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Coming Out Atheist

A while back, Naughty Niko decided to “come out” as a nonbeliever to his community. He did it in an unusual way by creating, printing and posting in town, a bogus wanted poster of himself.

See Poster on Pole Small 2.jpg below.

It was posted on all public bulletin and notice boards and, since the town still had overhead power and telephone lines, posted on street poles too.
To Naughty Niko’s surprise, many closeted nonbelievers later approached him discretely and confided in him that they too were nonbelievers. Oh, if they only would come out too. Dream on Naughty Niko. But two other surprises came to him. One was an invitation from the senior minister of the local Presbyterian Church to come to his church office to chat. Well he did and after an hour’s chat, the minister found out that Naughty Niko was a real human being, albeit sans supernatural beliefs. The other surprise was still another invitation, this one to become a member of the local Interfaith Council as a representative of the community’s nonbelievers. Do you believe that? Well, that story is too long for this post, but they did ask and he did accept.
The moral of this post is: Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Niko Theris.

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Poster on Pole Small 2.jpg, 304 KB

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Permalink Reply by Sentient Biped on July 27, 2009 at 10:56pm

Niko,
I just want to tell you that this is a very cool story! It's uplifting and gives me hope for the future.
Best Wishes,
Daniel

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Permalink Reply by Kristi Leitholt on July 27, 2009 at 11:05pm

I love this! The poster cracked me up. What a cool idea, and I'm glad some good things came of it!

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Permalink Reply by unholyroller on July 27, 2009 at 11:49pm

LMOAO! The poster is priceless. Wish I had the courage to go that far, but in the neck of BF Oklahoma, I would probably be burned at the stake.

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Permalink Reply by Sentient Biped on July 28, 2009 at 12:47pm

Maybe you could have some printed up, but instead of YOUR name, use the name of your least favorite politician.... No, that's too evil.

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Permalink Reply by Niko Theris on July 28, 2009 at 1:01pm

Daniel,

Sounds like a good idea except that the poster has my ugly face on it.

Naughty Niko.

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Permalink Reply by Mike Bennett on July 28, 2009 at 2:33am

Brilliant!
Loved it thanks.

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Permalink Reply by kj on July 28, 2009 at 12:12pm

What an exceptional and unique way to profess your non-belief. I think that your poster was wonderfully written and provided a little sizzle with an abundance of humor. It is no wonder that utilizing some tact and ingenuity has made your acceptance by the community somewhat of a non-issue.

Congrats and thanks so much for sharing that. I'm sure I'm not the only one who would want to hear the sequel about the Interfaith Council when you have the time. :)