Several atheist and secular organizations have called this Saturday, March 23, 2019, Atheist Day, a day to come out as an atheist:
We atheists and atheist allies hereby declare that from now on, March 23rd is Atheist Day. We recognize the struggle of atheists to live authentic lives in many parts of the world. The struggle to openly affirm one’s atheism. The fear of intolerant governments, mobs, and religious zealots.
On March 23rd we shall take a stand for our right to be treated equal and for those of us in countries where atheists are persecuted and live under a threat of death. From every city in every country in the world we shall be one voice, a voice of reason
The world is becoming increasingly hostile to atheists and free-thinking, and I am not too keen to remain silent in the face of injustices, so I gladly join in the celebration of March 23 — that day, several events will be held in different cities around the world.
This Atheist Day also comes with a Declaration, full of obvious and commonsensical things, like the fact that not believing in gods does not make anyone morally deficient, and that challenging people’s deeply held beliefs does not equate bigotry. As I said, they are elementary things, but we are living in the world of post-truth and postmodernism, so even the most elementary logic is under attack.
If you no longer believe in imaginary friends, heavens dictators and the absurd fables created to milk the fear of death, but have not yet told your loved ones, you may want to consider March 23rd as a perfectly good date to do so. An important first step towards having our rights respected regardless of what happens inside our heads is to show our loved ones that we atheists are nothing like the stereotypes that exist about us.
