If religious zealots were doing that, it would be considered completely unacceptable.
They do it every day, in spades.
Dave.
When I was 11 years old I had already decided that this God thing didn't make any sense, so I excluded myself from anything that was connected to the delusion. In my childhood it was the practice of the PUBLIC schools to recite the lords prayer and sing "God Save Our Queen" every morning. I just stopped doing that part of the morning ritual and got away with it as one voice missing from twenty didn't get noticed.
I then started my next grade and the school had just acquired a new teacher. Her way of teaching was a little different than I had experienced before. Each day she expected each student to stand up at the front of the class and recite a verse from the bible. When it came to my turn, I stood up and told her that I was not going to do it as I was an atheist. She was very flustered by the audacity of a mere child standing up for his own rights and she quickly asked the next on the list to do the deed. I sat down happy and confident that I had done the right thing and had done nothing offensive.
A few days rolled around and my turn came up again. This time I expected to be skipped without any trouble. Well I was wrong. She asked me to step up and take my turn and I stood up to remind her that I was not going to do something that was not my belief. She then very loudly and aggressively told me that I was being silly and that she had talked to my mother. She told me that my mother had told her that I was to do what I was told and that my atheism was wrong. Well you can imagine that I was caught completely off guard and embarrassed. I felt like I had no choice but to do what I was told at that point and blundered my way through some passage, of which I have no memory.
When I got back home that afternoon I went straight to where my mother was and started yelling at her like a maniac. She had this wide eyed bewildered look on her face and it took her a few minutes to get me to stop yelling and explain what I was talking about. When she learned what had transpired she became very angry and let me know that she had never talked to this teacher and the teacher was just plain lying. I was given permission to do whatever I wanted when I returned the next day in class to refute the teacher.
The next day the teacher asked for the next person on the list to stand up and do their recital. I stood up and asked that I may be able to take their place. The teacher looked quite pleased with herself that she had converted me to her way. I got to the front of the class and instead of reciting her crap, I recounted what had happened the previous day when I talked with my mother. In a nut shell I told the whole class that the teacher had lied about talking to my mother and that my mother would never have done such a thing behind my back. I also told the class that since the teacher had lied and humiliated me in front of the class and made me doubt my mother for the afternoon that I would no longer be taking any instructions from the teacher. During all of this the teacher just sat there with a slack jaw not knowing what to do. The whole class looked to be in shock and I sat down.
The next couple of minutes are a bit hard to remember because I had this ringing in my ears and my face felt hot from the stress of what I had just done. I think the teacher quickly got up to the front of the class and started some other lesson as quickly as possible to try and change the subject. The rest of the day I sat in class ignoring everything and read one of Asimov's books on physics.
For the rest of the whole year I was never bothered by her again, and I basically did whatever I wanted in her class. This was just as well because the only thing she was able to teach me was that religious people are fanatics who lie, cheat and coerce in any way to make others believe the way they do. Any good she might have done as a teacher was destroyed.
It did not take long for this whole bible reading in class to stop. I am sure that someone else complained and she stopped asking people to do it. If she had done anything to retaliate against me for sticking up for my rights, I am sure it would have been the end of her being able to teach again anywhere in my area.
I have never been attacked, coerced, lied to, not even approached by any atheist in my life trying to make me believe their way.
In my life I have faced countless mormons, jehovah witnesses, scientologists, 7th day adventists, catholics, anglicans, etc, at my house door, in my schools, in the malls, in parking lots, almost anywhere trying to bother me with their beliefs. Continuously there are references on TV, radio, and all media about god(s). All the governments rely on religion in some way where ever I have lived. In court I have been asked many times to swear on the bible that "so help me god" that I will tell the truth.
So saying that atheists are always speaking up and trying to force their minds on others is an outright error or a lie or simply a troll. It is exactly to opposite. Theists will do almost anything to get you to believe their side, or just kill you for not believing it. History and my personal experience is on the side of that assertion.
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