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How to go about telling your friends you are an atheist

06 12 08 - 10:36 Religion and faith (or a lack thereof) is an important part of what defines you as a person. As such, it may be important to you to let not just your family know about your religious beliefs but your circle of friends as well. In most cases, dealing with your friends tends to be easier than your parents or relatives, as they’re often of similar age and you likely hang out together because of similar interests and perhaps even beliefs. Some complications can of course arise out of telling them so it’s important to know what do and what the consequences might be. First, if you decide that being an atheist is important enough to let your friends know, you should be able to gage what their reaction will be beforehand. Many of my own friends are fairly religious for example, but don’t feel the need to impose their beliefs on others. As a result telling them I was an atheist turned out to be fairly easy, since they shrugged and nodded. Know how well your friends tend to accept beliefs other than their own.
If you do run into trouble, be sure to keep things in a conversational tone and not an argument. Your friends may have false connotations as to what it means to be an atheist. If they’re religious, they may define atheism as being “immoral” or even somewhere further along the fringe, like being connected to Satanism, which are of course blatantly false. If they have such misconceptions, deal with them first, and always respect their opinion and feelings. Just because you don’t believe in the existence of god(s) and don’t commune with him/her/it personally doesn’t mean that someone else can’t feel a real connection with their deity. Confront issues of morals and ethics head on, and explain that being an atheist does not mean you’re not without morals.
When you decide to tell your friends, your best bet is likely to consult them individually. This is especially true if your friends have a variety of different religious beliefs (I know mine do!) so that you coming out as an atheist could inadvertently start an argument about religion in general and so on. It’s not really a road you want to go down, so let your friends take in the news individually and if the time comes to address it or discuss it as a group then so be it.
If they have particular arguments about religion and atheism, be sure to come to the conversation armed with confidence and an open mind. Monotheists, after all, are in fact atheists with respect to all other deities except their own, so bring that into the discussion if you feel the need. If your friends get angry or upset, it’s always good to take a breather, let them think over what you’ve told them, and return to discussion at a later point. Even if they still disagree with your or your decision on beliefs, hopefully they will still accept you for who you are. In this case it’s perfectly fine to agree to disagree.