Rachel Yen wrote an interesting personal story about not following a religion and the judgments that come with that.
"In the sixth grade, as I knelt down by my locker, my friend asked me what religion I practiced. My mind froze.
This was the worst possible question I could have been asked. At 14 years old, my values were far from formed, although I did have a hint about what I believed.
Instead of answering truthfully, I pretended to not know what religion really meant. I stammered, “Um, I’m Chinese.” I ran away before she could press further and see through my feigned cluelessness. Ignorance became my defense mechanism.
To begin with, I am in no way claiming that Christianity – or any religion, for that matter – is detrimental. Instead, I’m highlighting the continued prejudices against atheists and their assumed “culture.”
At an early age, I already felt like I had to hide being an atheist. In my 14 short years, without any influence from my parents, I at least had that much sense about what I believed.
I was embarrassed to be an atheist. Why did I feel like my atheism was the equivalent of having a dark and sinister secret?
Living in the Bible Belt, it seemed like being anything other than Christian was wrong. I realized that whenever someone found out I was an atheist, I was immediately assumed to be immoral.
The scorn on these people’s faces was as plain as day.
As I got older, I began to slowly reveal parts of my beliefs. But I was far from revealing the full truth. I claimed that I didn’t know, just “wasn’t spiritual” or wasn’t religious..."
