"Coming out" now may be a clichéd term, but as the "We Are Atheism" project has shown, it hasn't entirely lost its currency. The new organization encourages others to be open about their atheism, an act that is more than a confession; it holds the real risk of losing family and friends.You can read the rest. The writer of the piece seems to expect that atheists will one day surpass religious people in numbers. I doubt it, though the way the country is going I guess I wouldn't be all that surprised if one day it happened.
By affirming "it's OK to be an atheist" and encouraging video testimony from those who have already made the journey out into the open, "We Are Atheism" hopes to help others do the same. There are, however, serious hurdles for the no-longer-closeted to overcome.
According to the recent Public Religion Research Institute's "2011 American Values Survey," 67 percent of Americans are "somewhat uncomfortable" with the idea of an atheist as president, with 48 percent being "very uncomfortable." Muslims fare better here than atheists, and in the current political climate, that's saying something.
Even more shocking, a recent study by the University of British Columbia showed that when it comes to trust and atheism, "only rapists were distrusted to a comparable degree."
Being an open atheist, then, is a path toward marginalization.
As we've seen with this year's escalating assault on Christmas symbols of all kinds, there's a new brand of activist atheism that is becoming a religion all its own. They don't worship an external god, but their internal intellect. They're quite proud of their own minds and believe they somehow possess the wisdom of the universe that escapes those who have religious beliefs. It's an arrogance that probably affects every aspect of their lives and can make them quite insufferable.
For all the fervor some religious people may show, the new atheists are certainly doing their best to be just as annoying.
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Atheists - People who say they don’t believe that Creator God, nor any supernatural entity exists. But they also say, at least every single atheist that blogs says that s/he doesn’t believe anything unless it is supported by evidence; scientific evidence. You know, the evidence that God does not exist has been observed, tested and verified.
This, even though matter / energy, space and time (the material universe) has not always existed.
This, even though matter / energy, space and time (the material universe) had a beginning.
This, even though matter / energy, space and time (the material universe) could not create itself.
This, even though matter / energy, space and time (the material universe) could not pre date itself.
This, even though a quantum event would have required the existence of m,e,s,t (the material universe).
This, even though something immaterial and eternal (Super / supra natural) must have brought m,e,s,t (the material universe) into being.
Atheists believe that Creator God doesn’t exist. If they didn’t believe this, they wouldn’t be atheists.
Atheists say that you can’t prove a negative, but they most certainly believe this negative that can’t be proven.
Atheists - those who believe what they believe without scientific evidence.
True un-believers are so sure of themselves.
Atheists are "annoying"?
If that's the worst you can say, big deal. It's better than the behaviour of the religious, trying to write laws to legalize discrimination and name people as criminals for not taking part in religious belief.
Through all the talk, no atheists are calling for religion to be banned, unlike the religious who want to ban atheism. Religion will die on its own when people are educated and can think for themselves.
I don't know a single religious person calling for a ban on atheism, but I do know a lot of atheists calling for bans on religious displays or prayers at various events. And even if I was given the power to "ban" atheism, why would I want to do that? It's a free country - if you want to believe that you're your own god, have at it.
"True un-believers are so sure of themselves."
Atheists must live in a perpetual state of doubt because their belief is built on thin air.
Smith: Have you not noticed that it's only in countries that have been historically Christian where people are free to believe what they want? That's the wonderful thing about Jesus. You can take Him or leave Him. You can go where the evidence points, or you can ignore the evidence.
Atheists have this "arrogant" belief that the entire universe with its billions of galaxies was not created just for them.
Atheists do NOT claim gods are disproved, only that they are unproved.
Hedonist-it must be sad to go through life believing you're nothing more than an insignificant speck of cosmic flotsam, born to serve no purpose whatsoever, and whose accomplishments are without meaning. Good luck with all that.
My accomplishments have lots of meaning to my family and my community.
Atheists are often wrongly accused of trying to purge religious ideas from public discourse. That is a strawman argument. We simply want to deny them public sponsorship.
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