Some atheists have it pretty easy -- they can openly admit to being an atheist or perhaps don't have to give the matter any thought at all. Others, though, have things much tougher. They have work very hard to hide who and what they are. Some atheists are surrounded by so much anti-atheist hate and bigotry that it's actually quite stressful on a daily basis.
What is such an atheist to do? Is there any hope that Christians will ever be decent or adult enough to allow atheists to live openly without fear?
Tom writes:
Just imagine that instead of a small town it's a metropolis of nearly 1.5 million people who mostly share this mayor's attitude and you'll have a good idea of where I live. I can't even use my real name when discussing atheism on the internet for fear of losing business opportunities and associates or the possibility of my young daughter getting harassed.
I hate biting my tongue; it makes me feel like an "Uncle Tom" atheist, but I've heard many Christians around here discussing the subject amongst themselves (speaking freely since they assume by default that I'm one of them) and they all seem to share Steve Harvey's views on atheism. If you're not familiar with his angry diatribes against Christians dating or even having a conversation with an atheist then I suggest you check them out on YouTube. It's chilling stuff.
Actually it was Harvey's brand of bigotry and hypocrisy that I observed in my neighbors (along with actually reading the Bible) that led me to reject the claim that the Christian god exists and (soon after) all other gods. Christians like James Bellar and my neighbors don't realize that for the unsure or uninitiated these sort of antics actually serve to push them further away from accepting Christianity instead of converting them to it as they seem to think it will.
If the personal price for me wasn't so high I'd actually thank them for promoting rationality, albeit indirectly.
[original post]
There are no good answers or solutions for atheists caught in a situation like this. Keeping quiet is bad psychologically and emotionally, not to mention the fact that it is ultimately bad for all atheists whenever any of us treat atheism as something shameful. But being open carries tremendous personal cost as well because atheists like this have the misfortune to live in evil Christian communities where hate and bigotry are the normal currency of social life.
Christianity is the best advertisement against Christianity -- not because Christians themselves are unusually evil, but because they can be so good at being Christian and it's their religion which has such powerful evil elements. They can't help it, they have simply been raised in an ideology that has warped their sense of morality to the point where they sincerely think that hate is love and violence is kindness.
No comments:
Post a Comment