Originally published at shaman.princessleia.com.
When I came to the conclusion a few years ago that I was an atheist I had very little exposure to the Atheist literature out there. An interview by David Silverman with with Douglas Adams about Atheism instantly made Adams a hero of mine, but I didn’t seek out other Atheists and Atheist literature until last year when I went to a panel that included NoGodBlog.com’s David Silverman at Philcon (he was at Philcon this year too, I should stop being so shy and say “Hi” sometime).
In this past year I’ve become much more acquainted with the personalities, arguments, literature/documentaries, blogs and organizations. It certainly has been helpful, and it’s always nice to have company.
Which brings me to the point of this post: What is it like to be an Atheist in America?
I can only speak as an Atheist living in the Northeast portion of this country, I really don’t know what it’s like in the “Bible Belt” but I do know that speeches by Richard Dawkins routinely sell out to his supporters down there.
If you believe much of the press (and I certainly did!) Atheists are not popular in this country. For the first year or so I was an Atheist I mostly kept it quiet in mixed company, I certainly didn’t breathe a word of it at work, even when asked directly about religion I was evasive.
This changed when we started planning our wedding last November. People are always interested in talking about weddings, and it was getting increasingly difficult to be evasive when I was talking about it. Slowly I started telling people about the shamanism stuff, meditiation, drum making, meaning behind parts of the ceremony and finally the fact that I was an atheist.
I was shocked by the response.
Almost all of them were fascinated and wanted to know more! I encountered none of the bigotry that is so feared by so many atheists (or that I encounter online since posting my essay on atheism).
I’ve had some very interesting conversations with people I work with since then. I don’t work with a lot of brilliant people, it’s just a normal paper-shuffling office in America. These people are very average Americans. Soon I found myself being invited out to lunch with these people I only knew in passing, and having them “come out” to me about their agnosticism or atheism, and asking very interesting questions.
Which brought me around to something I’m horribly guilty of, believing that the strong correlation between higher education and being an atheist means that people believe in God because they’re stupid and/or ignorant. A Wired.com article by Gary Wolf (long article, but totally worth it) brings this up, and compares the condescending attitude of many atheists to the much more welcoming message put forth by most Christian churches. In short:
“We’re lagging among the lower 95 percent,” says Adams. (a vocal atheist discussing the education levels of atheists vs deist)
“You are kings anointed by God,” says [Christian] Pastor Matt.
This difference leaves a sour taste in my mouth, especially when I realize I’ve said the same thing. It’s even more amusing because as far as traditional standards go I’m part of that “lower 95 percent” (I may be smart, but I never went to college).
Besides, you get much further with people by being understanding. Every time a Christian emails me about my Atheist essay, even mean or preachy emails, I make my response polite and restrained. In the less severe cases I’ve even been able to establish a dialog with these people that was mutually beneficial. I learned that there is more to the God thing than just a logic argument, they learned that there are nice atheists and we both come out more enlightened.
So, is it hard being an Atheist in America? Not after I got over the elitist thing and started being honest, understanding, open and just plain nice.
