Popular comedy duo Penn and Teller recently released a video urging closeted agnostics and atheists to come out without feeling ashamed and stop concealing their skepticism before family and friends. Entertainers Penn Jillette and Raymond Teller’s video is part of the Openly Secular initiative, which aims at building a more positive and healthy image for secularists in American society. The video, in which the duo claims to have been vocal atheists their entire adult lives, was released on November 14.
“I don’t think there was ever a time we denied it,” Jillette said, noting, though, that he believes those currently concealing their lack of belief have every right to do so. “You can keep it quiet, you can go to church, you can sneak around. It won’t do you any harm. … Certainly you’re not going to be punished by the atheist god for not saying you’re atheist, not saying you’re a heathen, not saying you’re an apostate.”
However, Jillette did want closeted atheists to know that coming out is quite easy as both he and Teller have had to face no negative repercussions for openly declaring their rejection of a supreme being.
“Over the years, we’ve noticed — like a lot of things — it’s getting a lot better,” he added. “We are really not punished very much for saying we’re atheist.”
In the video, as Jillette speaks, Teller is seen sticking to his typical routine of keeping quiet and corroborating his partner’s opinions with nonverbal agreement and positive facial expressions.
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