Hey guys,
As some of you may know, I am new here and new to embracing atheism. I suppose I have accepted my belief, or lack there of; HOWEVER, I feel a sense of fear in people knowing. I know that if someone were to ask me I would probably respond with "I'm agnostic" as it seems more socially acceptable. Do others feel this sense of fear, or unease with divulging this to others? I've come out of the fog but it seems awfully lonely here.

Funny side note, I was sitting at a table at school and some girl was handing out fliers about some church thing. She handed them out to everyone but me. This leads me to wonder if these christian folk can smell my free-thinking?

Well considering that atheists are one of the most hated groups in the US it makes sense that many decide to keep it in the closet. I for instance have decided to not post my pic and name at this site for that very reason since it could bite me in the ass in all sorts of manners. For instance I could end up with a job I love or have political aspirations only for someone at work to go snooping around on the internet for San Antonio atheists. All of which being easily found out won't help me in the long run depending on various circumstances.

Not that it'd matter I guess since I'm a rather outspoken secularist. But I'm rather used to this screen name anyways so it's doubtful I'll change it. It was nice to see a couple of you guys at the F.A.C.T. meeting on Saturday though.

When it comes to the fear of coming out as an athiest to people, these days I consider myself to be one of the lucky few. I am a physics instructor at UTSA, and working in the natural sciences at a University I have the exact opposite experience most people have regarding this. The vast majority of the Professors/instructors that I know in the College of Science at UTSA are themselves athiests. Seriously you can't throw a stone without hitting an athiest there. So the end result is that being an atheist is not a big deal at all; its practically assumed. Its the few church goes that gets the wierd stares, and whispers behind their backs.

"Hey did you hear about Bob?" "No, what about Bob?" "He belives in a God!" "No! Really? Really? You serious?"

LOL! Thats really not much of an exaggeration.

It feels like I need to include an explanation. Which is stupid. When you meet someone that is a christian or jewish or republican-- most people wouldn’t ask, “why?” or “who hurt you?”

I do not have a problem being “out” I just want to be more eloquent about how I drop the “A” bomb.

It is so frustrating to have been trained and quite skilled in every talking point that the [now] opposing team can possibly throw down and yet I can’t quite articulate why fact and logic is awesome and the magical sky daddy crap falls short.

Seriously you can't throw a stone without hitting an athiest there.

My employer has a similar policy. We're not allowed to stone people unless they're atheists.

hee hee......good one.

I was in the Air Force for just over 10 years, and I've worked as a government contractor for another 10+ years. During my time in the service, especially the first couple years, I was afraid to "rock the boat". During that time, I also had not come to terms with being an atheist. I really didn't believe in god, but I still felt the pangs on guilt for not believing, for not going to church, and for not even wanting to go to church. Even if I would have come to terms with my beliefs (or lack thereof), I probably wouldn't have been open about it back then.

After I left the service, I spent more than five years in the close. I didn't believe (and I occasionally felt guilty for it), but never acknowledged that I was an atheist or even came to terms with it - until I met my first open atheist and member of this group. I am sure that in my life, I have met many atheists or other non-believers, but I had never met anyone who would openly admit it and talk about it. Until then, I really was starting to believe that atheists were more rare than white buffaloes.

I probably bugged the shit out of him, since I wanted to talk about every aspect of what I was experiencing and thinking. For the first time, I felt that my beliefs were ... normal. Even after this revelation, I was still hesitant about outing myself to some coworkers - but ask anyone who knows me, I could never take a vow of silence. I wanted to discuss it with some of my more open coworkers, knowing that it wouldn't remain in our small circle.

We are a relatively small team, and it would have been impossible to keep it secret. Over time, I became more open with my discussions, and now I'm sure that all my coworkers know. I don't know if it is because I "rolled it out" slowly or if most of my coworkers just don't care (or didn't like me anyway), but I haven't been lynched yet. Has there been snarky comments? Yes - but it was from a bible-thumper that I didn't care for anyway.

Interestingly enough, one of the most religious members of the team will gladly and jovially debate and discuss god, religion, politics, etc, but he has never been shitty towards me. Does the fact that I'm an atheists make my coworkers trust me less or like me less? Maybe, but maybe they didn't trust me or like me to begin with - and that is OK. It used to bother me, but being more open and more ready to defend my lack of beliefs also has helped me care less what people think, and that is a good thing. In the end, I shouldn't measure myself or how I feel against people that I have nothing in common with anyway.

Seriously you can't throw a stone without hitting an athiest there.

My employer has a similar policy. We're not allowed to stone people unless they're atheists.

I was hoping someone would run with that one.

I can understand the dilemma. The greatest concern seems to be the impact of "outing" in the workplace. I have heard third-hand stories of confrontations with co-workers and car-keying.

Since I am no longer working, I am immune from all that now, but even during my employment, living in several states and a couple foreign countries, religion in the workplace was just never an issue. It was not until I moved to Texas seven years ago, that I became active in the movement. At the same time, I am involved in several other community activities and city commissions, and the issue of religion has not come up, nor have I waved the Atheist flag.

And yet! And yet. You all must realize the issue will continue to fester until more of us come out. I have great admiration for the gay community, who have won acceptance and support among the American public (notwithstanding the right-wing fruitcakes). They did it by standing up and making a noise and making people aware that they are valuable, productive members of this society and deserve respect.

Non-believers need to set a date on which we all go to our windows, lean out and shout: "I'm as secular as hell, and I'm not going to take your oppression anymore!"

I agree with Mr. Lee. The only way a particular movement, ideology or belief system can attain acceptance or support is by being overtly demonstrating it. A movement that always operated underground will never convince the masses of its legitimacy, and waiting for the critical strength threshold might prove counter productive, as it gives its opponents an opportunity to use propoganda to discredit it.