Reddit mentions of Why I Am Not a Christian and Other Essays on Religion and Related Subjects

Hey there!

Personally, I'm as non-believing as they get, but I'm comfortable with religious people if they respect that I don't dig it. If they chose to drop their God-talk, I drop my graduate school level information on physics and math, and that usually ends in them feeling pretty damn dumb for not respecting my boundaries.

As far as science goes, unless you want to talk about Ontology or the Big Bang, then there is no room whatsoever for God in this universe as far as I'm concerned. The LHC has not found him yet nor has the Hubble... But, I don't say my scientific facts and opinions on religion unless someone asks me directly - which, you sorta did. :-)

Normally, when religious people spout their thoughts, I just nod, and while I use to be a hot headed debater with them, I now just say "okay" and walk away. I do indulge my family sometimes (not often), but they don't get to walk away without hearing the math and physics views. Do you know who Zinnia Jones is? Ze does a fair bit here and there concerning LGBT issues and religion (and also founded /r/lgbt as far as I know). Here is the youtube channel Zinnia Jones Check out some of the videos regarding being gay and religious.

If you want to read a book on atheism - more like an essay in a book - then I strongly suggest, above all other writings, Why I'm not a Christian by Bertrand Russell. He nails it so well I can't even approach trying to write it better.

Sorry to hear about your fight. A common tactic of any group that wants to persuade via agenda and not a factual base, is to hit you when you're weakest with their propaganda. When you're down, keep your guard up when people try to change the topic into something that isn't about the issue - i.e. religion here.

But at the end of the day, only you can decide if you want to believe in God. Personally, I just follow science and have an accepting attitude towards people. So far it works really damn well for me. That is a common tactic I've heard from religious people. They often tell me something like "I know you're a closet Christian, you're just too damn good of a person." Really, I catch things like this sometimes. I look at them, I tell them usually, yes I went to Sunday school and I was a good student, so good I left and went to something that made more sense like logic, science and philosophy regarding human interactions.

Okay, I'll stop rambling for you. I don't want to preach myself, I just want to put out there that you don't have to subscribe to religion and there are a lot of really wonderful and successful people who go to their graves happy they were never believers.

edit: grammar, etc, it is late and my writing is horrific at the moment

Here is a shortened version.

Was born into a very religious Hindu family. Brainwashed from childhood that Vedas/Upanishads and Gita held universal truths. Prayed/meditated/pondered/read Hindu religious texts because I believed in things that I have been told, purely on faith. Read Betrand Russell when I was in my teens which made me a little bit of a skeptic but still continued to be a believer for almost 2 decades . Then a few years ago, read dawkins, watched his speeches on youtube and slowly started questioning. Read some more Hitchens, harris, and watched some James randi videos. Started applying scientific methods to question things that I have been taught from childhood and that opened my eyes.

Why I Am Not a Christian by Bertrand Russell

Buy this and read it cover-to-cover

It's a good, comprehensive book of the history of thought on religion and the God question. Another good recommendation from the atheistic perspective is Why I'm Not a Christian by Bertrand Russell.

I am as ardent an anti-theist as you'll find, however, few points

>I am not trying to offend anyone who is religious

Not up to you, they're going to get offended anyway.

>I know religion is responsible for many of our moral values

Is it though? Morality is still an incredibly rich area of study and thought (along with consciousness.) There are many competing theories such as: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_morality

In any case- religion certainly teaches that some things are bad and other things are good. I reject the claim that it is responsible for "many of our moral values." (Reference the Old Testament- morality isn't the word I would use to describe stoning people to death for transgressions.)

>Religion is responsible for some of the worst atrocities in human history.

I would say that close-minded adherence to bad ideas are the root of the worst atrocities in human history. Religions are among the worst ideas and the most deeply held convictions people have and have contributed mightily (and have been the primary factor for a lot of the atrocities) however, people are responsible for the worst atrocities in human history.

>I don't understand how people are willing to die for something that they have been told and never actually seen.

Philosophy Psychology of` religion is pretty useful here. You may find the following concepts interesting:

• The Backfire Effect
  
• Cognitive Dissonance
  
• Confirmation Bias
  
  It is important to note that religious adherents often grow up being taught these dogmatic systems as truth. To them it is common sense and they attribute their good feelings and positive experiences to the religion.
  
  >We are not born believing in religion it is taught to us.
  
  Someone along the way came up with the idea. Generally these days we cannot tell because not many people can get to age 18 without being subject to religious ideas. Although, I tend to agree with this hypothesis in a modern sense.
  
  >I believe that any religion, whethever it's monotheistic (one god) or polytheistic (many gods) that believes in a divine creator is a plague and gives evil people justification for committing awful crimes againist others (molesting children, terroist attacks, etc).
  
  Well, polytheistic religions have a history of being tolerant and intolerant of other gods/faiths. Monotheism has a horrific track record here.
  
  Jainism is non-violent: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jainism
  
  >I think social philosophies like confucianism which are built on more ethical and natural principles should replace religion.
  
  Secular Humanism sounds like it would float your boat: https://secularhumanism.org/index.php/3260
  
  What people find irreplaceable about religion is its answers to big questions, comfort, and "spiritual fulfillment."
  
  Whether you believe in spirituality or not, there have been many hypotheses about what spiritual experience is, or where exactly it comes from. Personally, I think religions are middle men between you and whatever those experiences are. Meditation and other methods have been suggested.
  
  >Religion is an evil plague apon society CMV.
  
  Ultimately, I agree with you. Although, I do think that some people get things from religion that are good or benign (things that could be gotten from other sources IMO.) Your view just needs a bit more nuance, respectfully. The following sources would be interesting to you:
  
  https://www.amazon.com/Christian-Essays-Religion-Related-Subjects/dp/0671203231
  
  https://www.amazon.ca/End-Faith-Religion-Terror-Future/dp/0393327655
  
  https://www.amazon.ca/God-Not-Great-Religion-Everything/dp/0771041438

Why I Am Not a Christian and Other Essays on Religion and Related Subjects by Bertrand Russell

The End of Faith by Sam Harris

The Spiral Staircase: My Climb Out of Darkness by Karen Armstrong

Why I Am Not A Christian by Bertrand Russell

A History of God: The 4,000-Year Quest of Judaism, Christianity and Islam by Karen Armstrong

>If you have any recommendations let me know


https://www.amazon.com/Christian-Essays-Religion-Related-Subjects/dp/0671203231

Why I Am Not a Christian - Bertrand Russell

Breaking The Spell - Daniel Dennett

All In The Mind: A farewell To God - Ludovic Kennedy

I know all four of the names. Russell from about 13 years ago when I read http://www.amazon.com/Christian-Essays-Religion-Related-Subjects/dp/0671203231/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1393642671&sr=8-5&keywords=bertrand+russell. Turing from CS courses. Leibniz from Calculus. Pascal from CS exposure. However no in depth understanding of any one.

Dude this doc is like...impossible to find online! I'm kind of impressed~

Reading this right now. Excellent read, I would highly recommend.

Personally I am absolutely sick to death of Dawkins' entire approach; I am sick of his belittling, condescending attitude towards religion, and ultimately he has missed the entire point of religion.

Bertrand Russell's Why I am Not A Christian (book here) deals with the issues in a far more elegant manner.