In America, the title 'Atheist" is a negative bad word, to be ashamed of?

Question

"I am an atheist" makes people in this country cringe, they equivicate it to pedophiles and rapists.

Can the name 'atheist' be worn with pride?

Answer 1

Absolutely. I am an atheist. There are many popular myths about atheism and atheists which claim that people are atheists on account of some sort of rebellion (against god, religion, church, families, fathers, etc.) or pride. These myths come primarily from Christians whose religious mythology gives an important place to rebellion against divine rules as the origin of evil in the world (Satan is depicted as having rebelled against God). At most, these myths might be true of some but not all or even most atheists; even if true, however, none of these myths would have any implications for the truth or reasonableness of atheism itself.
Even if we were to assume that the statement is true and the atheist in question is indeed too proud to admit that she is wrong (surely true in some cases), so what? This would not mean that atheism is unreasonable or that theism in general (much less any specific religion like Christianity) is valid. There are certainly many religious theists, including Christians, who are also too proud to admit that they could wrong; is this a good reason to dismiss theism, religion, or Christianity? Of course not.
We cannot assume that the above accusation is true of any atheist in particular and it probably isn't true of even most atheists in existence — certainly no more so than the average human being. Even if this myth were true of a significant percentage of atheists, it would still be an error to assume it to be true in a conversation with some atheist in particular. It seems that such a claim is made about atheists in order to divert attention away from the important issues and towards the atheists themselves. It is easier to dismiss atheism if you can imagine that atheists themselves aren't worth taking seriously.
sarah r below is making my stomach churn..

Answer 2

The term "atheist" carries a bit of a negative stigma, because it denotes a strong belief against the existence of God. Many people, whether affiliated with a religious group or not, find it difficult to rule out the existence of God with definite confidence. Religious and/or spiritual beliefs fall on a continuum, from an atheist ideal to a religious extremest. While "atheist" is not a "bad" word, it does raise eyebrows, because of the strength of belief required is at an extreme. Most people are comfortable somewhere in middle.

Answer 3

In the US, we have freedom of religion....and the freedom to not believe in God if that's what we choose. That doesn't mean everyone has to like it. You are over dramatizing to state that we equivocate it with pedophiles or rapists. Most don't. Can the name "atheist" be worn with pride? I don't see anything to be prideful about. To each his own. I would rather live my life believing in God and heaven and be wrong than to live my life believing there is no God and be wrong.

Answer 4

Well, a lot of atheist and agnostic individuals make being a Christian and Catholic sound disgraceful. I'm open minded and I believe that an Atheist believes that there is no God, and that Atheists just have different beliefs than I do. For me, personally, faith works. I don't think being an Atheist is evil or something to be ashamed of, only if you act like a child or completely ignorant and make fun of people because of their own individual beliefs.

Answer 5

Most of the time those who are extremely involved with their religion, especially the christians, Jews, or Muslims become offended because they use their beliefs as a form of comfort. They're afraid to die and they have such a strong belief in their afterlife that when they come across someone who goes against that, it comes to them as an offense.

I say pride yourself for being an atheist. Be proud that you question things, think for yourself and not follow something blindly.

Answer 6

I'm proud. Being an Atheist means that I don't need to lie to myself just to make it through my day.

The term "Atheist" gets absolutely all of its negativity from religious followers. Since they are still 80% plus or minus the American public, none of this should be surprising.

Of course, they become just a bit Atheist in hospitals, don't they? They don't go to church to get rid of an illness. And you don't see much celebration at a funeral, either, do you?

We remind them that there are some pretty big holes in their self-deception. No wonder why we're hated.

Answer 7

That's not true at all! Some people can't accept differences in other and when those people happen to be devout....than yeah they don't like hearing someone is Atheist (or feel some ignorant need to change your mine). But the vast majority of people totally accept other people's religious beliefs (or lack of them). Don't let a couple of fanatics bother you.

Answer 8

In enlightened areas it carries no stigma. And fortunately, the pendulum is swinging back again, and enlightenment is returning.

By the way, "atheism" is a funny word. Why do we have that word, but we don't have a word for someone who does not believe in astrology? Someday people will realize that disbelief in gods is no less credible than disbelief in astrology (or disbelief in any of many other superstitions).

Answer 9

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And Christian get made fun of for tithing and wearing crosses on our necks.

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Answer 10

I think that "Atheist" is the proper term for what you believe in (don't believe in). When a god is not in your belief system or lack thereof.

And of course, it doesn't mean you are a rapist or pedophile or anything like that... lol.