Atheists Launch a "Coming Out" Campaign

A story in the Washington Post looks at a new movement by atheists to band together and have their own "coming out" campaign. Needless to say, the professional Christian set and the Christianist crowd will be hyperventilating and the spittle will be flying -these merchants of hatred and discrimination will be furious that other citizens are exercising their constitutional right to embrace no religion. The irony is that the campaign is modeled on the gay rights coming out model, another movement subjected to constant condemnation, vilification, and untruths by the professional Christians. One of the best argument around nowadays for being an atheist is the "godly Christian" crowd who set a standard of what not to be. Add to that the scientific evidence that the existence of Adam and Eve is a mere fairy tale - as is "The Fall" and you're well on your way to atheism. I don't view myself as an atheist - I believe that there is a creator or higher power, just not as described in the Old Testament. But I digress. Here are highlights from the Post story:

The young man in the video pulls in close to his computer camera with the trappings of a typical college dorm room — a loft bed and the clutter of cast-off clothes — piled behind him. Alex Fiorentini isn’t talking about girls, beer or football. Instead, it’s a coming-out moment of sorts.

“Is it acceptable to the majority of the population to be an atheist?” he asks the camera. “Nope. Are all of your friends going to accept you as an atheist? Probably not all of them. And yeah, those things are gonna suck. But the real question is, ‘Is it OK to be me?’ That is the real question if you are an atheist.”

For Fiorentini, a student at the University of Illinois, the answer is yes. He and scores of other atheists, young and old, have made similar videos for a new campaign designed to build community and support among nontheists around the world.

Brown, who had founded a gay-straight club in her high school, patterned We Are Atheism on the gay community’s “It Gets Better” video project, launched in 2010 after a string of suicides by bullied gay teens. It Gets Better features self-made videos by gay, lesbian, transgendered and bisexual people who share their coming-out experiences and offer encouragement to those who remain closeted. “The whole point of the website is to let younger atheists know you will face persecution,” Brown said. “But through us knowing each other we can all help.”

Brown’s project also piggybacks on the gay community’s experience that familiarity breeds acceptance: Knowing actual gay people tends to break down homophobia, ignorance and prejudice.

“If the polls are correct, there are literally millions of nonbelievers in America,” said Richard Haynes, president of Atheist Nexus. “However, many atheists feel all alone. This is the primary reason we must come out of the closet. Coming out is the only way to change the public perception of nontheism.”

As noted on this blog before, surveys continue to show that atheists (and Muslims) are actually in many ways more moral in their conduct and treatment of others than conservative Christians.