Thanks for sharing your experiences Alan — that is very interesting.

Some times the question of religion comes up in conversation explicitly when someone asks you, but it also might come up incidentally due to circumstance.

For example, if you and a bunch of people decide to catch up at a steak house, but you don’t eat beef. Or perhaps the question of what Christmas gifts you’ve bought the kids is raised — and you may respond that you don’t celebrate Christmas.

In terms of the question never being raised — it could also be that your particular type of “otherness” might not be obvious to people unless you disclose it.

A person of Japanese or Indian descent however would more obviously be an “other”, and thus have the topic come up in conversation (either implicitly or explicitly). For instance — I’ve had people on numerous occasions be surprised that I am not a vegetarian, or that I eat beef — as they make assumptions (well-meaning ones) about me based on my appearance.

While people should not try to force their beliefs or opinions down other people’s throats — I do think it is an important conversation to have.

It helps to dispell the illusion (I feel) many people have that Atheists have simply abandoned all philosophical and metaphysical enquiry and are focused on unbridled hedonism :)