and realize that many of them are going through the same process that many of us went through to get where we are

For me, this is one of the best reasons there is to being a soft-spoken, non-activist atheist. Well, that and to generally show people non-theists aren’t rabid amoral baby eaters.

Thanks for the thoughtful reply.

I think during my recent self-examination, if I had been over-exposed to strongly-opinioned atheists, or had been overtly challenged, it might have kept me in the “moderate Christian” camp much longer. What really turned the corner for me was the acceptance of tolerant atheists willing to explore my point of view without insulting my intelligence. Through them, I found several great resources that further revealed to me the delusion of religion. “Why Won’t God Heal Amputees” (website) was probably the first of these, followed by many others. Julia Sweeney has a fantastic monologue from a former Catholic’s perspective that is very popular and hilarious (“Letting Go of God”). But I spent much more time researching the myths of the early Christian church in academia, and found that the basis of the new testament is not even close to rock solid. I read Elaine Pagels and others… sometimes getting angry because of the growing cognitive dissonance.

The best thing an atheist can do is ask a believer to explain what brought them to believe what they do? If they have a solid answer, then that can lead to interesting discussion. But there comes a point where you have to let them off the hook, to process it all in their own way, in their own time. They’re often just as interested in hearing how a former believer lost their faith, and this can have a profound impact on them.

I think atheists are better off if we try to reach out to moderate Christians who share our social values (even those who don’t, though they tend to be harder to reach because of their inflexible attitudes), and realize that many of them are going through the same process that many of us went through to get where we are. People are drawn to religion for many different reasons, and sometimes a little bit of delusion is helpful, in moderate doses, at various stages in our lives.

If you have the ability and capability of living a reason driven life without myth and fantasy having a say in it

I had no choice. Belief in the soul, God, and the supernatural flew away from me when I learned more about cognitive science, cosmology, and biology. But I never would have chosen a life without “myth and fantasy” as you call it. I would have chosen to live in a magical world. I think most people would as shown by the popularity of all kinds of fantasy fiction in print as well as on film and TV. Magic is beautiful and the Enlightenment robs us of that. A lot of people find this depressing and unsatisfactory.

But you’re messing up my metaphor! Well, simile actually. Grr.

While we’re off topic, we went into a war with Hitler because he was on the same side as Japan and they had the nerve to attack us.

I went though a similar de-conversion process and political change, but it was before the world wide web. Oh my. There I go dating myself again.

But, I don’t think that Hitler was really much worse than Stalin. Just ask someone who lived in an Eastern Bloc country like Lithuania what they think about that. It’s hard to choose the lesser of those two evils.

Yeah, it’s arguable. In reality Stalin was about as bad, but in the general American mind, Stalin was just some dictator of some murky, barely understood empire; while Hitler was the embodiment of acute evil. We went into a sharp, brutal war with Hitler because he was so evil, but a sort-off kinda war with the Soviet Union that lasted for decades–the difference has instilled in the American conscience that Hitler=most evil, Stalin=bad guy.

It worked for my barely thought-through analogy.
Thanks again for stopping by, and keep of the great blogging. Skepchick is one of my favorite sites.

I’m very conflicted about this concept.

As am I. I agree with your first paragraph completely as well. I just can’t get my head wrapped around this and decide what I think about it, which is why I keep writing posts that question my own assumptions. I wish I could just figure it out and be done with it!

But, I don’t think that Hitler was really much worse than Stalin. Just ask someone who lived in an Eastern Bloc country like Lithuania what they think about that. It’s hard to choose the lesser of those two evils.