A pompous ass is a pompous ass whether its an atheist or any other believer (take your pick) of religion. Keep it to yourself, no one cares but you.

When any atheist or believer turns the conversation to their conversions/epiphanies/enlightenments/etc, it becomes soooo predictable.

I don't know if any other poster has mentioned this specifically, but the LW should be aware that not all religiously-affiliated colleges or universities--particularly those that require a signed religious pledge--are accredited.

Before the LW makes the decision to continue at the current school, it might make sense to do some due diligence about the school's accreditation status.

After all, if the LW is highly motivated to get a degree, that degree should come from a school that's recognized to be in good academic standing.

lw, you will meet many people of faith, of which i am one, who have views that are not necessarily contained in a single script. you will also meet people who need reasons to draw a boundary and place you on the outside of their group. but these are other people, not you. if you find yourself in situations with people who are willing to converse in person, then go ahead and have your discussions with them. such discussions do not require you to claim as your own any given perspective in order to explore what is being discussed. it is about philosophical ideology and needn't be a personal matter, unless, of course, there are people who need a reason to determine a sort of "in" or "out" status for you with their group. there is no reason to worry about those kinds of determinations from a philosophical point of view.

Dear LW,

There are 3 options here, but only one of them is good.

Option 1: keep quiet, get your degree, come out (or don't) at some later date. For the remainder of college, silently suffer from an overwhelming feeling that you are not being true to yourself, and that your friends and family can't possibly really love you because they do not know you.

Option 2: Come Out at your college. Tell your friends, tell your family, tell your teachers--tell everyone. Then refuse to leave. Suffer from the knowledge that your friends and family do not accept you, now that they know you. Turn your personal life into a battleground.

Option 3: Change schools. Get to know people who do not require religious belief as a pre-requisite for friendship. Let your parents down slowly, over time. Or never tell them--that's your choice, as you never signed a contract with your parents. Take joy in the knowledge that you managed to stay true to yourself without offending or alienating anyone unnecessarily, and that you did the ethical thing.

Because Cary is right--the school cannot know, and therefore cannot truly dictate, what is in your head or your heart. But still, you chose to sign a contract with the community, in which you recognized that in order to be part of that community, you must hold certain beliefs. Now that you no longer hold those beliefs, it would be unethical, and perhaps even immature, to expect that community to accept you anyway. Just go. It will be better for you overall.

Belief in God is just as daft as belief in no God. They are just two sides of the same coin. Why attract a firestorm on a bullshit determination that today's belief is truer than yesterday's or someone else's groundless nonsense belief?

Don't come out as an "atheist" (or gay!) until after you have graduated and are financially independent. First make sure that no one can hurt you financially or hurt your education.

If no one's pressing you on this issue, there is nothing to be gained by making an announcement of your atheism. There is no atheist God to incur the wrath of...there is no doctrine you need to start living by because you don't believe in God. You live by your own moral belief system (as do those who believe in God, but sometimes they're more confused about why they behave the way they do).

There is nothing to be gained here by "coming out"...a part of you that wants to be known and might even temporarily enjoy the drama of the disclosure kind of wants to tell...but you've already given that a test run with your family and it isn't getting a positive response. And you might get kicked out of school.

Just suck it up and finish college. I don't know what school you go to but can almost guarantee they DON'T want you to force them into making a decision on kicking you out over this...they want you to shut up, don't make waves, and finish your degree. I can also almost guarantee you that there are others who don't believe at your school, and they aren't talking about it either.

You don't say whether you were certain of your non-belief when you entered this school...if you were, it may not have been the best or most ethical (if not being false about a pretense of religious faith is in accord with your ethics) choice, but you've already done it. I'm sure you're paying money to be there...if you're not in a seminary, where religion is a perquisite for what you are studying and your future life path, then just make the best of it and move on.

Oh, and your parents may never accept and understand you in regard to your atheism. It's up to you how far to push it as far as making them acknowledge your atheism, but I'm not sure I would. We may all desire to be loved and known for all of who we are, but there are a heck of a lot of us who have relationships with our family of origin that are selective in what we share with them. I consider that realistic, if a little existentially sad.

I'm an atheist, raised in a moderately religious household. When I decided I didn't believe in God, which was a gradual process for me, it seemed like a big identity shift...and it is but it's an internal one, not an external one. For better and worse, there is no club, doctrine, or set of beliefs you now belong to as an atheist...you are simply removed from fully participating in the "clubs" of organized religions that do center their doctrines around faith in God.

Best wishes.