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Atheism Question

why is it that some people who are atheists are hesitant about telling others around them? i'm not saying that ALL atheists are like this, but i've heard about this several times, & was just curious about why exactly that is?

all my life i was raised a catholic. i was baptized, made my first communion & i was also confirmed, & just within the last year or so {roughly} i became an atheist. i personally had no trouble whatsoever with telling anyone this. so again, i was just wondering why some people find it difficult to do?
 BellaMetallica posted over a year ago
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Atheism Answers

jester616 said:
I think it has something to do with the fact that being an atheist puts you in the minority among Americans. I don't have the citation for this, but America is the most overtly religious developed country. So, pretty much wherever you go, you will be viewed askance for your lack of religiosity.

Therefore, I think many atheists just don't want to put themselves in the position of having to defend their views, time and time again.

Or even better: having to fend off attempts to cure them from the hell-bound ways!!


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posted over a year ago 
misanthrope86 said:
I don't live in a very religious country, but when I told my friends that I was an Atheist, a couple of the really religious ones grilled me about. But I've never lost friends over it or anything.

I think, judging by speaking with other Atheists in my country, the issue is that Christianity based religions actually have a lot of social and political power, so sometimes when you question that power, you find yourself in quite a verbally violent debate. Christianity as a whole paints Atheists in a very bad light, so declaring your Atheism even in a not-very-religious community like the one I live in can create a lot of tension. Its not so bad now, but about 10 years ago when I was first talking about Atheism with my friends, it was a bigger deal. Now, not so much.

From speaking to people here in this club, I get the impression that a lot people live in very religious families and/or communities where Atheism is just not accepted as a belief system. So it can be quite emotionally harmful, and in some cases physically harmful, to 'come out' as an Atheist in those communities. So some people have a hard time building up the courage and/or picking the right moment to tell their families/friends that they are Atheists. For other people, keeping their beliefs a secret seems like the only option.
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posted over a year ago 
ImAnEasel said:
Because, although religious people say they are forgiving, they're USUALLY not. People might not want to tell their religious friends and/or family about deciding to be an atheist, because they may lose their friends and their relationship with their family might take a turn for the awkward.
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posted over a year ago 
sean-frafdo said:
I don't think that its because they're 'not forgiving' as someone said i think its because people get put off by the really fanatical supporters. As a whole religious people aren't bad its just a few sour apples who get attention that ruins it for the others. Such as all those people who do horrible things and claim they're on a holy mission.
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posted over a year ago 
Mrs_Bungle said:
Probably because of things like this:

link

Check out some of the "Christian" comments that have been aimed at this brave young lady.

Feel the love........
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posted over a year ago 
*
I laughed at the "threatened her with death threats of murder, rape etc." What happened to "Thou shall not kill"?
polarwagon15 posted over a year ago
HoneyBadger0712 said:
people worry about being accepted. they're to scared to be differnt. i dont see why they shouldn't tell people and be proud of who they are
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posted over a year ago 
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