I live in America and am surrounded by Christians.
Whenever I talk about myself to religous people, I want to say ,"I am an atheist". Do you say that? Is there a better way?
Religion (or lack of religion) is personal. I do not generally talk about it. If someone specifically asks I say I am non religious and then drop the subject.
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 ?
Why did you call " he "
Generally, the brainwashed have a hard time with anyone who does not share their delusion and will most likely become offended regardless. If I know the person I try to be courteous but any stranger knocking at my door is told that I'm an adult in the 21st century and have no reason to believe in any superstitious nonsense.
At some point the conversation gets to some mention of heaven or god or something along those lines and I say that we should be talking about things that are real and not imaginary.
I keep my mouth shut, until they start to talk about their faith. Then as far as I am concerned it is OK to go into great detail why there is no god and their belief is a delusion.
I try not to. If I have to, I just tell them that I'm not religious. It prevents pointless argument.
all of my wife's family are very religious so I pretty much keep it to myself, if any one were to ask I would not deny it though
When a conversation turns to this subject, I always just say that I am a devout atheist, and the subject usually gets abruptly changed.
I just let them know if they bring up religion.
Whenever it seems appropriate or necessary, I tell people simply that I am an atheist. If they want to pursue that for whatever reason, I will engage them. I am who I am and if other folks can't deal with it, it's not my problem.
I'm straight forward about me being atheist but I don't bring up religion, unless someone else starts it. I'm respectful about it and will talk about it, but I do tell tell them if they ask me.
That kind of depends how the subject comes up. If we seem to be hitting things off and I think they should know where I stand, I just calmly tell them my stance on belief and hope for the best. If they're constantly talking about their religious views, or start off with religious rhetoric from the moment we meet, then I'll just tell them right out that I don't believe in any of it, and as long as they don't push it on me, we're cool, but if they do, I'm out.
You could say "I am not a church goer," or " I am not a believer."
I generally don't bring it up unless it's germane to the conversation. When I do, I usually say I am "non-religious" or "not a believer." I don't hide my unbelief or pretend to agree with them, but I live in the American South and the "A" word is sometimes taken as a personal challenge. I don't care to challenge or confront people who are not challenging me. But it's different if someone is intrusively trying to proselytize.
So glad I live in a place where it's really not an issue and I'm not having this garbage shoved down my throat daily. On the occasional visit from Jehovah's witnesses, I tell them to beat it.