This collection features more than two dozen narratives by atheists from different backgrounds across the United States. Ranging in age, race, sexual orientation, and religious upbringing, these individuals address deconversion, community building, parenting, and romantic relationships, providing a nuanced look at living without a god in a predominantly Christian nation.
These narratives illuminate the complexities and consequences for nonbelievers in the United States. Stepping away from religious belief can have serious social and existential ramifications, forcing atheists to discover new ways to live meaningfully without a religious community. Yet shedding the constraints of a formal belief system can also be a freeing experience. Ultimately, this volume shows that claiming an atheist identity is anything but an act isolated from the other dimensions of the self. Upending common social, political, and psychological assumptions about atheists, this collection helps carve out a more accepted space for this minority within American society.
- Table of Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction. The Other Closet: An Introduction to Atheism and Coming Out Processes
- Part 1. Leaving Faith: Arriving at Atheist Identity from Religious Backgrounds
- 1. How I Got to None of the Above, by Alvin Burstein
- 2. Religion and the F-Word (Feminism), by Lynnette
- 3. Clap Our Hands Like Trees, by Chris Matallana
- 4. Ex-Mormon, by Cora Judd
- Part 2. Cultural Contexts in Coming Out as Atheist
- 5. An Unexamined Life, by Naima Cabelle
- 6. User Error: Coming Out as Atheist in Utah, by James Mouritsen
- 7. The Names We Call Home, by Shawn Mirza
- 8. A Life of Class Consciousness, by David Hoelscher
- Part 3. Two Closets? Identifying as Both LGBTQ and Atheist
- 9. A Tale of Two Closets, by Stephen S. Mills
- 10. The Permanent Prodigal Daughter, by Sherilyn Connelly
- 11. Far from Home, by David Philip Norris
- Part 4. Ain’t No Mountain High Enough: Navigating Romantic Relationships as an Atheist
- 12. An Atheist’s Simple Revelation About Love: It’s Complicated, by Ethan Sahker
- 13. Swept Under the Rug, by Kristen Rurouni
- 14. On Love and Credulity, by Matt Hart
- Part 5. Family Life and Atheist Parenting
- 15. Dinner with Grandma, by Ronnelle Adams
- 16. Parenting Authentically in an Interfaith Marriage, by Kevin J. Zimmerman
- 17. Having a Baby Made Me an Atheist, by Amy Watkins
- 18. Born Secular, by Adrienne Filardo Fagan
- Part 6. The Search for Connection: Coming Out to Friends and Questing for Community
- 19. Slow Growth, by Justus Humphrey
- 20. An Atheist in the Bible Belt, by Brittany Friedel
- 21. Coming Out and Finding Home, by Pam Zerba
- Part 7. Atheism at Work: Tales of Coming Out to Coworkers and Colleagues
- 22. Is This the Way to Amarillo?, by Samuel W. Needleman
- 23. Cracking Open the Closet Door, by Camilo Ortiz
- 24. My Favorite Atheist, by John Douma
- Part 8. Atheism and Aging: The Challenges of Entering Older Adulthood as a Nonbeliever
- 25. The Road Less Traveled, by Ursula Raabe
- 26. A Contrarian Life Story, by Elizabeth Malm Clemens
- 27. Dark Matter and Missing Socks, by Margaret M. Bennett
- Concluding Thoughts: The Open Door
- Notes
- Bibliography
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