Coming out of the religious closet

Im open about my alternative beliefs, its caused a small rift in my family, religion was always a problem in my family regardless of my sexual orientation, my dad being catholic, mum being protestant, because of school and education my little sister is borderline atheist, my older brother causing many party fights about his 'dislike' for Christian beliefs and oldest brother being at the receiving end on many occasions.

everyone is entitled to what they want to believe, and you shouldn't be shy about the topic either, just say what you think and it will grow from there, I think life is quite magical when you attraction people with similar beliefs to yourself and completely repulses those who think otherwise

 

I hate discussing religion...even here at EC.

I was born a Catholic, raised Baptist, then attended Presbyterian....and now I believe in something completely different. I don't like to talk about because when I've discussed it with friends (not on EC) it became a big joke. And sadly, a lot of society looks at it that way so I just tend to keep it to myself.

 

I am an open (and proud) atheist to my friends and strangers, but not my family. Not that they would mind, heck, my mom is practically an agnostic and my brother is on the verge of atheism, but I just don't know how to just go "I'm an atheist." Which reminds me that I have to go to church on Sunday. :***:

 

I'm very open with my friends and family about my own atheism, and for the most part my family is entirely ignorant about what it means to be an atheist. Then again, they're largely ignorant of what it means to be a christian, so it's not much of a surprise.

 

I'm open about being atheist to all my friends, but all my friends are atheists so it isn't much of a shocker to them. I regularly get into fights with my parents over it when I see them though, as they are the "everyone but us is going to hell" type.

 

I'm open about my atheism among everyone besides my family. My family has a very strong catholic belief. I used to attend a catholic school until we moved, thankfully. I am required to do prayers before every meal and before bed. It really gets annoying, but I just can't be open about my belief to my family.

 

I am open about being an atheist to my friends at university and my parents. Some friends from home know that I was questioning my faith, but I have not told them yet.

I pretty much went from identifying as a straight christian women to a pangender homoromantic gray-a (or for short a genderqueer gay person) in the matter of a year and a half.

I really don't have conversations about religious beliefs with people very often. So, that's why more people know about my sexual orientation and gender identity than know about my lack of religious beliefs.

 

My atheism extends beyond just a lack of belief in a supernatural power/being; I am actually very against any form of religion for numerous reasons. I am completely open to everybody about being an atheist, but I am a bit selective with who I tell about my hatred of religion. Some of my closest friends are very passionate about their relationship with their god, so I don't want to tell them about my hatred for it. However, they are very rational and they don't let their beliefs consume their entire lives, so I can actually respect their beliefs for that. As for other people, I will not hesitate to go on the offensive if I hear stupid things come out of their mouths, especially if a lot of it is cruel or false.

I am open to my family about being an atheist and my hatred of religion. They consider themselves Christians (I beg to differ), so they obviously don't agree with me, and there have a been a few discussions that were rather heated, but as it is with most religious people, they simply refuse to think for themselves; they listen to their book instead.

There are some times when I am hesitant on stating that I am an atheist, but I ultimately choose to tell the truth since I usually know more about religion than the people asking me. I don't have blind hatred for religion; I know a lot about religion, specifically Christianity and Catholicism since those are the popular ones that I come across, so I have descriptive reasoning for, essentially, all of my arguments. I'm not one to go around and pick fights though; I am actually quite conserved with my views on religion. I just choose to be open and tell the truth if I am asked.

 

i am very frank about my atheism with everyone, including my extremely religious family, to their dismay.

after years of fighting with her about going to church which eventually turned into resentment, at 17 i told my minister of a mom point blank that i didn't believe in god. i made sure to do it while she was driving (as in actually driving, not even while stopped at a red light lol) so that she couldn't actually do anything about it-- not even look me straight in the face. the strategy worked well, but i feel lucky that she kept her cool as much as she did and we didn't end up in an accident lol.

10 years later, she continues to throw religion at me from time to time over the phone, to which i just go "yeah yeah, moving on." literally.

 

Nobody should persecute you for faith, but it has always been.

I guess anything good is worth fighting for.

 

I'm sorta open. Raised christian (even an alter boy) I started thinking that things didn't seem to fit right.
Went through a big "I hate all churches" faze where I was pretty darn open about my feelings.

Now I'm seeing myself as aligned to Buddhism. I was reading up on it (as I've done with many other religions) and it just seems to fit with what I already believe in.
One of the key factors that I like is there is still "no god".
Nobody up there making rules for people to fight over.

I'm not afraid to tell people, I've told a couple. But I'm not advertising it and it's not a question that gets asked a lot.

 

I'm open to my friends and family about being an atheist, but not at synagogue or my religious school(obviously)

 

Im Catholic but I believe a lot of different things. It is so hard sitting in class while your teacher tells everyone being anything but straight is wrong but I dont care. I stand up for WHO I AM not what some religion says. I believe in what i believe as does everyone else. no one should try and force someone to lay on the same straight arrow for what they believe to be true if you dont feel the same way

 

I sort of am but not entirely. My parents know that on the rare occasion I go to church it is a United Unitarian. However, I think they still think I'm a Christian Unitarian, and I'm not really, not in the sense they think. I don't know how to tell them and think perhaps I never should. When I speak of my sexuality, my mother always says something such as "As long as you still know Jesus" .....

 

I'm pretty open about it. Then again, I only know of one of my friends who does believe in god. I think the percentage of people going to faith schools, who believe in god is much smaller than that of the general population, surprisingly! Whenever there's a school mass and my friends take part due to forcive habit, I always make a sound like they've caught fire hahaha.

 

i hate talking about my beliefs because as soon as i tell someone I don't believe in god (or any kind of deity) I am usually lumped into the intolerant asshole atheist category.

my boyfriend's parents are SDA and very devout. as soon as his mother found out I was anything other than SDA, she did not like me.

it's also frustrating because it's not like i'm moral-less. i do hold myself to high standards.

 

I'm not open about it at all, but I don't lie. I just say I'm trying to figure things out, which is true for the most part. (Saying what I said usually huts them up so you might try it.)

 

I more scared to tell people I am an atheist than I am to tell them I am gay.