I don't think we will do away with religion, but I do wish we could do away with the LITERAL TRUTH of the Bible and Christianity that so many people uphold.

Dawkins does make a good point about some middle-of-the-liners by stating that some of them have never spent much time THINKING about what they believe. A friend of mine said that he thinks it's due to the fact that these people are already naturally skeptical and scientific.

Some people claim that Dawkins' book The God Delusion will only accomplish getting people angry. It certainly doesn't make me angry. I like the fact that it has more people talking and thinking, and that's what I'm all about - education.

I don't know that the main goal of atheism is to win more people over to atheism. What is the goal of the current atheist movement? To me it's to educate, to gain more civil liberties as an atheist, to uphold the separation of church and state in all things. I would also like to say that it is to lesson the stigmatism against atheists, but because christians are SO afraid of atheism, I can't really see this happening. And yes, attacking religion and christianity will cause this stigmatism to be worse against atheists. But do we really care? The main thing is, is that the law should be on our side.

There are those who claim that the atheist doesn't know who they're "fighting." Some people know what we're dealing with. I was a fundie once upon a time. But I was able to leave it all behind. We thought we were at war back then, and I don't remember any big atheist movement. Christians will always cry "discrimination" and "war." We are taught that we are rebels. That we go against the grain and that we are right in sticking up for our religion. But the truth of the matter is that Christianity is the oppressor. I sometimes refer to atheism "as the new Christianity" because of the fact that we are looked down upon like Christians teach that they are. An atheist amongst the Christians, OOHHH, it's like David being thrown to the lions.

Should science do away with religion? Science should do away with irrational thought. Science should teach why we have irrational thought and eradicate it.

What would science put in it's place? A love of knowledge and the natural world. Science may not be able to offer immortality now, but it's working on it. Longer life, cryogenics, and an interesting theory: Marshall Brain. I can definitely see that happening.

Belief in religion holds us back from contemplating life in ways such as the theory above.

Can we be good without God? Sure. Of course, we're not doing too good of a job WITH God. But I don't think we'd do any worse without.

Anyway, it's all relative. There is a lot of callous atheists. There are many people who consider me a fanatic - but considering the atheists I know, I consider myself moderate. It's all relative. My husband is a conservative atheist - he says he'll let me be the atheist for the family. :<)

Many Christians are VERY DEFENSIVE. It is hard to have even a moderate, nice, refined conversation with them over the very fabric of their beliefs. Some say that christians "aren't on the cusp of doubt at all' but I disagree. I think that they are so defensive because they DO doubt. They HOPE a whole hell of a lot that their beliefs are true. But have they ever seen faith move mountains? No.

I was constantly in a state of doubt as a Christian. And that doubt scared me. I was taught that if I ever turned my back on my christianity it was the biggest sin I would ever make and that it was an unforgivable sin. I was taught that I would never be allowed into heaven if I made that sin. So I tried really, really hard to ignore my doubts. When people discussed the irrationality of my beliefs with me, I spent years shutting them out. It took YEARS to undo the brainwashing of religion. And even now, the irrational fear of hell still haunts me.

Originally posted on myspce. Click here to view original document with several comments.