My Conclusions so Far
By Dethblight ~
Like most people, my de-conversion did not happen all at once, but rather in stages. Now that I am a full-fledged atheist, and I have had some time to consider all (or at least most) or the arguments for and against religion, I have come to a conclusion... (most) people believe what they WANT to believe.
Quite simply, people believe what they WANT to believe, and what most people want to believe is that they have not wasted their lives on a false religion. If my critical thinking teacher presents "evidence" that "they" have found "proof" of a "great flood", sediment on mountaintops, then that is proof of a great flood. Period. It is NOT proof of plate tectonics, that that piece of land used to be underwater, it is only proof of a flood.
There are a million other examples, that is just the one that I have had to deal with most recently. You cannot argue religion with the religious, because no matter how illogical, they will always have a counter-argument. The only thing you can do to promote atheism (I know that not everyone here is atheist, I am just using atheism as an example since that is how I feel), is to be available for those who TRULY want to ask "why", "how", etc. The people who are most likely to become atheists, will find other atheists to teach them. Those who are likely to remain religious in spite of evidence, will remain religious and ignore evidence.
Like most people, my de-conversion did not happen all at once, but rather in stages. Now that I am a full-fledged atheist, and I have had some time to consider all (or at least most) or the arguments for and against religion, I have come to a conclusion... (most) people believe what they WANT to believe.
Quite simply, people believe what they WANT to believe, and what most people want to believe is that they have not wasted their lives on a false religion. If my critical thinking teacher presents "evidence" that "they" have found "proof" of a "great flood", sediment on mountaintops, then that is proof of a great flood. Period. It is NOT proof of plate tectonics, that that piece of land used to be underwater, it is only proof of a flood.
There are a million other examples, that is just the one that I have had to deal with most recently. You cannot argue religion with the religious, because no matter how illogical, they will always have a counter-argument. The only thing you can do to promote atheism (I know that not everyone here is atheist, I am just using atheism as an example since that is how I feel), is to be available for those who TRULY want to ask "why", "how", etc. The people who are most likely to become atheists, will find other atheists to teach them. Those who are likely to remain religious in spite of evidence, will remain religious and ignore evidence.