So, I finally ~came out~ (YAY!), but can I expect this reaction from everyone?

Question

yup, I finally came out in my high school and told people I was atheist because a group of guys i was sitting with was talking about the the bible. three of them were really shocked, but one of them (he believes more towards science, but he still thinks there's a god) was really like.. psyched to meet an atheist, lol. so i had to explain to him how i knew i was one. it was really nice though, because all four of them were really accepted of me being an atheist, even though 3 of them were Christians.

now my question is, can i expect most high schoolers to react this way, or are there high school-aged fundies to worry about?

LOL @ Bluto Blutarsky18! haha, but no, it's not like that. It's assigned seating, and there are only 4 ladies in our class of like.. 22 or so.

I live in a small town that is mostly Catholic and Christian, and they're all pretty religious. you don't really hear much from the Catholics, but the Christians are at every football game with their bibles, if that tells you anything.

oh, and I'm from kansas :D

Answer 1

Just because we disagree with your beliefs...or lackthereof...doesn't mean we can't be friends with you.

I do hope someday you come back around to Christ though.

Answer 2

Depends where you live. Even in areas without a lot of fundies, high schoolers are bizarrely unpredictable. I went to a school in Dearborn MI where 1/4 of the students were Muslim Arabs. I had an art class where the whites and the Arabs were hurling religious slurs at each other for days (there's a general presumption that white people are all Chrstian there), and then one day they started talking about what each side actually believed and the similarities between their faiths. It was really quite touching. The next day they had a new insult for each other: they started using "stupid Jew" as an insult. I wanted to throtle them.

Answer 3

I'll tell you my favorite "coming out" story.

I used to work with a woman who was a fundamentalist Christian. We were working on a project together for a while and we'd often get to talking about family and raising kids. We got along very well. She's often talk about her faith and how they related to her values and I would respond in a way that showed I had pretty similar values but never used the religious language that she did. I'd sometimes refer to things I did at my church, which is a Unitarian Universalist congregation with a very humanist bent.

One day she told me how nice it was to be able to work with such a good fellow Christian like me. I had to tell her that not only was I not a Christian but I was an atheist. I explained a little bit about my religion and how I could be a religious atheist. She was pretty amazed. She admitted that I'd opened her eyes a bit because she didn't realize that she could have as much in common with an atheist. She'd have to think of atheists in a different light.

I took that as a very large victory!

Answer 4

You won't generally get a reaction either way. The fact is, most high school kids haven't been brainwashed enough to care, just simply have less involved or more self centered things on their mind to care how you think about anything. The ones that are totally absorbed with their religion will tend to be shy and meek around you since they have no frame of reference to deal with someone out spoken against their beliefs.

Being guys, I bet they were just psyched to have a girl (a smart one apparently) talking to them, lol. But were probably just opened minded about it since they haven't yet been taught to fear and hate things that go against their religion.

In your everyday life, what you believe won't make a difference to how anyone reacts to you and you shouldn't go around starting arguments for the sake of arguing. That is the domain of religions that need converts to survive. The people you have to watch out for is those kids parents and teachers who can punish you if they see you as a threat.

Your one job as an atheist is to learn to intelligently support your position when you are directly challenged or when an organized religion intends to infringe upon your personal freedoms. There is no need to initiate arguments or challenges. Leave the believers to their devices. One who is freed by force is still a slave.

Answer 5

where are you from?? sorry, its just that people in my school really couldn't care less what religion you follow, we have tons of athiests, christians, jews, muslims, wiccans, etc. etc. So do you go to a Christian school... or is everyone just really religious around you? I cant answer your question because when you said you came out I was expecting that you came out as in you're gay, which would be a bit of an issue as far as getting total approval, especially from high schoolers, but i couldnt imagine high schoolers caring about religion

Answer 6

Stay away from any Bible Clubs. Just Joking. But any way it really depends on what type of community you live in. I live in a Bible Belt Community so if I said oh I'm Buddhist or Oh I'm atheist then they would freak and try to make me one of "them". By "them" I mean a fundie. But now in large urban towns it's not that big of a deal.

Answer 7

It really depends on what part of the country you're in...

I live in the good ol' Baptist Bible Belt, and let me tell you, when the hear that I'm Jewish (which has some of the basic principles of Christianity) people FREAK out....

But, if you live in a more liberalized part of the country, such as the Northeast or California, then you should be fine.

Congrats on "coming out". May you continue your pursuit of knowledge and individualism.

Answer 8

I can not tell you how the majority of your classmates will react.

I can tell you that you will have more people that are "nice" about it rather than "mean." Or at least I would hope.

I am sorry to hear that your an atheist. But I recognize that does not mean your are ignorant but it also does not mean that you have achieved some sort of enlightened state. I hope you will continuing seeking truth and questioning. For we all should never give up on such conquests.

Answer 9

Good for you, but I wouldn't expect an understanding reaction from everybody. Honestly, I think most people, even if they disagree with you, will respect your right not to believe. However, there is no shortage of angry, intolerant types. So yeah, keep an eye out for high-school aged fundies. I never had trouble with physical violence or anything, but people will bludgeon you with silly arguments.

Answer 10

There are people everywhere, including in high school, who are unaccepting of people who believe differently. That's just something you'll have to deal with. But whether or not I like the fact that you're an atheist shouldn't have a bearing on whether I accept you as a person.

Answer 11

Be who you think you are. You are grown enough to make your own desicions in life and form your own beliefs and opinions about the world around you. But when you come to the end of your life your beliefs will come into doubt and you will question yourself about whether you are right or wrong and you will find out the truth. And that is a scary thought....