Closet. Family and close friends know but the community does not. Reason: Safety
In the closet. I don't want to lose the the people I love so much.
I'm mostly a closeted atheist. I never lie about being atheist and if it comes up I tend to tell people I'm "not religious". But all of my family members are Christian (as far as I know) and as far as I know all of my co-workers are religious and nearly all of my friends are religious. Unless the topic of religion comes up it just doesn't seem worth mentioning.
I'm very openly atheist. I've lost "good, loving, caring" christian friends whom I've had to block on social media because of the constant hate and threats they give me for no other reason than not believing in their fairy tale.
It's not much of a loss to me because I've found that the more you push those people away, the better life starts to get. I'm not talking all theists though. There are some that don't care and as long as they aren't shoving their religion down my throat, we get along great.
I don't fear the religious in the slightest though. I know more about their book than they do, and can make them look pretty stupid if I have to. Having the knowledge behind me helps to be as open as I am.
Closeted to many but not all. Dying to come out fully but grew up in a very Catholic country so surrounded by theists who won't get or support it. I'm giving less of a s**t the older I get and want to be fully out soon. Nobody ever asks but if they did, I'd be honest that I don't believe in God. The look on their faces would be priceless.
When I told family I was atheist I asked if god was all good, all wise and all powerful. They said yes. Then I asked why god made Adam out of dirt, Eve out of a rib, but had to rape a virgin to make jesus. It didn't sound very good, very wise or very powerful to me.
Then I pointed out that Satan killed only 10 people in the bible while their god murdered millions with floods and fire, turned people to salt, murdered innocent Egyptian children and asked them if they weren't, in fact, mistaking the evil, petty one for the good guy.
They stopped talking about religion to me and never bring it up now. I
Open. I feel no need to hide who I am. Fuck what other people think. Life's too short to worry about that.
As a person who has the good luck to live on the west coast of Canada, and come from a family of skeptics/agnostics/atheists, I have been able to spend my whole life being quite open about my own beliefs (or lack thereof).
If put in a position where I would have to pay a substantial price for being publicly without Faith, I would probably stick to my guns (as much out of a tendency towards contrarianism as anything else), though I couldn't say for sure.
I'm somewhere in the middle. If it comes up, then I say "I'm an atheist." Fortunately, I suppose, it doesn't come up often here in the mid-west, unlike the constant topic of conversation in the Southern East coast. My friends and family know, and accept it; although I did have one sister say to me, "you know better than that." When I told her god didn't exist.
I believe I have to justify my non-belief to no one. People are surprised to learn I am a non-believer! Which always amuses me.
I've been atheist for most of my life. I've skipped the closet phase. I've been a believer for a total of 8 years, which were 3-11 grade, at which point my common sense kicked in. I didn't think I was super outspoken in hs. However, I got a total kick out a message I got when I first got on Facebook from a hs classmate, asking me if I was the one he remembered as being a "die-hard atheist". I felt quite happy that this is how he remembered me. Ironically, I was attending the national CFI conference when I read that message, so I couldn't help but crack up. My response was, "Yes, I am. Glad that this is what you remember about me."
Wow Katherine! You are everywhere. Your energy level must be phenomenal. You are very active here as well as at school, with humanist and atheist , etc. Keep it up! I have two weeks to go before grad school ends for summer. Still hoping to meet you before you vacation!
Open. I'm in a country where religious beliefs are viewed as a private matter, and any overt preaching or display of it is viewed with reactions ranging from amusement to suspicion. So, I won't tell someone I'm an atheist unless they ask or if it's appropriate to a conversation.
I am an open atheist. Why not? I enjoy the scientific method and rational ways of thinking. Most pf the people I know have some respect for science and its benefit to the human race. I just tell them that I am a rational person who doesn't need any superstition to fill in gaps of ignorance.
I am both open atheist and open religious person. I tend to find it funny because people feel that I broke the law of the excluded middle. Its almost a funny case of geometry showing its ability: mind blown... In essence, being open or closeted about anything from sexuality, belief, personality, etc is always a game of egos. But I don't see why not pretend to have an ego for everyone for the fun of it.
Openly Atheist to friends, and the rest of the world. in the closet with my parents. My parents are firmly entrenched JWs. So, in order to maintain a relationship with them, I can't be as open with them as I would like.
I'm an open atheist and outspoken about it to a degree, depending on the time and place. I was a closeted atheist for many years. I felt pretty much alone. Then I discovered a local community of atheists, hiding behind the term "Freethought". I respect their wish to be passive in that term, but it's what makes it hard for others to know about other like minded groups around them. Most of the religious folks have no problem displaying symbols, slogans or professing their belief, so it's easy for them to identify who is who. So I borrow from that concept. I frequently wear the "Circle A" symbol on a necklace. I often wear shirts with some sort of relevance, even if it is just more pop culture relevance to open mindedness. I do have a couple shirts that are flat out labeled as atheist or secular. I have had a lot of people come up to me and thank me for wearing them. Saying they could never do it, but glad someone is. The same goes for bumper stickers on my vehicle. I started doing this outward projection right after a week long hospital stay where every time I woke up I was confronted with a Jesus figure on a cross hanging on the wall in front of me. The hospital Chaplin came in to pray for me even after I specifically told them not to allow it. I do it to normalize atheism.
I wouldn't go on an Atheist Pride march (if such a thing exists LOL) as I don't think it is something to celebrate and it is not a headline label for me. However, I might mention it if asked or in a discussion involving religion.
I would go on that march
I would like to think I'm open-minded. I'm already for the most part set in my view points, but I have no problem changing when I'm either wrong, been challenged in which the evidence is overwhelming and convincing.
So your answer to the question is?
Open about it. When anyone ask me I just tell them but I also don't have a sign on me saying, "I'm an atheist"...though a neon-sign saying that would be interesting..