Atheists Launch Campaign To Get Unbelievers To 'Come Out'
(RNS) The young man in the video pulls in close to his computer camera with the trappings of a typical college dorm room -- a loft bed and the clutter of cast-off clothes -- piled behind him.
Alex Fiorentini isn't talking about girls, beer or football. Instead, it's a coming-out moment of sorts.
"Is it acceptable to the majority of the population to be an atheist?" he asks the camera. "Nope. Are all of your friends going to accept you as an atheist? Probably not all of them. And yeah, those things are gonna suck. But the real question is, 'Is it OK to be me?' That is the real question if you are an atheist."
For Fiorentini, a student at the University of Illinois, the answer is yes. He and scores of other atheists, young and old, have made similar videos for a new campaign designed to build community and support among nontheists around the world.
Dubbed "We Are Atheism," the campaign was launched this fall by three students at the University of Kansas.
"It's time for us to all stand up, speak out and be counted," said Amanda Brown, 25, one of the co-founders. "It is time for us to put up our videos and change the face of atheism. We want people to see we are normal people who have children and lives and do good in the community."
LINK TO "We Are Atheism": http://www.weareatheism.com/
