Christmas originated as a pagan holiday. If the Christians adopted it, why can't we atheists. I give presents, sing carols, decorate my tree. Why?

Although I don't believe Jesus Christ was the son of God or that God exists any more than I believe in Santa Claus, I do believe that the message embodied in Christmas is a good one: Love, giving, sharing the light in your life.

Why invent a new holiday? Why differentiate between songs about some fairy tales (Rudolph the red nosed reindeer) and others (Away in the manger)?

And let's face it, do committed Christians give presents at Christmas (for them a religious holiday) differently than on birthdays (a secular occastion)?

You can be an atheist without being a grinch.

"Trust me on this, I once graduated an atheist who graduated from--are you sitting down?--Bob Jones University."

What I meant to say was: I once DATED an atheist who graduated from BJU. Sorry for the error.

Like Cary said, you need to know what you believe. I would think that so long as you're attending a Christian college, it might be best to remain closeted. But transferring out wouldn't be a bad idea.

I suggest reading...a lot. I found The God Delusion to be an excellent primer on atheism...very convincing in why there is almost certainly no god(s), and why it's important to let the world know what you think. The End of Faith talks more about why religion - even moderate, liberal religion - is a danger. And lastly, if you haven't read religious works - really read them, not just a few select passages at a time - it's not bad to have a go at them (particularly the Bible, due to the prominent position of Christianity in our society) in order to discover just what they say.

My own thoughts on the subject. I think an atheist should be proudly atheist, and I do think that all types of religion provide cover and legitimacy to extremists. But while I make no bones about not believing in any god (or other form of power that can violate the laws of nature). But it's not like I bring it up, either, nor do I go into detail about why religion is wrong. Much as I would like to be forthright, I don't want to alienate great friends who may be misled and gullible, but are otherwise wonderful people.

Anyway...coming out at this time may not be an option for the letter writer, but he definitely shouldn't stay closeted forever.

I am a 22 year old atheist in the great state of Oklahoma. I have been "out" for at least 7 years. I have always lived in biggish towns here, but, I mean, it is still Oklahoma. I have never had a problem with anyone because I am an atheist, although I did avoid the more devout Christians at my high school and it has never really come up in college (4+ years at this point).

This was going to go somewhere, but, well, lets just say that I am an atheist in the "buckle of the bible belt" and, trust me, it isn't that hard.

Oh yeah, quit the school if at all possible.

AKA Smith: I think you're right that it's "whoever" not "whomever." In case you're wondering, the difference between "who" and "whom" is that the former refers to an active subject, and the latter refers to a passive object. Thus you'd say, "The man who threw the ball," and "The man at whom the ball was thrown." In your example, the "whoever" was self-referential and therefore would remain the active subject. I think.

Hardcorebrat: If you want to have paragraph breaks in your text, try hard-coding the HTML with paragraph tags. A paragraph tag is the letter P inside of two brackets, like this: < P > (except without the spaces). Write back and let's see if it works.

Everybody else: Lots of good letters in here. You're making a good case that being an atheist doesn't mean being a heartless or immoral person. I have taken an ethics class and done other philosophical reading and it's led me to conclude that atheists can be just as moral as anybody else. If your morality is based on a strong set of logical reasons, doesn't that mean at least as much as if your morality is based on "because this is what God would want me to do"?

The same with the idea of an afterlife: Doesn't being an atheist mean that you value your time and actions on earth at least as much as somebody who believes he'll be around for all eternity?

Anyway, I'm glad you're all offering support to the letter-writer. I lived in the Bible Belt for a while and I know how freakish it can be to be the only atheist in a sea of true believers.

It is as simple as that.

If you feel guilty about lying, don't lie and come out. It will take a weight off of your mind and if your loved ones cannot accept you for it, they don't really even particularly like you.

Until you make people accept you on your terms, they aren't really accepting you, they are just demanding that you conform to their idea of you. Don't conform.

As to the college: If they kick you out for not believing the same BS they do, then take them to court. They can't prove when you became an atheist and I suspect that their policies may well be discriminatory to the point of being illegal.

So long as you remain quiet about being an atheist you contribute to the general fear a lot of other quiet atheists have of coming out. That you feel that fear of coming out says a lot about what is wrong with America, and what needs fixing in America.

You knew all of this already of course, because it is an "ought to do" and generally, those are the most difficult things to "actually do."

Don't be afraid of being a hero in this case, be afraid of what not being a hero will lead to.