A few months ago, this preacher guy (Preacher Tom, for anyone who might have had a similar experience with the guy) came to my campus and started spewing hateful and judgmental things at passers-by. Knowing he would be back, I created Zealous Preacher Bingo cards, with a few friends’ suggestions for spaces. We gave out candy to anyone who won.

Hi Anon,

I get a lot of questions like this. I have never attended a religiously affiliated school myself, but I have known many atheists who have. My suggestion would be to ask questions. Lots and lots of questions. Find contradictions in your ‘studies’ and inquire as to which reading you should believe. You will probably see you teachers stumble over answers that they can’t quite rectify logically  or in their own heads. To see evidence of their mistakes in their own eyes may make you feel better for understanding actual logic and truth. A good resource for this would be Skeptcs Annotated Bible at http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/ . They highlight and link many contradictions in the bible, etc.
Other suggestions I would have are to see if there are any local atheist or secular groups in your area. If you can’t find anything or have trouble attending, maybe find an online group or talk to the Secular Student Alliance at http://www.secularstudents.org/ . Talking to people of reason is immensely comforting.
Also, if you can, read books about non-belief or scientific topics. They’re lots of fun to read and can be a ray of reality among all of the religion you have to deal with.

To all: I’m more than willing to take the time to answer any questions, but please try to ask with anon off so that I don’t spam the blog with asks. I will answer privately! Thanks!