why is it that some people who are atheists are hesitant about telling others around them? i'm not saying that ALL atheists are like this, but i've heard about this several times, & was just curious about why exactly that is?

I think it has something to do with the fact that being an atheist puts আপনি in the minority among Americans. I don't have the citation for this, but America is the most overtly religious developed country. So, pretty much wherever আপনি go, আপনি will be viewed askance for your lack of religiosity.

Therefore, I think many atheists just don't want to put themselves in the position of having to defend their views, time and time again.

অথবা even better: having to fend off attempts to cure them from the hell-bound ways!!

I don't live in a very religious country, but when I told my বন্ধু that I was an Atheist, a couple of the really religious ones grilled me about. But I've never হারিয়ে গেছে বন্ধু over it অথবা anything.

I think, judging দ্বারা speaking with other Atheists in my country, the issue is that খ্রীষ্টধর্ম based religions actually have a lot of social and political power, so sometimes when আপনি প্রশ্ন that power, আপনি find yourself in quite a verbally violent debate. খ্রীষ্টধর্ম as a whole paints Atheists in a very bad light, so declaring your Atheism even in a not-very-religious community like the one I live in can create a lot of tension. Its not so bad now, but about 10 years পূর্বে when I was first talking about Atheism with my friends, it was a bigger deal. Now, not so much.

From speaking to people here in this club, I get the impression that a lot people live in very religious families and/or communities where Atheism is just not accepted as a belief system. So it can be quite emotionally harmful, and in some cases physically harmful, to 'come out' as an Atheist in those communities. So some people have a hard time building up the courage and/or picking the right moment to tell their families/friends that they are Atheists. For other people, keeping their beliefs a secret seems like the only option.

Because, although religious people say they are forgiving, they're USUALLY not. People might not want to tell their religious বন্ধু and/or family about deciding to be an atheist, because they may lose their বন্ধু and their relationship with their family might take a turn for the awkward.

I don't think that its because they're 'not forgiving' as someone ব্যক্ত i think its because people get put off দ্বারা the really fanatical supporters. As a whole religious people aren't bad its just a few টক apples who get attention that ruins it for the others. Such as all those people who do horrible things and claim they're on a holy mission.

Probably because of things like this:

link

Check out some of the "Christian" মতামত that have been aimed at this ব্রেভ young lady.

Feel the love........

people worry about being accepted. they're to scared to be differnt. i dont see why they shouldn't tell people and be proud of who they are