Reply #63: Highly unlikely.

[ReaderSushi]

When I tell people that I am an atheist, I always get a look of tremendous surprise followed by the question: How can you not believe in anything?

As if believing in a deity is in fact everything. I've had several people flat out call me immoral for not believing in any deity. Keep in mind that I live in the liberal safe-haven that is NYC. Many people say they don't care which god you worship but that tolerance is conditional in that you do have worship some god.

Polls say that 50% of Americans will not vote for an atheist on religious grounds but that is probably much higher. Most people don't like being thought of as bigots; the poll results were probably skewed by a fib or two.

As a non-white atheist immigrant let me say that I can't shake the feeling that tolerance in the USA is nothing but a shiny sheen on the surface. Don't get me wrong, it's certainly better here than in other parts of the world but a glass ceiling isn't much better than a bullet through my skull. It's that whole, "Give me liberty or give me death" deal.