of tribal memes.

WOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

[Faith No More]

On top of what's already been said, the more people that come out as atheists, the more we will able show that we're not evil, baby-eating devil-worshipers with no morals. People want to come out to prove all of the misconceptions and stigma false.