Earlier this evening, I went to a dinner sponsored by the Freedom From Religion Foundation that followed the Reason Rally in Washington, D.C. On the drive home, my sister couldn't stop commenting about what a unique feeling it was to be in a room where almost everyone was an atheist. Neither of us had ever been to an atheist event before. We had grown up in a household that was not religious and in an environment with relatively little religious pressure from neighbors or friends.
She said that she was struck by the relief she felt not having to worry that someone would ask her her religion, a question to which she often offers an evasive answer and then holds her breath to see if there's a negative reaction. We didn't grow up in the Bible Belt and I don't think that either of us have had any dramatic bad experience as a result of being atheists, yet there is always that vague sense of apprehension when you meet a stranger that he or she might ask about your religion. Rarely do people actually come out and say something negative, but it's not unusual to see a scowl or a knit brow. So it was nice to not have to worry about that for a change. It was actually a little bit of a revelation to know what that feels like.