MiloCast

Since I’ve been writing these articles and being more outspoken about my non-belief in general, I have had the wonderful experience of finding out that other people I know are also non-believers, or “believe” in the most general sense, but don’t let ideas of the supernatural dictate their behavior. It turns out that we’re not as small a minority as it seems.

Why, though, must I wear an “evolve” pin on my shirt or talk about religion in order to find out these things? In many cases, it’s probably because there’s no reason for non-believers to be particularly outspoken in most circumstances — they don’t have dogma forcing them to impose their will upon others. However, I worry that most of us who remain silent do so in order to maintain the status quo — they don’t want others to treat them differently.

Unfortunately, this means that fewer of us are “out-of-the-closet atheists,” and therefore the believers think that we are rare and exceptions to the rule. I understand that some people need to “go along to get along,” and that it’s not in their best interests to be outspoken about their lack of belief in the supernatural. But I encourage anyone who is willing to let others know that they’re a non-believer. Chances are, they like and respect you already, and finding out you are an atheist will subtly change their perception of all atheists. Even better, you may expand your circle of like-minded friends.

No need to be obnoxious about it or anything — that will just re-enforce any negative beliefs they already hold. But get out there and let the people know you’re an atheist; it’s the only way to combat the assault on atheism which is becoming popular as the religious retaliate against the popularity of certain books. You don’t have to debate them, argue with their beliefs, or tell them they’re wrong. It’s usually better if you don’t antagonize people, and it’s better not to argue unless you educate yourself on the facts first. They have a short list of favorite arguments which are old, useless, and already well-refuted. But if you don’t know the responses to some of them, they can be difficult to argue against, doing harm to the innocent bystander who might be taken in by the misrepresentations of reality.