No one cares if you're a non-golfer. Atheists in quite a lot of the country (and the world, for that matter), are a notable minority group. "Persecution" implie

No one cares if you're a non-golfer. Atheists in quite a lot of the country (and the world, for that matter), are a notable minority group. "Persecution" implies a bit more gravity that I'd aim for in describing it, but certainly there's enough of a cultural "thing" about it that it should no longer surprise anyone that atheists might want to congregate together and talk about it.