I work for a company of about 30,000 employees that has programs to promote diversity, offers benefits to domestic partners and is generally considered to be a progressive employer. During a business meeting with a group of about 10 employees we strayed from our agenda and somehow moved to the subject of church. This prompted the person who was hosting the meeting (the highest ranking employee in the room) to spend the next twenty minutes telling us about his experiences with the holy spirit. I sat quietly and listened for a while, just like the rest of the attendees, and then excused myself to get a cup of coffee.

Afterward, I wondered what would have happened if I were to spend twenty minutes in a business meeting talking about how liberating it is to be an atheist. I'd tell my co-workers how I don't need to try to explain why virtually every scientist is wrong about the age of the earth and evolution, and how I don't have to dismiss religious contradictions as sacred mysteries. I'd implore them to be a part of the revolution, like the people in Galileo's day who, like him, believed that the Earth revolved around the sun, even after the church forced him to publicly deny it.   If they could only abandon their religious superstitions things would start to make a lot of sense and finally stand up to serious scrutiny.  Of course, if I were to do this, I knew what the result would be. I would find myself sitting in front of my supervisor's desk being reprimanded.

As a barometer of tolerance toward atheism in the work place, imagine how the future of your career would be affected if your supervisor thought you were an atheist. What if your supervisor happened to be a fundamentalist Christian? More than likely, he would feel you couldn't be trusted.

Outside of work the experience is much the same. Imagine going door to door selling atheism like a Jehovah's Witness. "Good afternoon, sir!" (Big smile and a copy of Thus Spoke Zarathustra in hand.) "I have an urgent message for you about how to take complete control of your life. There are no ceremonies or rituals, no donations to pay, all you have to do is stop believing. There is no God. Your life is not eternal; every minute you squander is irrevocably lost.  Quit preparing for the afterlife and start making the most of your every waking hour. Go! Run! Your life is slipping away!" What sort of reaction do you think you would receive?  I think it would be reasonable to assume that many of the reactions, perhaps even a majority, would be characterized as "unchristian."

I discovered recently that my two-year-old daughter's day care provider has been teaching her about Jesus. Granted, knowledge of religion is not a bad thing, but this still creates a dilemma for me. If I voice my objections to the day care provider could the quality of my daughter's care be affected? What would the public reaction be if it was discovered that a daycare was selling children atheism?

When I moved into a new neighborhood one of my new neighbors asked me if I had found a church yet.  I found myself hesitating.  Should I answer honestly and risk alienating them or should I just be vague?

Once I confided in a new friend by telling him, "I'm not religious," and he replied, "Well at least you're not an atheist."
Puzzled, I asked, "What's the difference?"
"Atheists have no morals," he said.

Similarly, I had a fundamentalist friend who would tell me about how his girl-friend was possessed by a demon. From the things he had told me, it was clear that she was emotionally disturbed and having a boy-friend who thought she was possessed probably wasn't helping. I suggested that she should see a psychiatrist, but he insisted there was a demon. "I know a lot about demons," he assured me. Over the course of our two year friendship, I had endured hours of listening to him talk about the glory of God and how if homosexuals would have read the story of Sodom and Gomorrah they would have known God was going to punish them with AIDS or something similar. I would disagree with him, but his arguments always began with, "It says in the Bible..." so reason was ineffective. We managed to maintain a friendship, but I knew that if I ever told him I was an atheist, that friendship would end. My beliefs, unlike his, do not exclude anyone.

Atheists are a diffuse, often misunderstood group and I think the examples I've listed clearly illustrate the double standard this misunderstanding creates. Atheism is not a popular cause and atheist rights is an issue that garners little sympathy.  Although statistics indicate 10-15% of Americans are atheists, politicians won't dare even say the word.  The majority of atheists are intelligent, discerning individuals who believe generosity is worth while for its own sake and doesn't need to be enforced by super natural beings.

I don't want to be characterized as another self-important activist out to cure the world with a web page. The only purpose this website serves is to give me the opportunity to speak my mind and hopefully have some interesting dialogue with others who agree or disagree with me. Thanks for reading.

The Closet Atheist