Atheist

Atheists don't exits! We just imagine we exist, at least in the United States.

1. If atheists existed they would never carry bank notes in their pockets saying, "In god we trust".
2. Anyone who carries bank notes with "In god we trust" inevitably must trust God.

PZ believes we should be more open about being atheists. Those of in more tolerant communities certainly should. If you live in an intolerant part of the Bible Belt be careful.

Shameless atheist high school kids

Despite atheists not existing there are some atheists at high school.

Damon Fowler

His parents did their best to raise Damon as a goodly Christian, they taught the boy to go to church and agree with everything their pastor told them. They taught the boy to believe in Jesus and avoid questioning. Young Damon understood all religions that aren’t about Jesus are plain wrong and not worth discussing. Despite all this as an early teen Damon succeeded in thinking for himself and stopped believing Christianity.

1. His parents did their uttermost to bring Damon back to goodly Christianity.
2. They told him he was wrong to think for himself and made him feel guilty.
3. At times they removed the Internet so Damon would learn only the goodly Christian stuff they wanted him to know.
4. They forced him to go to a 3 day virtually non-stop religious service with someone called Damon Thompson (the same first name but totally different personality) haranguing them about stuff like gays possessed by demons. Thompson harangued them about atheism being bad, Proxima Centauri hasn’t found a video of Thompson doing that but it was probably similar to the video we've found. Anyway Damon Fowler resisted this brainwashing but there's a big risk other atheists are converted that way.

Fast forward to Damon Fowler’s school graduation. The school insisted on including prayer which contravenes the United States Constitution. Atheist Damon had enough of having prayers forced onto him and involved the ACLU. After that the whole community showered Damon with Christian love. Damon got death threats, his mother tried to stop him communicating with his own brother. A group of people who disliked Damon assembled at a local church and Damon soon came to feel virtually everyone in the town where he grew up hated him. His parents first held him in the house and stopped him communicating with anyone else, his sister contacted an older brother who took Damon away. Then Damon's parents cut off financial support and his mother threw out Damon’s belongings onto the front porch. And of course what Damon is doing is all the work of Satan .

PZ took up the case. The atheist online community set up a scholarship fund so Damon can go to college and get the qualifications he needs. Damon Fowler was set to start college in Texas in the fall of 2012.

External links

• High School Student Stands Up Against Prayer at Public School and Is Ostracized, Demeaned and Threatened The first page of a very long detailed account of what happened.
• An Interview with Damon Fowler and his Brother Jerrett

Atheist clergy

“	If you speak to members of the Clergy Project, the one thing that is heard over and over again is that ‘we’re the tip of the iceberg.’ This is something that we believe is pretty rampant, the majority of clergypeople know what it’s like to doubt, and there’s a good percentage that are in the closet with their doubts and have relinquished their faith.”	”
—Catherine Dunphy, Executive Director of the Clergy Project who formerly trained to be a Catholic chaplain

Despite atheists not existing there are even some atheist preachers in pulpits and atheist clergy face harder problems than most. People don’t decide from one moment to the next to change long established beliefs. There’s a long period of doubting and questioning before a person recognises that he/she is an atheist and doubts can't easily be shared with the congregation. Then for atheist clergy who want to live honestly there’s how to find alternative work and pay the bills. So the chances are atheist clergy when they finally come out face accusations of leading double lives.

Teresa MacBain

Teresa MacBain was a Methodist minister, in Tallahassee, Florida on the edge of the Bible Belt. Teresa MacBain announced dramatically at an American Atheist conference that she no longer believes in God. After that she lost her job, well that was expected. Local news media ran the story and her mailbox became filled with hate mail. Her former congregation prayed for her but it took 2 months before they let her even get her belongings back from the church. Teresa MacBain now works for American Atheists where her talents will be put to good use. PZ reported the case.

Still there are other atheist clergy who want to get out and funds are needed to tide them over after they've resigned, help them travel to job interviews and the like.

Pastors of color

Pastors who are African American, Latino or belong to other ethnic minorities have even more trouble getting out because white atheists are less inclined to help them. Some people are prejudiced and realize that, others are prejudiced without realizing it. See Black Skeptics for more.

See also

• Atheists should shut up because ....
• Atheist movements

External links

• It’s always ten Some Christian came up with 10 questions which he (probably not she) thinks atheists can't answer. PZ answers them easily.