Anyone else felt shy about admitting to atheism?

Around certain people that is? I have no trouble saying I'm an atheist, but around certain types of people, I can sense that saying I am will offend them. Like a nice old family invited me around to dinner once, and they asked what I believed in... I'd love to just outright say "I'm an atheist", but I knew, wrongly, that saying this to them would upset them. So I played it down a little by doing that old "well you know, I'm not sure, never really thought about it too much" line.

Of course they don't say they're offended, but you can see it in their body language, like they're saying "oh.... oh my.... ok... I'm not quite sure what to make of this person now".

But I live in Australia so that's probably as extreme an example as I'll experience. Because I know in America it's TOTALLY different, so I was wondering if anyone else had some funny/awkward stories about admitting to being an atheist infront of some religious people.

 

Actually, where I'm from, people are too afraid to ask what I believe. What with all the different religions, they know that I could be Catholic, Baptist, Methodist, etc., and so they don't want to spark a religious war at the dinner table. That could get really messy, you know. I find that it's a "no ask, no tell" kind of thing.

But if you're uncomfortable with saying that you're atheist, you could say something like, "You mean, how did everything all come about? I don't know; I wasn't there."

 

sometimes,but this has nothing to do with the people around me being devoutly religious or anything,its more that i feel like "atheism" has become such a loaded word now,and carries with it connotations which i like to think don't apply to me. its become far more politicised of late which, while useful, has lead to a rigid organisation,the beginning of atheist groups and the start of a formal atheistic doctrine. for example, its always assumed that an atheist is someone ho is without any spiritual or supernatural belief, that they are rationalists, that they are proselytizing that they are evolutionists etc and while i am all these things (except proselytizing) they constitute a formal set of beliefs under the banner of "atheism" a doctrine,much like a religion. rigid, where it should be fluid.

i always thought that the strength of atheism was individuality, individual responsibility and introspection. when i say "i'm an atheist" people assume i belong to a group which defines itself in opposition to religion, one which is negative and reactionary whereas i want my own brand of atheism to be individualistic, positive and organic.

i avoid saying that i'm an atheist sometimes because the word,for many people, doesn't simply mean "i don't believe in a god" anymore. its now a label for a group,and i feel that this undermines the key strengths of atheism.

 

I'm by no means "shy" to say that I'm an atheist but I don't bring up the subject anymore.

Fact is that you can't discuss religion/atheism with religious people. Period.

 

I think in America it may be worse--at least in the part of the country I'm from, which is Oklahoma, the "Buckle of the Bible Belt". Evangelical Christians, who are predominant here, tend to believe that the only way to salvation is through Jesus Christ, and that everybody else is lost. But atheists in particular--those who deny God as well as Jesus--are thought to be "of Satan", going to hell, and probably very wicked. Some Christians find it hard to distinguish between atheist and Satanist. In the United States, polls show more people would accept a gay President than an atheist one. I think there's a tendency to think that atheists are immoral because they're not "god fearing". Of course, in The Brothers Karamazov, Dostoevsky has the atheist say "Without God, everything is permitted." And Samuel Johnson, the British sage of the eighteenth century, suggests that if a person is really an atheist we should be careful about inviting him over, lest (s)he steal the silverware!

I'm a Christian, but am turned off by the bigoted version of it that's prominent in my state. In an effort to broaden my perspectives, I've been exploring other faiths--and atheism. I must admit that when I went to my first atheist meeting I wasn't sure what I'd run into. I thought these people must be weird and might be evil. But I soon realized that they were just people, who behaved much like everybody else. I think telling people you're an atheist might shock some, and there may be some who will reject you. It seems to me this would be pretty much the same issue gays and lesbians face. Coming out has consequences you should be aware of, and you should weigh the benefits and costs. By the way, this is a two-edged sword. When I tell atheists I'm a Christian, I sometimes get unpleasant reactions.

 

Yet, it's simple! No God, no Satan, Satan is the evil alter ego of God, so why should atheists be satanists?

Not being god-fearing doesn't mean no morals. It's just sad that they don't see it.

I would love to see a poll where religious Americans would have to choose between the Constitution and their holy book (whether bible, quran, etc) as the highest authority.

 

I disagree, I feel bad for you having that point of view.

I think its ignorant how some individuals who claim to be Atheist put down all religions without having even the slight knowledge of them, just because someone is religious does not mean they are god fearing, could mean far from it.

 

How would you know what knowledge I have? Let me give you some information here:

ig·no·rant
adjective /ˈignərənt/ 

Definition: Lacking knowledge, information, or awareness about something in particular.

So I could say you are completely ignorant of what I know or don't know. But I don't want to start a flame war over this.

 

I know your 'knowledge' is flawed since I know from experience you can discuss with religious peeps about those subjects too. You made a stupid generalization, yeah I said it. No point in dismissing every religious person as unable to hold a good discussion about each others faiths even if you were unfortunately enough to only have bad experiences in this regard.

On topic: technically I would fit the agnostic label better (even while i have some gnostic views as well ). That nuancation made it clear enough, it's better to not apply a label like atheist or agnost to myself. I also think describing yourself as spiritual sounds a bit gay (not in the homosexual term ) even though technically I am a very spiritual person. When I first fell from my beliefs I had great pleasure in discussing faith and letting people know I found the idea of a christian god not sensible at all. Especially my christian parents grew rapidly tired of conversating with me (very righteous and understandable). So no, I never have been shy about it

 

That is correct. But they are too few and far between to be of statistical importance. At least to me.

Arright you got me. Shouldn't have done that.

While I generally speak to religious people, I'm simply avoiding the subject. It just leads nowhere.

 

It depends here solely on the person. With some people it is fun to discuss and with some it's not fun or interesting indeed. Some of them are 'followers' of a certain belief/religion, which generally makes it only more intriguing to me. I have talked to many atheists that are really boring (from my point of view) and have nothing new to say.

 

i feel shy discussing religion with people, because i know i don't really have the same sort of beliefs as the typical 20 year-old. i can't take someone seriously if they have blind faith, because i've always been about logic and thinking, and science too. science is very important to the way i think, because i accept it as fact and use it to base a lot of my spiritual beliefs off of too.

 

I'm pretty sure you didn't mean it like that but just in case: it is wise to not accept anything as fact by definition.

 

hmm, care to explain?

 

Sorry, only the first part of what I said was directed at you.

 

Well, just because science is fact-based it doesn't mean scientific explanations can't be flawed. Logic and science influenced my beliefs too but to say I believe science as fact makes it sound like you have this blind faith thing in science

 

ooo, you got me. but i believe in science because, while some theories can be flawed, the basic principles of science, are factual. they can be proved. and the ones that cannot, are theories. right?

but in particular, the things i take spiritual beliefs from, are the laws of physics. everything reacts, everything does certain things that it does naturally, and a lot of things relating to plants, growth patterns, the way things reach for sunlight. lots and lots of patterns in my head. i don't know if that explains my thought process, i've never been good at explaining this sort of thing.

 

It doesn't explain your thought process to me (we probably have lots of different thought processes going on at once right? which makes it harder to put into words) but it does make sense to me. And yes, the cosmic way things seem to be working can give much insight.

 

niche wrote it . the death of god was after the end of medieval time . 1453 .

 

yeah, but the best way to describe it.... id basically say, before i'd worship an actual god, deity or anything, i would worship nature, plant life, etc. the patterns they grow in and the consistency of fractals in nature is amazing to me. i'm so drawn to it. and the concept of a grand design is alright with me, but i don't think that there is a grand designer, i think that i have too much going on in my head right now to explain it ack