Many people are hesitant to identify as atheists because of the social stigma they may face, making it hard to pinpoint connections and differences among this group.
The prejudice of other people. I had a boss once, an older lady that was super nice and baked lemon squares for us all the time. But she was super Catholic. I once overheard her say to the Pentecostal coworker that she doesn’t think anyone has to believe exactly what she believes, as long as they believe. And then they went on to express their distaste and distrust of anyone that doesn’t believe in god. I was new in the office. I kept my mouth shut. It was never brought up to me directly. I just enjoyed my lemon square and did my job. I think they knew subconsciously, but they never pushed it so I was just Schrodinger’s believer…as long as they didn’t ask, I was just like one of them.
The lack of support structure, and the frequently harsh consequences for announcing your beliefs (or lack there of). Becoming an atheist usually means your not joining a new group either as there isnt exactly a weekley meeting of the “we dont believe in X” club. (TST tries to help with this)
On top of that leaving some groups can be very bad for ones mental and physical health. JW and Islam have parts of their dogma that supports retaliation against individuals who leave. (not picking on them, just the ones off the top of my head, im sure there are others)
With that in mind the calculus changes, one has to weigh the risks of announcing that you are questioning the beliefs of a group that you are a part of and if they are going to react rationally while you think their beliefs are irrational.
i have had many conversations where people assume i’m christian is a way that makes me really uncomfortable; my choices are to “well, actually,” or plaster a fake smile and nod in agreement.
Atheist here. What’s the problem?
The prejudice of other people. I had a boss once, an older lady that was super nice and baked lemon squares for us all the time. But she was super Catholic. I once overheard her say to the Pentecostal coworker that she doesn’t think anyone has to believe exactly what she believes, as long as they believe. And then they went on to express their distaste and distrust of anyone that doesn’t believe in god. I was new in the office. I kept my mouth shut. It was never brought up to me directly. I just enjoyed my lemon square and did my job. I think they knew subconsciously, but they never pushed it so I was just Schrodinger’s believer…as long as they didn’t ask, I was just like one of them.
The lack of support structure, and the frequently harsh consequences for announcing your beliefs (or lack there of). Becoming an atheist usually means your not joining a new group either as there isnt exactly a weekley meeting of the “we dont believe in X” club. (TST tries to help with this)
On top of that leaving some groups can be very bad for ones mental and physical health. JW and Islam have parts of their dogma that supports retaliation against individuals who leave. (not picking on them, just the ones off the top of my head, im sure there are others)
With that in mind the calculus changes, one has to weigh the risks of announcing that you are questioning the beliefs of a group that you are a part of and if they are going to react rationally while you think their beliefs are irrational.
Do you live in Indiana? Because I do. And in a lot of Indiana, saying that out loud will cause you a lot of problems.
i have had many conversations where people assume i’m christian is a way that makes me really uncomfortable; my choices are to “well, actually,” or plaster a fake smile and nod in agreement.
i do the latter, but i hate it.