I also counseled my son, when he was in elementary school, not to tell people who believed in God that he was an atheist because they were likely to become abusive. But he happened to be a fearless and popular little boy (not to mention a good fighter), and when, in second grade, the teacher asked the children to indicate by a show of hands what their religion was (in a lesson about American diversity, I believe), and at the end my son hadn't raised his, he called to her attention that she had omitted the category atheist. Without demur, she asked for atheists, too, to raise their hands. Three boys raised their hands.
Oddly, the two other boys were his two best friends.
He never had any trouble being an atheist. Partly because it was later, no doubt, and partly, I suspect, because he was raised in the north and my sister and I were raised down south.
(I know I've told this story before on SI....) |
