Religious young adults and teenagers: have you become atheist curious yet?

I think it's one thing we Atheists don't get over quite so well, at least not in this country anyway, is communicating what we're about, and what we stand for - even what we don't stand for.

Additionally there probably aren't as many resources available for those that may want to actually approach us and engage in civil dialogue.

It's good to see efforts being made to improve this.

WE DON'T NEED NO STINKING BIBLE

Here are some places where a wavering Christian or other open-minded Abrahamic monotheists can discover why we atheists and Secular Humanists consider the Bible to contain blatantly offensive material.

» God™’s killings in the Bible – http://dwindlinginunbelief.blogspot.com/2010/04/dr...

» Skeptic’s Annotated Bible – http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/

» EvilBible website – http://www.evilbible.com/

EXPLORING ATHEISM

850,000,000 people around the world are Atheist, Agnostic or Non-Religious. That's more than 1 out of 10 people, making up the 4th largest belief group. [1]

If you’re new to atheism, it’s worth being aware of the difference between:

• Positive atheism (aka strong atheism and hard atheism)

— those who maintain that "There is no god" is a true statement

• Negative atheism (aka weak atheism and soft atheism)

— any other type of non-theism, wherein a person does not believe in the existence of any deity, but does not explicitly claim that the statement "There is at least one god" is false

As a starting point, the People’s Encyclopaedia of Wikipedia has plenty to explore on these topics and more:

• Atheism – rejection of belief in the existence of deities

» Portal:Atheism – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Atheism

» Atheism article – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atheism

• Irreligion – absence of, indifference towards, or hostility towards religion

» Anti-theism: opposition to theism – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antitheism

» Anti-clericalism: opposition to religious institutional power and influence – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anticlericalism

» Antireligion: opposition to religion – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antireligion

• Secularism – separation of a government, organisation or institution from religion and/or religious beliefs

» Secularism article – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secularism

» Secular Humanism: secular philosophy that espouses human reason/ethics/justice, and the search for human fulfilment – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secular_Humanism

Remember to check out the ‘External links’ section, generally at the foot of each Wikipedia webpage, for places on teh interwebs where further productive exploration may occur, especially if you could use a change of tone.

Share and Enjoy, Peace-&-Love, Dalinian

I was a Christian until turning 20 although I was becoming increasingly agnostic for many years leading up to that point. My faith somehow managed to persist. By the time I was 21 I was fairly sure there wasn't actually a god and religion was entirely man-made. The reasons behind it were an even mix of increasing disagreement with the religious policies and dogmas espoused by my church alongside asking pertinent questions that were only answered by outside secular sources.

When you're a kid you kind of assume there is something somewhere which knows all there is to be known. When you're young it's your parents, then it's your teachers, then it becomes other figures in society with some sort of authority. Politicians, scientists, preachers, etc.

As I chased higher and higher authorities to answer questions, both religious and secular - I began to realise that both had no ultimate appeal to any knowledge base higher than to what they knew as people. The ultimate religious authorities spent all their time reading and re-reading old books and if the answers didn't lie in those books, there was no answer. I was expected as a believer to accept that as an answer, and frankly I couldn't.

Meanwhile the ultimate academic authorities were out there learning things from nature and using empirical evidence to back up their findings and my attraction to such understanding began long before leaving religion. Indeed I was lucky enough to come from a Christian denomination which embraced science and understanding so I wasn't hampered by the agnotology prevalent in many conservative denominations today.

Once I became comfortable with the concept that some things aren't known and other things simply can't be known - my need for answers from religion disappeared, and I think it was that realisation that finally killed my faith. I didn't need a God in my life which provided no answers, no evidence and no comfort.

I'm now convinced humanism is the only world view worth a damn. Religions often offer interesting philosophical insights, as well as many respectable moral teachings, but they're too consumed with superstitious static and agenda driven dogma to ever be what the modern world needs them to be. I continue to have great respect for those who use their faith to grow stronger as people, but far too often their faith is invested in religions whose objectives are cloudy or outright backwards.

I suggest 2 television documentary series for those in their teen years interested in what it means to be here now. Both of them are more than 20 years old, but in my view they are still outstanding in pretty much every way.

One is "The Ascent of Man" presented by J. Bronowski.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ascent_of_Man

Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87v118RSb2Q

The other is "Cosmos - A personal voyage" presented by Carl Sagan.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmos:_A_Personal_Vo...

Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3NAW1U-swc

These series were instrumental to me growing up and I hope they would do the same for others.

Not religious and I don't have any questions about atheism because it seems pretty self explanatory. Of course, by not religious, I'm not saying I don't believe in a higher being. I have many questions about this being, but I don't trust humans enough to give me answers.

There was a time in my life when I explored other beliefs systems... but then I realized that they were all either doctrinally inconsistent, based on historical error, limited in scope, or demoted human beings to the level of animals.

Sorry. I just graduated high school (3rd out of 200 kids) and I am an adamant defender of Catholicism on these boards. I took 8 AP courses and agree with my Church's position that evolution and the Big Bang Theory (developed by a Catholic priest) are the best explanation out there.

Edit: Hey, you asked for answers from religious people. What did you expect?

One of the books instrumental in my own deconversion was "Demon Haunted World" by Carl Sagan. It's a must-read for anyone who is examining their own beliefs with any sort of rationality, whether they stick by those beliefs or discard them.

Thanks for the invitation to swap ideas and resources, Mr. Flying Spaghetti Monster.

I guess I’d like to know what’s so wrong with the Bible? My parents, teachers, and ministers seem to think it’s pretty perfect, but my hunch is that they ignore or skip over sections that contradict their preconceptions. So I’d welcome pointers to places where the atheist community have published information on what they think is wrong with the Bible. Thanks in advance for your help.

Are you serious??lol

... No.