‘Coming out’ can be a trial for atheists and agnostics

Gretchen Peters, Foreign Correspondent

• Last Updated: May 14. 2009 11:51AM UAE / May 14. 2009 7:51AM GMT

DENVER // During the eight years that George W Bush, a born-again Christian, was in the White House, the United States appeared to be a nation tilting towards deeper religious faith.

But appearances can be deceiving. In fact, a recent study has found that about one in every five Americans either no longer believes in God at all, or doubts that a higher force exists.

Once considered a silent minority, atheists and agnostics are increasingly making connections on college campuses and through internet sites such as MySpace and Facebook, and becoming ever more emboldened to make their beliefs, or lack thereof, known.

There have been recent hits in the mainstream media, including the satirical documentary Religulous by comedian and TV show host Bill Maher that earned US$13 million (Dh47m) at the box office, and the best-selling book, God is Not Great by the Vanity Fair columnist Christopher Hitchens.

Barack Obama, the president, even reached out to non-believers in his inauguration speech, indicating that Washington may recognise the potential for this segment of American society to become a potent political force in the future.

According to a religious identification survey conducted in March by Trinity College in Connecticut, about 12 per cent of Americans now identify themselves as atheist, or non-believing, while another 12 per cent describe themselves as agnostic, or unsure whether there is a God.

Activist groups such as the Washington-based American Humanist Association (AHA) believe there are many more Americans out there who have privately cast off organised religion, but do not say so because they live in deeply religious communities or worry they will offend their families.

This year, the AHA began reaching out to closet non-believers with a series of provocative newspaper, public transport and billboard ads with messages such as “Don’t believe in God? You’re Not Alone”. The ads ran not only in big cities that are considered progressive, New York and Washington among them, but also on billboards in the Midwest and southern Bible belt.

“We want people to know you can be good without God,” said Maggie Ardiente, AHA’s director of development.

Non-believers are suddenly especially evident on American college campuses, 149 of which are now home to atheist student groups up from just a few dozen a decade ago. Lyz Liddell, an organiser for the nationwide student atheist group Secular Student Alliance, said the AHA ad campaign brought hundreds of students out of the woodwork.

“People would call up or e-mail us and say, ‘wow, there are other people out there who think like I do’,” she said.

Many students compare what’s taking place to the “outing” of the gay community, and describe their decision to go public with their atheism using similar terms.

Hemant Mehta, the chairman of the alliance, talks about his years of living “in the wardrobe” and how hard it was to “come out” to his parents, who are devout Jainists, an ancient religion from the subcontinent.

“I told them that I did not believe in our God or in any faith. It was rough and they thought they had raised me wrong,” he said. Now, six years later, “it is not like they are bragging about it”, he said, “But we have found a way to deal with it.”

Mr Mehta, who also runs a blog called the Friendly Atheist, said the majority of the e-mails he receives come from young people wanting his advice about how to come out.

“People ask, ‘how do you live life as an atheist? How do you fit in the community?’ ” he said. Many fear getting kicked out of their homes or losing key friendships. “I know the analogy of coming out as a gay person is not perfect, but in a lot of ways it really does fit.”

Many atheists say they regularly face hostility, and even threats of violence.

Charmer Wren, vice president of the atheist society at the Metropolitan State College in Denver, was chatting on the group’s website with a fundamentalist Christian when he received a disturbing message.

“He said the United States was a Christian nation and when I disagreed, he threatened to run me over if he ever saw me on campus,” Mr Wren said.

Mr Wren said when he first became active in the atheist student community he was surprised by the level of hostility he and others faced.

“It doesn’t surprise me anymore,” he said. “For any minority belief this sort of behaviour is not unusual. I think it is very human unfortunately.”

Joel Guttormson, who runs Metro State Atheists with Mr Wren, said the vast majority of visitors who post messages on their website are positive, inquisitive and are interested in learning more about the idea.

“I think more and more people are getting sick of a world in which ‘you believe in a different invisible man than I do, so therefore I am going to kill you’,” said Mr Guttormson.



gpeters@thenational.ae