Sharing this blog with my friends.
I sent an email to about 12 of my friends today
to share this new blog. The first response was a
good one. My friend Rob (a pastor), asked "Why I
waited so long to come out of the closet?"
Excellent question.
First of all let me explain that when I was a believer I kept it to myself. So when I became a non-believer I kept it to myself. Fortunately I began writing everything down. Even when I thought I might share this new part of me there was an obvious concern. How will friends treat me, will they suddenly become afraid of me somehow?
In "The God Delusion" Richard Dawkins says, "The status of atheists in America today is on par with that of homosexuals fifty years ago." Thats' a scary thought, are people going to fight me because of this? It's reason enough to be concerned or take precautions. In my previous post, I thanked several individuals for their help. They helped by indicating what it's like to be a known atheist in America today. They all said hate mail is virtually non-existant. So if christians only occasionally get animated then should I worry about Muslims? Then I realized, they view christians and atheists as infidels, so we are no different to them.
Now that I've ruled out threats and harm, who am I afraid might know that I'm an atheist? No one.
Christians openly show what they believe with their Jesus fish on their cars, and their crosses hanging from the rear view mirror. If they can openly share their personal beliefs without fear of harm then so can I.
To answer your question Rob, "Why did I wait so long to come out the closet?" Fear of the unknown, I really didn't know what would happen when people found out. I wanted to wait and get some answers from seasoned atheists about whether or not I was endangering my family (because my family come first). It was only 5 months ago yesterday that I decided I was an atheist, so it really hasn't been that long.
First of all let me explain that when I was a believer I kept it to myself. So when I became a non-believer I kept it to myself. Fortunately I began writing everything down. Even when I thought I might share this new part of me there was an obvious concern. How will friends treat me, will they suddenly become afraid of me somehow?
In "The God Delusion" Richard Dawkins says, "The status of atheists in America today is on par with that of homosexuals fifty years ago." Thats' a scary thought, are people going to fight me because of this? It's reason enough to be concerned or take precautions. In my previous post, I thanked several individuals for their help. They helped by indicating what it's like to be a known atheist in America today. They all said hate mail is virtually non-existant. So if christians only occasionally get animated then should I worry about Muslims? Then I realized, they view christians and atheists as infidels, so we are no different to them.
Now that I've ruled out threats and harm, who am I afraid might know that I'm an atheist? No one.
Christians openly show what they believe with their Jesus fish on their cars, and their crosses hanging from the rear view mirror. If they can openly share their personal beliefs without fear of harm then so can I.
To answer your question Rob, "Why did I wait so long to come out the closet?" Fear of the unknown, I really didn't know what would happen when people found out. I wanted to wait and get some answers from seasoned atheists about whether or not I was endangering my family (because my family come first). It was only 5 months ago yesterday that I decided I was an atheist, so it really hasn't been that long.
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