Christian Turned Atheist, Questions?
Well, as the title states, I’ve been raised as a Christian, and I’ve followed the faith up until a few months ago. I’m 17, if that’s relevant. And I’m now an atheist. It’s definitely a tough change, and I still have some questions. I’d like to start learning about evolutionary biology and things like that. And I was wondering where to start, books, websites, etc. I know the basics of evolution.. but I’d like to learn more. I already have some books picked out, by Dawkins and Hawking (Not for evolution, but learning in general), but other than that I’m not really sure where to go for info. Also, I was wondering if there are any good books/websites on atheism from a philosophical stand point. I just wanna learn as much as I can. Thank you. (Also.. please Christians.. don’t give me an answer on why I should return to the faith.. my mind is made up.)To Sam:My own logic and reason says the Bible doesn’t make sense. I realize it does to some people, but to me it doesn’t.
Hey, I’m 15 (if that’s relevant) and I became an atheist just two years ago. Welcome, I guess. There are four people that you should probably be familiar with (if you aren’t already) namely, Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens (especially), Sam Harris and Daniel Dennett, often called the four horsemen. **richarddawkins.net is a good place to start.** I was an atheist for awhile before I actually set up an account for that site and I’m glad I’ve done that ever since, and I wish I had done it sooner. That site keeps me updated with everything science and everything religion that’s going on in the world, which is really cool. The actual Richard Dawkins has his own account and comments on articles and disscussions all the time on that site (evidently, as it IS his own site).There is an entire community of atheists on youtube that speak about atheism and science such as darkmatter2525, gogreen15, Thunderf00t, nonstampcollector, patcondell, dailyhitchens22 (devoted entirely to videos of Hitchens), Qualia Soup, philhellenes, Edward Current (satire), AronRa, C0ct0pusprime etc. You find more as you go along, but those I think, are the most prominent. If you’re new to evolution I highly suggest you read The Greatest Show on Earth by Richard Dawkins first as it is probably the simplest, and most beautiful book on evolution I have ever read. Richard Dawkins had loads of science books. Everything from ‘The Selfish Gene’ to ‘Unweaving the Rainbow’, and I recommend all of them. He will have a new book out next year called ‘The Poetry of Reality’ but I think that one is aimed at a younger audience. I’ve read his book The God Delusion and I found it was amazing. It was witty and funny, but most importantly, it makes you think. Even if you are already an atheist, this book is worth the read. Then you have Christopher Hitchens. Hitchens is very political but everything he says about religion is brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. He is my absolute favorite intellectual. Read his book, god is not great. Your life isn’t complete without having read one of his books. I’ve never actually seen a complete list of Hitchens’ books, but he definately has more than 20. Sam Harris is also good, but I’m not as familiar with his work. I’ve only just gotten into it. His book ‘The End of Faith’ is extremely good, and one is at awe at how such a young man (he looks 20 but I think he’s actually something like 50) can be so brilliant. Daniel Dennett has a few good philosophical arguments and ideas, but of the four horsemen he is my least favorite. But as with Harris, I am not very familiar with Dennett’s work. Maybe after I finish his book I’ll like him more? So that should get you started, I could talk about this (literally) for hours on end. Start with the four horsemen. Once you get familiar with richarddawkins.net you will notice that there are lots of other intellectuals advocating for science and reason outside of the four horsemen and you can keep going from there. P.S. Seriously though, if you haven’t gotten the chance to listen to some Hitchens get going on that now. You will not be sorry. When I first became an atheist I was struck at how ‘badass’ he was (he smokes and drinks a lot). And being the good-little-girl that I was, I became uninterested. But all of this was before I actually watched a video in which he spoke. Months later I decided to finally check him out, and it’s probably the best idea I’ve ever had. His voice is thrilling, and he has this undescribable charisma… he is witty, honest, sincere and humourous. He is my hero, if I had heroes. And he makes you think. But don’t take my word for it, go check him out.
What does evolutionary biology have to do with Christianity?? Truth doesn’t conflict with truth. Here’s a good website:http://evolution.berkeley.edu/.
Start by allowing email in your preferences. In the meantime, check out the links on my profile page.Oh, and as for books:2000 Years of Disbelief by James HaughtAgainst All Gods by A.C. GraylingAtheist Universe by David MillsAttack Upon Christendom by Soren KierkegaardBreaking the Spell by Daniel DennettFighting Words by Hector Avalos* God is Not Great by Christopher HitchensGod: The Failed Hypothesis by Victor StengerLosing Faith in Faith by Dan BarkerNatural Atheism by David EllerNothing by Nica LalliOn the Genealogy of Morals by Friedrich NietzscheOn the Nature of Things by Lucretius* The Demon Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark by Carl SaganThe End of Faith by Sam HarrisThe Essence of Christianity by Ludwig Feuerbach* The God Delusion by Richard DawkinsThe Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion by James George FrazerThe Jesus Puzzle by Earl DohertyThe Quotable Atheist by Jack HubermanWhy I Am Not a Christian by Bertrand RussellWhy I Rejected Christianity by John Loftus
Sounds like you have more faith now than you did as a Christian.
I have a question. Why did you turn from the faith if you do not even know the arguments of what you are turning to? It doesn’t make sense. It is like choosing a political candidate and then looking at their voting record to see if you agree with them.
You’ll be back…
Dawkins “Greatest Show On Earth” actually covers evolution pretty well. There are several sites
http://evolution.berkeley.edu/
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/
Those are both fairly good ones.
Oh…and read the Bible. Only about 10 percent of Christians have and it pisses them off when you know more about it than them.
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