Closet atheist

Sam Harris advocates that atheists no longer call themselves atheists.

In many religious countries and even irreligious countries there is a stigma related to atheism and as a result many atheists are reluctant to: call themselves atheists and/or be outspoken atheists (see: Views on atheists).

For example, the We Are Atheism campaign was launched by atheists to address the widespread prevalence of closet atheism. David Silverman, the president of the American Atheists mentioned the issue of "closet atheists" in a publicity piece promoting the campaign.

A Eurobarometer poll in 2010 reported that 37% of UK citizens "believed there is a God", 33% believe there is "some sort of spirit or life force" and 25% answered "I don't believe there is any sort of spirit, God or life force". See also: British atheism

Yet, in 2015, the Christian Post reported in a story entitled Atheists Widely Distrusted, Even Among Themselves, UK Study Finds:

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Distrust of atheists is "deeply and culturally ingrained" among people, and even many atheists are not able to trust each other, according to a new study carried out by the psychology department at Nottingham Trent University in England. Published in the International Journal for The Psychology of Religion, the study, "The Robustness of Anti-Atheist Prejudice as Measured by Way of Cognitive Errors," was conducted with 100 participants from the U.K. .... The study shows that "anti-atheist prejudice is not confined either to dominantly religious countries or to religious individuals, but rather appears to be a robust judgment about atheists."

”

Sam Harris is one of the founders of the New Atheism movement. Sam Harris is quite aware of the stigma surrounding atheism and has even advocated that atheists no longer call themselves atheists. In fact, Dr. Harris has said concerning the label of atheist, "It's right next to child molester as a designation." See also: Atheism and social outcasts

Due to the stigma of the label of atheist, it is common for atheists to choose to call themselves skeptics, nonbelievers, humanists and freethinkers Individuals of Jewish descent often call themselves secular Jews or simply Jews rather than call themselves atheists.

Reluctance of many atheists to tell others about their atheism

According Pew Research:

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In the 2014 Religious Landscape Study, self-identified atheists were asked how often they share their views on God and religion with religious people. Only about one-in-ten atheists (9%) say they do at least weekly, while roughly two-thirds (65%) say they seldom or never discuss their views on religion with religious people. By comparison, 26% of those who have a religious affiliation share their views at least once a week with those who have other beliefs; 43% say they seldom or never do.

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Although American atheists may experience some social ostracism for telling other about atheism, hate crimes against atheists are extremely low in number (see; Atheism and social outcasts and Persecution of atheists).

Western atheists lack of overseas evangelism in religious countries

The current atheist population mostly resides in East Asia (particularly China) and in secular Europe/Australia primarily among whites. See: Western atheism and race

Doing overseas evangelism/outreaches in religious countries often requires significant criticism/persecution and western atheists by in large have been unwilling to endure such criticism/persecution in order to spread atheistic ideology - especially when compared to Christians and their efforts to spread Christianity (see: Western atheists have not done a significant amount of outreach to poor countries).

On the other hand, apathy and a reluctance to endure hardship in poor countries is another reason for atheists lack of overseas evangelism (see also: Atheism and apathy and Atheism and hedonism).

Atheist indoctrination

See also: Atheist indoctrination

Rather than rely on the personal evangelism of atheists, often atheist indoctrination has been used to propagate atheism.

Atheism as a stealth religion

See also: Atheist worldview and Evolution as a secular origins myth

Atheism is a religion.

The Canadian anthropologist Paul Gosselin has written that evolution is a secular origins myth.

The intelligent design advocate John Calvert wrote in his article Atheism: A Stealth Religion:

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Atheist don’t wear crosses, burkas or yarmulkes, although more and more display Darwin fish on their bumpers. So how does one recognize the practice of their religion, one that eschews God and His wisdom? When does one know Atheism is at work? The tell-tail signs emerge as soon as God or his wisdom enters the room. At that point the evangelical Atheist can’t sit still. As scientist Richard Lewontin said, our commitment to “materialism is absolute, for we can’t allow a Divine Foot in the door.” Imagine a generic conference on how to improve K-12 education where a wide range of subjects are discussed,including the biggies: Where do we come from and how should we live? One day one of the participants named Glen walks in with a poster of the ten commandments and a roll of tape in his hand. He wants to tape it to the wall as they have something to say about many of the subjects covered in the on-going discussions. The ears of a closet Atheist named Bob, perk up. Bob can no longer sit still as the Divine Foot is kicking at the door. But Bob is in a quandary. His Atheism is most effective when invisible to others. If he objects as an Atheist, his cover will be blown and he knows he’s not going to be effective appealing to his own anti-God religion. He can’t say, we can’t have the ten commandments for I don’t believe in them. Nor can he say that the precepts mentioned in the commandments are bad ideas, for then he invites a discussion of them, the very thing he cannot tolerate. Bob has many Christian friends in the room for they find reason and science consistent with many of their non-scriptural views. They probably don’t even know Bob’s an Atheist. So, rather than raising his flag, Bob pulls aside a “mainstream” Christian buddy named Tom, at the coffee break. He says: “Tom, you know the primary rule of our forum is that it remain secular and non-controversial. Although Glen is a nice guy, he’s obviously violating the rule. What do you think ‘we’ should do?” After the break, Tom takes the floor after a nudge from Bob, and says: “Well, Glen, I appreciate your idea, but we have this rule that the discussion will remain secular, and not religious. When you bring God into the room, you violate that rule. So, we think you need to keep your scriptures at home.” In this way, the Atheist never reveals his true religious objection to the commandments. Instead of discussing their substance, he focuses on a rule of procedure that everyone can agree with: “Let’s avoid controversy by keeping the discussion secular, not religious.”

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The stealth agnosticism/atheism of Charles Darwin

The evolutionist Charles Darwin was a weak atheist/agnostic (see: religious views of Charles Darwin) . Charles Darwin’s casual mentioning of a ‘creator’ in earlier editions of The Origin of Species appears to have been a merely a ploy to downplay the implications of his materialistic theory.

For additional information, see: Atheism and deception

Bernie Sanders' reluctance to call himself an atheist

Bernie Sanders is reluctant to publicly call himself an atheist.

Jon Green wrote about Bernie Sanders:

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Bernie Sanders is, as he’s suggested before, Jewish with an emphasis on the ish. His Jewish heritage has informed his morality and his politics, but he doesn’t claim to be observant in any officially religious sense. In an interview with the Washington Post published this morning, Sanders went a step further, making that point as clearly as he ever: “I am not actively involved with organized religion,” Sanders said in a recent interview. Sanders said he believes in God, though not necessarily in a traditional manner. “I think everyone believes in God in their own ways, “ he said. “To me, it means that all of us are connected, all of life is connected, and that we are all tied together.” As atheist blogger Hemant Mehta pointed out, that’s basically a really PC way of saying you’re an atheist. Sanders may have used the word “God” to describe his belief system, but it’s pretty clear that his version of God isn’t an old man in the sky. There’s no actual deity involved — no theism — just a generalized interconnectedness.

”

The Religion News Service states: "Presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders dashed the hopes of some atheists when he declared he had 'very strong religious and spiritual feelings' at a Democratic town hall."

See also

• Atheism and cowardice