I received this email from friend of the site, April, who informed me of this brand of atheist centered clothing:

Hi Jacob,

A friend recently forwarded me this link [www.thearrogantatheist.com], I thought it might be loosely related to your recent topics of more atheists being open in public about their lack of belief. I’m not too keen on the use of the word “arrogant,” but if you are going to be smarmy why not go the whole way I suppose. I own an Atheist shirt or two, and I can’t help but think that I’m as obnoxious as those clad in garb covered with that fucking Jesus fish when I wear it, so I usually wear it only among friends, or around the house…but feel conflicted at hiding something so important and personal to me.

What do you think? Where is the line drawn between being open with your atheism and being arrogant with it?

I’ll be honest, April. It’s a bit tough for me to judge, since I’ve seriously been considering selling my own atheist t-shirts in an effort to pay the bills. It’s nice to be able to advertise your atheism to others, but it’s true that most of the time, that shit will just make people get in your face for no damn reason. I will admit, however, that I found these guy’s About Page to be a little bit ridiculous:

First, you speak with your money, and money runs the world. If we can show that there’s a viable atheist market, instantly politicians will work for the atheist vote (affecting policies), media won’t be so obscenely biased against atheists (affecting mindsets), more products will be created to suit atheists (affecting industry), and so on.

I won’t deny money is important, but I’m not entirely sure this line of reasoning makes much sense. It kind of feels like a bit of a hard sell here. If there’s one thing I’ve learned in all the years I’ve been doing this atheism thing, is even with loads of fans, it’s really difficult to make any serious waves out there. Just because you sell a few hundred t-shirts doesn’t mean shit in the grand scheme of things. If you want to sell shirts and make money, who am I to stop you? Just don’t pretend you are saving the world here. It’s a fucking t-shirt, after all.

Hard core Christians hate Harry Potter. They detest any form of witchcraft, which they consider to be the tool of the devil. Evangelicals are not only forbidden from seeing the movies; they usually actively campaign against them, discouraging other more moderate Christians from going. I can only imagine their reaction now that Daniel Radcliffe (aka Harry Potter) has come out as an atheist.

Radcliffe describes himself as a big fan of Professor Richard Dawkins, so the kid is alright in my book. I hate to admit it, but I’m also a fan of the movies (although I don’t read much fiction, so the books aren’t really of any interest to me), and I’m looking forward to watching the latest one. I think it’ll be even more fun now that I know Daniel doesn’t believe in God.

(props Atheist Revolution for the find)

I never believed in God, nor was I really taught any of the nonsense of the Bible, or any other religious text for that matter. I am ill equipped, therefore, to fully comprehend how difficult it must be to abandon beliefs that were once deeply cherished. Here’s a great article detailing 20 very good reasons to abandon Christianity if you haven’t already done so. Here are a few highlights:

It is absolutely irrational to continue to believe archaic teaching with the amount of knowledge we’ve gained through science and technology. The Bible reads like a book of primitive folklore, not divinely inspired insight into our true reason for existence.

My main reason for not believing in Christianity is a lot simpler; why would God create such a gigantic universe, then populate an insignificant blue planet on the edges of an unremarkable galaxy only to perpetually torment them with floods, destructive ‘swords of the Lord’ and constant plagues? Are we some kind of stinkin’ ant farm or something? Not an impressive explanation as to the origins of the universe, guys.

I’ve read enough articles, editorials and op-ed pieces to realize, at least superficially, that being both and atheist and black is not an easy thing. African Americans have a long history of relying on the church for support. Abandoning religion often means abandoning the culture. As the secular movement gains momentum, however, more and more in the community are speaking out about this, especially in the light of so many black voters voting Proposition 8 in California.

Sikivu Hutchinson is an eloquent and passionate woman who cares about the truth. She’s written an article about how African American women who wish to abandon their beliefs are often stigmatized by others in the community. Women are seen as the protectors and purveyors of black culture, and religion is seen as an inextricable part of it.

Images of black women faithfully shuttling their children to church and socializing them into Christianity are a prominent part of mainstream black culture. If being black and being Christian are synonymous, then being black, female and religious (whatever the denomination) is practically compulsory. Black women with children who don’t fall in line, who raise their children as atheists, may find their race credentials revoked.

I have to wonder how many black men and women secretly reject religion for the sake of political convenience. It’s just another example of why ‘coming out’ as an atheist is still incredibly difficult for some, and even impossible for others. If you think it’s easy being an atheist, you obviously have never been part of a highly religious community.

When Ann Landers died (real name Esther Pauline Friedman), her daughter took over the family ‘advice column’ racket. She didn’t, however, take on the famous moniker. Her column is a fairly innocuous and predictable affair, except perhaps for a recent letter she received:

Our daughter started college a year ago, and we’ve noticed during her visits home that she’s not the sweet, innocent girl we sent away for higher learning. We raised her with strong Christian beliefs, but lately she’s saying that she’s joined an atheist club on campus and is questioning everything we taught her. Now my husband refuses to let her in the house and is threatening to turn her in to the FBI. I’ve tried to cure our daughter and reconcile with her, but nothing seems to work. I’ve prayed over her at night while she sleeps, enlisted friends in a phone prayer tree and even spoken to my priest about the possibility of an exorcism. I’m at my wits’ end. How can I recover my daughter and keep her from hell? – God-fearing

Now I’m not an advice columnist, but I thought it might be fun if I answered this little question myself. Here is what I would have said:

Dear God fearing,

What a great nomenclature. You seem indeed to have a righteous fear of God, something you no doubt tried to pass onto your daughter. You probably feel pretty stupid about sending your child off to college by now, since her exposure to the world without your ‘god’ filter has allowed her mind to flourish. I hope you don’t feel her joining an atheist club is in any way indicative of how she feels about you. Trust me; letting go of one’s childish notions of God is not an easy task. The comfort of religion is often a crutch we are reluctant to abandon even when we outgrow it. If our entire lives are lived in blissful ignorance, the real world can often seem cruel and cold by comparison. Luckily, with a little time and education, she will learn the earth and universe are a wonderful place even without a sky God telling everyone what to do.

Your husband seems to be a bit of an idiot; calling the FBI for this kind of thing is only going to make you seem foolish and out of touch with reality, a fact that will probably lead to your child abandoning your primitive beliefs. Don’t feel too bad. Statistically, your daughter is less likely to commit a crime, divorce, or become suicidal than if she was still a Christian. Both emotionally and intellectually she is growing, and that was your intent when you sent her to college. Mission accomplished.

If I can make a suggestion it would be this: chill the fuck out. It’s likely that if you push her out of your life you may lose her forever. If you feel worried for her eternal soul, take some comfort in the fact Hell is entirely the product of the sick imagination of theologians, and not a real place. While I don’t pretend to know with 100% certainty what happens when we die, I can guarantee Hell isn’t where anyone goes. More likely death will be similar to what you experienced before you were alive. Consider the fact 14 billion years passed by without you getting too bored.

I’ll echo Margo here and tell you the job of any parent is to ensure their children are thoughtful, intelligent human beings who can make their minds up for themselves. This is the true tragedy of religion, as it forces human beings to trust stories and myths that literally make no sense and are impossible. Humans do not resurrect from the dead, nor are they born of virgins. Hey, if you wanted your daughter to remain religious, your best bet would have been to keep her as uneducated as possible. No joke; there is a direct correlation between ignorance and religiosity (it does not mean a causal relationship, but the correlation is too strong to ignore). You must feel pretty silly now, am I right?