In response to My Fears by a fellow atheist blogger, I have decided to share a few of my fears as well and how I am in the process of learning to deal with them.
A huge fear not only for me but for many people is the fear of what other people think. Mormonism breeds it into people and I, like so many others, am a victim of it. Overcoming the fear of what other people think has been one of the biggest challenges for me but also the most rewarding.
If you live in Utah, you'll see what I mean just by watching TV. Look at the commercials they play. There are ads everywhere (especially about smoking) that are specifically aimed at making smokers look bad to everyone else. They talk about your stinky breath, mis-colored teeth, etc. There are others as well, but I'll let you find them.
When I quit going to church, I was in a calling that was very close to the Bishopric. When I left, I am sure that people talked. The fear of what other people think is, in my opinion, one of the reasons why people stay active. If you think leaving the church is easy, maybe you should try it!
I was at a Checker Auto Parts one day and I was looking at the chrome license plate frames they have. There was one that I particularly liked... two nude girls with all the right curves in all the right places. I wanted it!
But my very next thought was, "If I put this on my car, what will people think?"
At that moment, I had an epiphany. This would be a great learning experience. It would be the perfect opportunity to learn how to not fear what other people think.
I bought it.
It has now been on my car for several years. Yes, people have commented. Yes, people have accused me of things. But it has been a monumental step in declaring my independence. I still have a long way to go, but progress is being made.
My next step towards independence was declaring my atheism on my MySpace account. It's hard because we atheists belong to the least trusted minority group in the world. But if we don't stand up for what we believe, then the misrepresentations will always be there.
I'm almost at the point where I'm ready to come out of the closet. I'm not ashamed that I am atheist. In fact, I'm proud. On my own, I have been able to figure out the truth of the biggest fraud in history... Christianity. It took a while, but I did it.
Even though it goes against popular belief, there is no shame in it. Without descenters, where would the world be? It would be a lot worse off. America wouldn't exist. If we are going to make a change, then we need to have the courage to stand up and show the world that we are not ashamed.
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