Okay. Let’s try this thought experiment then: You say you’re an atheist, but someone else walks up and says you’re a lapsed Christian because they’re certain you were born “knowing different” and no matter what changes you make to your life and your very way of thinking you can’t deny who you really are and should just accept completely redefining who you are to match society’s expectations of how the religion you’re told you are is expected to conduct themselves. The only possible reason you would want to present yourself otherwise is because you definitely want to do something harmful and are trying to get around laws or social mores to do it even though logically if you were already intent on violating them they wouldn’t really stop you.
Except, you know not only are there extremely contradictory - even mutually exclusive - demands of how you conduct yourself and you are judged by all of them simultaneously members of that same religion aren’t held to the same standard since they do not “deny” who they are and face none of the condemnation that you do for every word, action, inaction, and simple facet of your physical existence like displaying a cross or similar recognized article of faith or style of dress. What’s more, any time you are discriminated against whether it’s for being Christian or not Christian you are considered ineligible to claim you’re being discriminated against because in the eyes of others you “aren’t really” either of them. But also both when it gives an excuse to take punitive actions against you. Despite what the law and human rights says about religion both groups are also entitled to single you out and publicly declare you a threat to them by your very existence, a predator waiting to drag the vulnerable into the shadows to defile them to which you are expected to quietly respect their right to say AND ACT UPON such accusations openly declaring you do not belong in public spaces and all human contact is categorically a predatory attack, grounds for immediate retribution.
So all this in mind with everyone insisting they know you better than you know yourself despite knowing less than nothing about you, having no protected rights, no place you strictly belong, being under constant attack but declared the aggressor, and between being expected to be someone you’re not making you physically ill and everybody telling you who you are supposed to be having no consistent metrics on top of being blatant hypocrites you can never make anyone happy least of all yourself and every day you die a little inside. But you’re not allowed to complain because that’s treating you special.
Hmm. Still sounds fucking asinine to me.