New Atheist Columnist: John Lynn - Phoenix Atheism Examiner

Atheism is a dirty little secret
June 15, 8:00 PM

When I made the decision to become the Phoenix Atheism Examiner, I had to accept that it was going to be much more than a title. I assumed that writing this column was going to invite hate mail from a few readers and possibly alienate me from some friends and family, but I am taking that risk. It’s not, after all, the most popular point of view in this country today. After publishing my first two articles under this new title, which were mostly only informational in nature, I saw my aforementioned assumptions come true. If some people only used to dismiss or ridicule my views before, they are shunning me entirely now. They’ve made me feel as if atheism is somehow a dirty little secret.

This article is not specifically a “coming out” story for me. I have been an atheist for a long time, and although I have not kept it a secret, I wasn’t really public about it until about a year ago. What I do want to discuss is a little about how I arrived at atheism by sharing some of my experiences and thoughts. I hope those of you out there who are still “in the closet” as atheists will find some courage in what I have to say.