A few years ago, I was speaking with a couple of co-workers, both of whom seemed like genuinely nice people. The conversation turned to religion somehow and one of my coworkers said that she is tolerant of all religions, but she doesn’t trust atheists and doesn’t feel that they can be moral if they don’t have a belief system to rely on. I am 100% positive that this woman never would have said that if she knew I am atheist. I chose not to say anything at that point as it made me wonder how many other people felt the same way. I didn’t want my lack of religion to hold me back from promotions, etc. Does anyone else fear outing themselves?
Uumm doesn't know what I should say about that but,
Here in my country, atheism is Refused by society and they about to be criminalize by law So Soon.
So when they know this about me
They suspended me from work and later expelled me permanently and deleted my license.
My family let me down they claimed that am dead,
I had to move away from my neighborhood I wasn't able even to walk on street or buy the grocery.
when I moved Away to Another Area, Some of my family member reported my new Address
and magically,.. out of no where.
I got beaten nearly to death on street in front of the building when I used to live.
A group of strangers I don't know any one of them was waiting for me to teach me hard lesson to prove that god is really exists and they are the soldiers of his prophet.
and they gonna prove me the existence of the true God.
I didn't made anything to provoke them, and am not even know any one of them, before beaten me, They broke into my rental Apartment with the approve of apartment owner and throw out all my stuff on the street and put it on fire, in front of my eyes and keep beaten and insulting me.
saying (Go to Hell Fu$#&K Godless son of a Bitch) this fire will be god's punishment for people like you and more and more from a great collection of dirty insults and abuse, they said a wonderful collection but, My English dictionary couldn’t translate such a great thing,
am very limited comparing to them.
Over all after they done from me they spit on me and Say " thanks god " We are nothing Like this man cuz we are good believer and good soldiers follow your orders, and goes to mosque to pray
they were really very religious polite group of people.
At the end they were sure that I could not fill an official complaint about this. I'll be miss treated in the Police station if I try to do, No one will accept that am atheist man on police station and want to comply about anything. Cuz Simply in my country if you deny religion & god you deny any right of yours to be a human in the first place So, you deserve anything you dare to deny god so face your consequence they They Sure if I try to do it Police will put me in Jail no matter what.
So in the worst case scenario Did this ever cross your Imagination?!
But, Believe it or not it's My reality.
That’s awful! Are you able to move somewhere where you can be free to refuse religion and still be safe?
That's horrible. Message me anytime if you need someone to talk to and be careful, stay strong. You have every right to be you. It's unfortunate that just being a free thinker scares them to the point of isolation and worse even, murder.
I generalize. I say "I don't go to church" or "I'm not very religious" and leave it at that.
I say "I'm not religious". But I think it's understood.
They all hold hands and have a group prayer at Thanksgiving. I just stand there. The first year someone tried to grab my hand but I just pulled away without saying anything. But I also refused to put my arms around some of my co-workers for a pic once (just didn't feel like being touched that day). So maybe they just think I don't like touching.
However I am well liked. I mean, at least I think I am . . .
Religion very very rarely comes up in the (UK) workplace. People do not really talk about it over here. In fact, if you mentioned you were religious, you would be branded the strange one.
However, I have no issue putting across my point of view if the discussion is brought up or my views are challenged.
That sounds lovely.
I never mention my atheism at work. I realized years ago that many people take it really bad, its like if suddenly you are the worst kind of person in their eyes.
It’s sad that this stigma exists
I work alone; me, myself had I are horrible conversationalists.
Lol
I don't but i am retired and have nothing to lose and before I retired I was a mental health advocate and person centred therapist -So without any feelings either way about what people believed or not - Not really my business and if it came up in seminars I never had to speak - just listen and make some comment about the group processes.
I wish every field was that mature
There are a few folks I've known for years and feel comfortable confiding in... I mostly keep it to myself.
Any time the topic has come up I've had no issues making my personal stance known. I haven't really had any conflict as a result either as I also make it known that I will respect and embrace any person of any background with mutual respect. As for the topic of morality I quite easily cinch that one by asking if they believe that a woman should marry their rapist. Naturally that's always been met with a staunch "of course not" attitude. So easily it's now been established that they have morals independent from the Bible as do I without such a text to dictate that for me. Some claiming to be masterfully devout can be true heathens and others devoid of faith can be full of love, integrity and honesty. I always say that some who walk with the most brilliance may also cast the biggest shadows...
@Sealybobo Key word being mutual. I cannot offer such an embrace to those that use their religious text to justify actions of hate or impeding the supposed equal freedoms we are given.
@Sealybobo But no, I do not and of course I stress that being my personal choice and opinion. Hmm but even being the children of my boss, I would state so if asked.
Well, I don't really give it a lot of thought. I'm very open about my atheism if the subject comes up. I work with a pretty diverse group of people, and I'll debate belief systems any time. It's unfortunate that you work in an environment where your lack of belief could hold you back. If someone questioned my morality, based on my disbelief, I would point out that the Bible is hardly a moral standard.
We never really had discussions about religion at work. We did from time to time, but it was usually people asking me about it. If a person asks me about my beliefs, I tell them I am atheist/pagan, so, they usually know it, eventually, and after I have been working for a long time in some job, but it just doesn't come up that often. If someone told me that they didn't trust atheists or think they have morals, I would probably inform that person that I am atheist, I have strong moral convictions, and ask them if that changed the way they felt about me, now that they found out that I am atheist?
But do you actually think they’d tell you the truth if their view of you had changed for the worse? Most people wouldn’t, imo. I think that most people that were predisposed to judge atheists in the first place would pretend to be ok with it, but in the back of their mind, would stop really trusting you. So whether they mean it to or not, that would effect their future interactions with you. Also, in the scenario I mentioned above, I think saying that you were pagan would be acceptable as pagans do have a belief system/spirituality.
I try to nip religious employment issues in the bud.....I pick my best battles.....so xmas trees are nothing to fight over unless something mandatory is required. ....I said often: don't you think Jews are a little worried when xians pretend they never did anything wrong in 1945 or killing Buddhists in 1975 well I am an Atheist and requiring all employees to pretend to be xian is many steps down the road to kill anyone who refuses xian claims their beliefs are true and harmless
I don't hide it, but I also don't discuss it at work unless asked.
Many people in my office know how I feel, but I don't make a big deal about it. Everyone is entitled to their beliefs whatever they may be. Unfortunately, it's beliefs, or more importanly the lack of respect for others' ways of thinking, that has gotten the world into the mess it's been in and will be in, in the future. It's one planet. We are one race of humans. We need to all get along. Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Buddists, Jews, Shinto, Agnostics, Bahai, Sikhism, Church of the Flying Spahgetti Monster....whatever. Some of my best best friends are devout Christians and repsect my right to my beliefs just as much as I repsect the right that they have to have theirs.
I talk about it with coworkers that I feel are reasonable. I do not talk about it with religious supervisors. I just let the casual religious statements go with a smile and nod. Even good people may subconsciously discriminate against you. You are justified in your fears, imho.
Super religious area so I keep my mouth shut lol.
I work for a British company. So it's not really a religous group. I know of 3 others that have shared with me their A/A position. I have deep conversations about it with another coworker that is India born Muslim. We get along just fine and have a running joke about it that peeks out even in large meetings. So, not open but it's not a place I feel challenged by the other side.