you ever been harassed for being an atheist?

[Jenny A]

I have on more than one occasion told an acquaintance I don't believe in god only to have them come back a few days later to ask if I'm an atheist. Somehow disbelief is okay, but the word atheist bothers them.

I've run into this with my dad. He knows I don't believe at all and he's fine with that. Tell him I'm an atheist and he'll go bug shit!

I think it goes back to the bullshit the christers keep pulling that all atheists claim there is no god.

Still, it's better than my step-moms views. She calls everyone who's not a christer, theist or not, atheists. I like the woman, especially since dad would have pined away into an early grave without her, but she's bat-shit crazy!

It is funny the rap the word "atheist" gets. Somehow agnostic and non-believer make people happier. I tried non-theist once, and the woman I was talking to asked if we had a church in town.

[Dystopia]

I've run into this with my dad. He knows I don't believe at all and he's fine with that. Tell him I'm an atheist and he'll go bug shit!

I think it goes back to the bullshit the christers keep pulling that all atheists claim there is no god.

Still, it's better than my step-moms views. She calls everyone who's not a christer, theist or not, atheists. I like the woman, especially since dad would have pined away into an early grave without her, but she's bat-shit crazy!

It is funny the rap the word "atheist" gets. Somehow agnostic and non-believer make people happier. I tried non-theist once, and the woman I was talking to asked if we had a church in town.

Maybe 'non practitioner atheist' would make people less hostile, who knows?

[Jenny A]

Maybe 'non practitioner atheist' would make people less hostile, who knows?

That suggests one could be a practitioning atheist, whatever that might be. It makes it sound like a religion and I don't want to go there.

It's really more funny than anything else. I haven't suffered yet.

[Dystopia]

Maybe 'non practitioner atheist' would make people less hostile, who knows?

That suggests one could be a practitioning atheist, whatever that might be. It makes it sound like a religion and I don't want to go there.

It's really more funny than anything else. I haven't suffered yet.

I don't like it too, I'm just saying that concept would probably make believers look higher upon atheists, because they'll think 'well this guy hates god but at least he hasn't allied with satan so it's less threatening'

[Thumpalumpacus]

Not really. I had one boss who, when he came to help me clean out a gas station I had recently had assigned to my district, found a Bible on a bakc-office shelf. He handed to me, I asked him if he wanted it, he said, "no" and so I threw it in the trash. I asked if that didn't worry me, which of course it didn't. But ever after that he was pretty unfriendly.

[Zidneya]

I've been criticized, and judged, but's that's it. People usually say what they have to say and then leave, so far nobody has harassed me. At least not in real live however I'm curious.
Do online obnoxious believers and creationists counts?

[vorlon13]

I've never had any blow back at 12 Steppers for talking about having huge problems with a 'Higher Power' figuring prominently in my recovery, and the enormous conflict I feel when other 12 Steppers are so on board with 'Higher Power' (usually your standard issue Judeo/Christian version) and I have had such a rough go with only (knowingly) losing a single friend to AIDS prior to sobriety, and then losing 39 more while in the program.

Part of that might be me being a high timer (I'm 2 weeks short of 28 years, and yes, we are definitely not supposed to say it that way. Correct way to phrase it is 'over 27 years' or '27 years, 11 months') and it does garner some street cred, and that I am, so far, still first pass.

I do readily acknowledge folks there that have endured things I consider as bad or worse than what I've experienced and maintained the 'plug in the jug', but it is difficult to hear of newcomers having a tough go at a wedding reception, for instance, and relapsing there.

Being a flat out atheist at 12 Steppers is, as they say, contraindicated, and I actually concur. If some/many/most of the newcomers have something other than themselves to hang their success on, the whole 12 Step things works so much better for them. The ones that self-attribute success feel they have learned to be able to control their addiction, and then relapse and it doesn't end well.

Most religions don't stroke out over their members being in a 12 Step program, but a few do, and have their own 'in-house' 12 Step variant instead. AFAIK, the knock offs work as well (or as poorly) as the 'real' thing.

That most religions don't have a problem with 12 Stepping, BTW, IMO does not reflect well upon them theologically. If 12 Stepping is a 'one size' fits all adjunct to whatever specific faith a particular member is, it can't be, by definition, an aspect of the (mythical) One True Faith, regardless of what that might be, but most religions do acknowledge their primacy in the rankings.

[Thumpalumpacus]

Congrats on your sobriety, bud. Keep steppin'.

[Fidel_Castronaut]

No but I've been condescended a few times.


As part of my PhD research I sat in on a number of a theological based discussion groups and attended a number of seminars and conferences that were theological based. I was once asked what my religion was and I said I've always been an atheist and a catholic priest said "oh good for you!" as though I was a child.

IT annoyed me but being professional I just ignored it. You get used to it after a while when you research religion for a (sort of) living. People always invoking a god or a deity of some sort (I study Sikhism) just sort of becomes par the course. But if you mention you don't believe their god, or that you lack a belief in the concept of a deity, then you sort of get a nervous smile or laugh. Religion in the UK is treated with apathy by the majority of the population here and it's something the people I research are working against wherever they can.

[Holden Caulfield]

I take heat for it all the time among my friends. In my "close" friend group there's one really hard core bible thumper and there's me as a very open willing to talk atheist. Rest are mostly agnostic. So I get my fair share of heat, however the Christian takes as much if not more heat than me. So meh.

However everywhere else it's usually not an issue or in fact I do have numbers on my side up here in Canada (most are agnostic and try to keep the peace in general).

I don't mind standing out as an atheist. Honestly I'd be super interested to head to the "bible belt" since I will 100% stand up for myself and I've heard so many "horror" stories from down there.