I've received messages from a lot of you
who really want to talk about atheism publicly.
On a blog, on YouTube, on Facebook,
but something is holding you back.
Maybe you live at home
and you're afraid your parents are going to find out.
Or maybe you're married, and you're afraid your spouse will find out.
That's awkward.
Or maybe you live in a conservative majority state
and you're afraid that going public with your atheism could hurt your job prospects.
Whatever the reason,
let me offer two quick tips for those of you who want to talk about atheism,
but you feel like you can't.
First, and I know this sounds obvious,
do it anonymously.
I know a lot of ex-Muslims who use a fake name online because they're saying things that are very critical of their former faith.
I know some atheists who use fake names because they were afraid at first,
and then their fake name just kind of stuck.
You can easily do that on a blog.
You can easily do that on Twitter.
And I'm sure if you watch other YouTube atheists, you know there are some of them who never put their faces on the screen.
When it comes down to it,
what's more important?
Getting your story and your message out there for everyone to hear?
Or making sure your name is attached to all of that?
I mean, hands down it's the first one.
And if you ever get to the point where you can be public about your beliefs,
great!
But if you're afraid of putting anything out there
out of fear that someone is going to figure out that it's you,
there is another option: keep educating yourself.
Read books and articles about these topics,
watch debates,
learn about the issues.
Understand what different religions believe
and how they end up controlling people.
That way, when the time comes where you can speak out,
you are as fully informed as you can be.
It's so annoying when people talk about topics that they seriously don't know much about.
I mean, I get frustrated when I watch it,
and I'm sure some of you are thinking,
"Yeah, I feel the same way about you".
But you can fix that.
I mean, become an expert in some area of religion that you think a lot of people don't really get,
whether it's a faith that you have experience with and you believe
the views are really pernicious,
or maybe become an expert in a particular belief that some religions hold,
that you think does a lot of harm.
I have learned so much from
listening to or reading articles written by people
who were former Jehovah's Witnesses, or ex-Mormons, or
who are part of fundamentalist Christian sects.
I've learned a lot from researchers who study the way religion hurts children.
I mean, this list goes on.
I've also learned a lot from atheists who really knew how to debate Christians.
Hey, Matt Dillahunty!
You don't necessarily need a PhD to really
understand these topics in depth either.
You just have to be willing to read and educate yourself on these issues.
You gotta know your side really well.
You gotta know how the critics respond to the things your side says, and you gotta know
how to respond back to them.
Again, just educate yourself.
It will pay off in the long run.
Whatever you do, please do not tell yourself,
"I don't know enough, I'm not good enough at this".
"I don't think I have a story to tell",
because you do.
The more honest sincere voices we have out there,
the better it is for everybody.
I know a lot of people who
talk about atheism or write about atheism for a living,
or who just do it as a hobby.
And I'm telling you, it didn't matter
how small their YouTube subscriber base was,
or how few people they thought were listening to their podcast.
It never mattered, because they always heard back from somebody
who found what they were doing to be really valuable.
Without fail, that has always happened.
Just put yourself out there,
anonymously or not,
or prepare yourself for the day when you can do it in some sort of public manner.
It is going to help a lot of people.
My name is Hemant Mehta and I write at FriendlyAtheist.com
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