Trump not the most politically savvy man around claimed to be a believer and had his Bible with him on his inauguration day. I could tell by his body language it was a stunt. Believer or not he needed to appeal to a country that does not take well to Atheism. Even non religious people bulk at the idea. Exceptions abound of course and varies State to State. So tred carefully if you don't want to upset them.

Personally if your not willing to lie then your silence is a better option. Its not fair but as an Atheist you must see the world as it is. If you disagree I will not mind. I like disagreement it stimulates my mind but I implore you to only reject this because
you think it is wrong not because you don't like it.

I find it very difficult to tell people I am an atheist so I just usually don't. It is difficult for two reasons.

When you say you are an atheist, they will

1. Argue with you or try to convert you.
   Or
2. Look at you/treat you differently.

The fact that you do not want to engage with Christians says more about their likely intolerance than their love for you.A true follower of Jesus would listen to your views however antipathetic they were to his or her faith without rancour in the hope that you may see the light one day.Even if you made it clear that you cannot envisage circumstances in which a leap of faith would be possible your believer interlocutor should should continue to hope you may change your mind whilst holding out the hand of friendship.If anger is the reaction to the communication of your views try someone else but do not give up.You do not live in Iran or parts of Indonesia but in the USA which guarantees freedom of speech

Skeptic,,, seems like a better word choice than atheist when talking to Bible bumpers

I don't unless they ask, then I just tell them and if they start with oh you just got to pray for him to reveal himself and all that I say I used to be a Christian and you don't how badly I wish still believed like that, life was so much easier when I belived I had someone looking out for me.

Don't be afraid of your beliefs. If Christians are talking about how they feel just simply come out and disagree. Make sure you've done your research though. I've been caught in conversations where I forget key pieces of information and my argument seems flawed.

Je suis musulmans

First, you get a bunch of balloons and confetti, bust through the door and go, "surprise! I'm an Atheist! Wooot!"

I'm being silly, but if that is your style, go for it! Lol! Here is my thing, I don't tell them unless they ask me. If someone was Christian and you're having a casual conversation or first meeting, did you say "Oh, I'm a Christian by the way...could you pass me the ketchup, please?" That would be quite odd. I find that when you just tell them up front, it makes it seem like you're one of those crusaders carrying a banner and charging in on them about to challenge their beliefs.

What I've done is if the topic ever comes up and they inquire, because it eventually comes up, I wait for the opportunity to arise and then tell them I'm an agnostic...or in this case, you'd say you're an atheist. Then the look after you tell them, rather than their words, will tell you how they'll treat you fro then on. I live in the South in the US and I tell ya, they assume that everyone is Christian or religious. Then, when you tell them something like, "I'm agnostic" they automatically think it is the same as an atheist. Only if they're open to allowing me to explain things to them, will I tell them the difference.

sometimes there are friends who'd invite you to some religious meeting or such and I am like "that's good bro I guess but, I don't believe in such"

I say it straight out. I was taught as a child how evil atheists were. I spent too many years intimidated by my abusive evangelical mother and now that I have a TBI...It's almost a physical problem for me to lie. In response to say nope I'm an atheist, I've been told I'm the nicest atheist one guy has ever met! One woman told me..."But you look like such a nice person" Most people that I tell don't spend much time debating me because I'm pretty clear that I think religion is cruel and abusive to children.
I feel like I'm part of the beginning of humanity letting it go. In whatever small way we really are making a difference by spreading knowledge and talking to others. I feel its my duty to be honest for the sake of the world my children and grandchildren have to live in.

I slam their religion without mercy and give examples of why their respective religion is crap.

I am of the age where I really do not care what anyone thinks of me. If my beliefs are relevant I'll just state them. If someone doesn't like it s/he can F%$# off.

I live in Islamic county and telling religious people my real believe is not a good idea

I explain that I am a humanist and have no belief in god. People naturally want to "save" you to tell you why they believe. I find firm believers often have a story, a very pursuesive story that helps them rationalize their beliefs. I do not care if others believe and I am not focused on changing their belief system. I let others know this and that if they ask, I explain why I do not believe in a god. I don't try, but I think I set a good example of being "good without god" - that the constructs of "morality" do not start with faith, but a knowledge of how to perpetuate the human race. But even then - that is all subjective. I personally am a humanist - I "believe" in furthering the human species, as well as all other species, on this planet in a sustainable and responsible way - not all atheists or agnostic people "believe" in these ideals. I think overall, you need to be able to have confidence and security in your beliefs. I recently had a great conversation with a former-Yugoslavian region war survivor at my work who firmly believes in god as he is alive due to god's intervention and now lives in a beautiful area in the US. His children are very well off and he is "blessed". He asked me about my faith and I was honest - he initially tried to disagree, but when he began to understand that I was a good person, who cared for him and others, and expressed that I did not rely on "faith" do do this, he accepted that he would not change my position and, as he knows me well as a co-worker, accepted my position. It wasn't "agreeing to disagree", it was accepting our differences and respecting one another. did not seek to tell him he was wrong and I did not hope to have him tell me I was right. Its not about the. He's a cool guy with a great history. It is about respecting each other.

It all depends on what's at stake. If I'm at work I'm not going to discuss my atheism. If I had parents who would throw me out of the house I'm not going to discuss my atheism. As an adult who is capable of taking care of my own needs, I let all my friends and family know I'm an atheist. I often times wear T-Shirts saying I'm an Atheist. If my theist friends don't want anything more to do with me then I'll deal with that loss, but I'm not afraid to tell someone I'm not convinced. I would say that Christians aren't afraid to tell you their beliefs so as long as you're not mocking them and you mention it with respect I wouldn't be afraid to tell them you're not convinced.

I generally don't unless asked directly. If I do tell someone, I'll use something like "I'm between religions right now", and let them figure that one out for themselves.

I don't bring it up but if it comes up I certainly don't shy away from it. I once had a woman tell me how terrible she thought Atheists were. So I said, "Really? I'm an atheist." I try to always challenge their misconceptions about what a non-believer is before I let the truth bomb hit, though.

Yes there is a better way. Educate yourself in geology, cosmology & physics, and talk to them. Don't be in any rush to convert people. Just help them to awaken the rational part of their brain, if you can. Worldviews don't collapse in a single moment.

I tell them I stopped having imaginary friends when I turned 5... .-.

I tell then I'm a True Non-believer.

I tend not to say "I'm an atheist," because there's a lot of misguided religious people that think atheism is a religion. I have no problem simply saying I don't believe in god. Sometimes that leads to a disappointed look on their face. Other times it leads to questions. But the best is when they've been speaking to me for an extended amount of time and I drop the atheist thing on them. The look of confusion on their face as their mind tries to understand how someone could be both a good person and an atheist is wonderfully satisfying. But be careful if you try this as their heads do sometimes explode.

I think being upfront is the way to go. Just tell em you are not willing to believe something without evidence.

I just tell them I'm not religious

Assuming that it came up (because I wouldn't bring it up), I usually say "I'm not a believer". This way I didn't say there is or isn't god. I also haven't said that I believe there isn't a god. Which is true; I cannot prove the negative, yadda yadda. I simply say that I am not a believer.
I'll listen to them for a bit, if it goes there, but then I usually try to terminate the discussion. It is rare that I have a mature and intelligent conversation about it anyway.
I do believe that my religion shows in my behavior. Judge me by that.

I tell theists, I don't think there is a God, but if there is, he knows I'm telling the truth. And I am perfectly willing to listen to God, but not hearsay about God ! Did God tell you he authorized a book, or do you normally go around talking crap about the creator of the universe ?