Who has the bigger closet, gays or atheists?
Since writing and directing The Ledge, a film with an atheist lead, I've been going to more atheist events. At the American Atheist's conference in Iowa a few weeks ago, I found myself drinking with a couple of prison guards, a world-famous physicist, a female department store "loss prevention specialist" who used to be a Humvee driver in the Marines, a Turkish-American linguistics student, a guy who started an enormous video game company, and a couple of soldiers. There were a lot of soldiers. Of the thousand attendees, well over a hundred were either military or ex-military personnel.
I also met a large number of closeted atheists.
It sounds almost comic, I know, but if you've spent as much time as I have meeting religious people in small-town America, it's easy to imagine what "outing" yourself as an atheist could mean in such a place. 70% of Americans believe in hell. They think you'll go there if you're an atheist, and some are not shy about giving you a taste of it now in order to "save" you from it later. Listening to the painful stories of atheists who did come out reminded me of all the stories I've heard from gay friends in similar circumstances.
I know this analogy might offend some gay people. Homosexuality is no longer considered -- at least among the informed -- a choice anymore; but is your philosophy a matter of choice either? I know that for me it is literally impossible to believe in any of the gods on offer, and as Thomas Paine wrote, "It is necessary to the happiness of man that he be mentally faithful to himself."
The comparisons between atheists and gays in America is numerically apt too. According to a Pew Forum poll, 4% of Americans identify as atheist or agnostic, while exit polls in the last general election found 4% of Americans identify as gay, lesbian, or bisexual. In both cases these percentages are probably lower than the truth. In the Pew Forum poll, for instance, a further 12.1% wrote "none" when asked what religion they held, and in most polls on sexual preference, many straight people admit they've had a few gay encounters here and there. This is, I believe, what's called "a wide stance."
Whatever the size of these two unfortunate closets, the atheist one is less known but arguably more uncomfortable and justified. Popular culture -- music, movies, TV, (and need I mention the Broadway musical?) -- is littered with positive gay characters, while all atheists have in the mainstream is Gregory House in (weirdly) Fox's House, and Bill Maher on the excellent Real Time. There are more out gays in Congress than atheists, and for good reason. A 2007 Gallup poll found that 55% of Americans would consider voting for a homosexual presidential candidate but only 45% would do the same for an atheist.
Numerous studies have shown that atheists tend to be better educated and more tolerant than believers, but even so... why such antipathy when we have more in common than not? Atheists don't believe in unprovable gods who are frequently cruel and often ludicrous. Believers believe exactly the same thing -- except when it comes to their own god or gods. Christian, are thought to represent about 30% of the world's believers so they are atheist about the other 70%. Atheists go the whole way, but really, what's a 30% difference among friends?
Can atheists narrow this gap and reduce the antipathy? Only if they learn from the gay rights movement that the first step toward acceptance is the one that takes you out of the closet, hard though it may be.
And there couldn't be a better time. Obama acknowledged non-believers in his acceptance speech. The Book Of Mormon just won nine Tony Awards and is doing great business. And my film, The Ledge, a thriller with an outspoken atheist lead, is already doing exceptionally well on VOD and comes out in theaters in New York and Los Angeles on July 8th. So maybe it won't take as long as we think for people "of faith" to stop making life hard for gays and atheists and instead encourage them to openly contribute their considerable talents to this country.
God-fearing straight men have had a monopoly for a very long time, and many peculiar decisions have been made.
Matthew Chapman is the great-great-grandson of Charles Darwin, author of two books, and writer and director of the new film 'The Ledge' starring Liv Tyler, Charlie Hunnam, Terrence Howard, and Patrick Wilson.
Chris Stedman: Do Atheists Belong in the Interfaith Movement?
Matt J. Rossano: How to Make a Strong Atheist
David Lose: Has Atheism Become a Religion?
Victor Stenger: Spiritual Atheism
Help Me OUT!! (um.....don't mind the mask...it is really me behind it....hehehe!)
That's not me, nor anyone I know.
I thoroughly disagree, though I wouldn't argue the homosexual one is any more uncomfortable and justified. Instead, I think the two are incomparable (as far as comfort and justification are concerned) because, amongst other reasons, in many parts of the United States the implications of being "out" associated with each are significantly different.
For example - and please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong - upon coming out of the closet, an atheist has no rights (explicitly, at least) taken away from them simply because of their disbelief. However, a homosexual is in particular often denied the right to marriage (domestic partnership, civil union, or otherwise), an expression of love which is, in my gay opinion, very much the pinnacle of homosexuality. Visitation rights, adoption, the ability to make medical decisions for a partner, and so on are all legally disallowed for homosexual couples in some parts of the United States. Additionally, each of these rights are directly connected to what functionally makes them homosexual.
While the closets may be similar in some ways, the consequences of coming out of them can be quite different, so, having been in both, I personally don't think the atheist closet is any more uncomfortable or unjustified than the homosexual closet is, as I don't think the homosexual closet is any more those things than the atheist closet is. They're just different.
When it comes to which one would be easier to admit, I've often found that my sexual orientation was much easier than my religious preferences. This may not be everyone's experiences, and I most certainly attribute my challenges to living in the BIble Belt as well. As it stands, I live in a relatively liberal, though still very republican city, but one that is gay friendly all the same. People generally keep their LGBT prejudices to themselves.
I've not come out of the atheist closet at all in most of my social circles. The damage is too great. While it's true that it is most definitely illegal to discriminate against me for my religious preferences, and a legal gray area to discriminate against me for dating a woman, people seem to have no problem stating that they'd fire or not hire a person based on which church they attend - much less the fact that they don't attend church at all.
I'm grateful to have never been physically intimidated for either trait of mine, and perhaps I'm lucky in that I'm a woman, and lesbians are a trendy thing nowadays. But, I really have to say, being atheist is by far the harder thing to deal with for me, even as I struggle navigating this world with my girlfriend.
It is important to come out as atheists. Further, we must understand the sheer absurdity of how there is even a term for "not" having a belief in something. The absurdity is clear because we also recognize how those that don't believe in unicorns don't have to declare themselves a-unicornists. To justify their claim, the theist always has obligation to demonstrate the truth of their positive claim, not the other way around. There is no justifiable reason why god belief is granted nearly universal exception to philosophical burden of proof.
What happened to a favorite argument of christians (at least I've only heard it from christians) that "there are no atheists in foxholes"?
I know this for a fact, because I'm the person that made the initial phone call to MWR about the idea for a secular event taking place on base.