A Humbling Journey: Theism to Atheism...

[Porpoise of Life]

Big old boring preachy clip show cobbled together from anything tangentially related to atheism the editor could find. This is not going to convince anyone before it bores them to sleep.
If this is the best we've got, I might have to start believing in god

 

[Autolite]

Big old boring preachy clip show cobbled together from anything tangentially related to atheism the editor could find. This is not going to convince anyone before it bores them to sleep.

Well I doubt that the documentary will win any awards but I got something from it. I actually watched it twice. I could really relate to the 'Amanda' segment where the girl spoke about being raised a Christian but never really "bought-it".

I was raised and experienced the same. As a kid I had often felt that there was something totally bogus about religion but I just kept it to myself. I think that it was hearing the Noah's Ark story in Sunday school that planted the Atheism seed in me. I just couldn't quite figure out how full grown adults actually believed something so ridiculous.

But as a kid, I just kept my mouth shut about how I really felt. I didn't even know that anyone was 'allowed' to disbelieve and I really didn't see any point in pissing off my meal ticket.

Reference convincing anyone about Atheism, I've pretty much given up on trying to do that. How do you convince someone of the obvious???

 

[Beelzebuddy]

yt;dw. If you've seen this thing twice, would you mind summarizing the most salient points?

I watched it thinking that someone else might forward the link on to a Theist that they know. After watching it, I have a hard time understanding why we still have Theism. I just can't seem to wrap my head around it...

Because people would rather feel right than be right.

 

[Autolite]

yt;dw. If you've seen this thing twice, would you mind summarizing the most salient points?

As I've already mentioned, I enjoyed the 'Dear Believer' and the 'Amanda' segments. The 'Dear Believer' underscores the fact that your religious beliefs are indeed tied directly to where you were born and what religion your parents had. I don't know how Theists can just ignore this rather obvious fact.

The 'Amanda' part I could really relate to. She talks about never really buying into Christianity as a teenager and just 'faking-it' so as to not rock the boat. I was the same way growing up. It is the first time that I've ever heard anyone else describing my own experience.

I also liked the animated segment with a young God explaining how He intends to reveal Himself to man. I thought that the absurdity of the whole idea was underscored. A supposedly omnipresent God expects to be universally loved and worshiped by revealing himself only to a select few of his human creations living in only one small part of the entire world? I thought that it was so ridiculous that it was funny! That was actually a clip from the 'DarkMatter 2525' series IIRC...

https://www.youtube.com/user/DarkMatter2525

 

[Belz...]

I still have a hard time understanding how these mechanisms can override simple logic...

Why? Emotion trumps logic all the time. In fact, logic is subservient to emotion. Every decision you make is, ultimately, rooted in feeling. Religious belief is just a system that allows us to make sense of things that hurt or confuse us and allow us to go on with our lives. No surprise that so many people have them, even though there are alternatives.

 

[Belz...]

As I've already mentioned, I enjoyed the 'Dear Believer' and the 'Amanda' segments. The 'Dear Believer' underscores the fact that your religious beliefs are indeed tied directly to where you were born and what religion your parents had. I don't know how Theists can just ignore this rather obvious fact.

Simple: it's convenient to them. They know. They just prefer to stick with their belief rather than risk the uncertainty.

 

[Squeegee Beckenheim]

In any case there were some snippets from 'Religulous' and 'Jesus Camp'. Both documentaries are definitely worth checking out if you can still find them. At one time they were both available on YouTube as 'full-movie' videos. I'm not sure though if they still are...

Jesus Camp was good. Religulous was dreadful.

 

[Mark F]

There is another YouTube video with Dr. Andy Thompson covering the issue of "why we believe".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iMmvu9eMrg

He attributes religious belief to "cognitive mechanisms" that we've developed through our evolution. I still have a hard time understanding how these mechanisms can override simple logic...

Human beings are not logical creatures. Logic and reason are relatively recent developments, still not firmly implanted.

 

[Belz...]

Human beings are not logical creatures. Logic and reason are relatively recent developments, still not firmly implanted.

Relatively recent as in only fifty thousand years old.

 

[Dr. Keith]

I'm sure there are people who just got done watching Joel Osteen videos and are thinking "I watched it thinking that someone else might forward the link on to a ATheist that they know. After watching it, I have a hard time understanding why we still have ATheism. I just can't seem to wrap my head around it..."

I watched a few minutes and skipped around. Is there any part of that 3 hour sermon that isn't just stock film clips?

I haven't watched the video but I can't help agreeing with you. Preaching to the choir is pretty easy business.

 

[Autolite]

Why? Emotion trumps logic all the time. In fact, logic is subservient to emotion.

Yes, I realize that religious belief is emotion driven. I know that emotion often overrides rationality and logic. I guess what I'm saying is that I'm having a hard time putting myself into that type of mindset.

I mean as a kid I believed in all sorts of nonsense but I grew out of it as my mind developed. Why doesn't this happen with the majority of people???

 

[Autolite]

Jesus Camp was good. Religulous was dreadful.

'Jesus Camp' was very good and somewhat unsettling. What didn't you like about 'Religulous'? I thought that Religulous was really great. And funny too! Maher didn't just mock the believers. He more often than not just gave them enough rope for them to mock themselves. Priceless....

 

[Autolite]

I'm sure there are people who just got done watching Joel Osteen videos and are thinking "I watched it thinking that someone else might forward the link on to a ATheist that they know. After watching it, I have a hard time understanding why we still have ATheism.

I haven't watched the video but I can't help agreeing with you. Preaching to the choir is pretty easy business.

I think The Big Dog might be implying that Theism and Atheism are equally valid...

 

[Autolite]

Relatively recent as in only fifty thousand years old.

The Dr. Andy Thompson video linked to earlier gives us his take on how the human mind, through evolution, developed mechanisms that facilitate religious beliefs...

 

[Squeegee Beckenheim]

What didn't you like about 'Religulous'?

It was shallow, unfunny, smug, preaching-to-the-choir pap, and was full of poor and straw arguments. It's like he read The God Delusion and thought "I bet I could make an even worse case for the non-existence of God, if I tried".

 

[Belz...]

Yes, I realize that religious belief is emotion driven. I know that emotion often overrides rationality and logic. I guess what I'm saying is that I'm having a hard time putting myself into that type of mindset.

I have no trouble understanding it. Even now, 25+ years after I became an atheist, my brain is still trying to find ways out of mortality.

 

[Dr. Keith]

I think The Big Dog might be implying that Theism and Atheism are equally valid...

I took it as "Followers always think their preachers are persuasive." Validity has nothing to do with it. Even relative persuasiveness is not really the point.

 

[Autolite]

It was shallow, unfunny, smug, preaching-to-the-choir pap, and was full of poor and straw arguments. It's like he read The God Delusion and thought "I bet I could make an even worse case for the non-existence of God, if I tried".

I thought it was quite funny but humour is of course subject to individual taste. Perhaps a bit shallow(and smug), but Bill Maher is a comedian so "shallow and smug" might only be expected. I find that even Dawkins or Carrier can be somewhat witty and funny sometimes although maybe unintentionally.

If I want something more serious I'll watch a Hitchens video.

I agree that Maher was "preaching to the choir" but isn't that what we're really doing here on a skeptics' forum? I haven't seen an argument yet that will turn a true believer around. IMO the best case scenario is that we might be able to convince someone who's sitting on the fence to just open their eyes and acknowledge reality. I think that was likely the goal of Religulous...

 

[acbytesla]

Jesus Camp was good. Religulous was dreadful.

'Jesus Camp' was very good and somewhat unsettling. What didn't you like about 'Religulous'? I thought that Religulous was really great. And funny too! Maher didn't just mock the believers. He more often than not just gave them enough rope for them to mock themselves. Priceless....

I agree. Religulous was overall very funny. It had moments that bored me. But overall, it shined a big light on the ridiculousness of religion and enough funny moments to make it worthwhile.

 

[Autolite]

I have no trouble understanding it. Even now, 25+ years after I became an atheist, my brain is still trying to find ways out of mortality.

Myself, I have no problem with my mortality. I have long ago realized something that was pointed out in the video from the OP. Spending an 'eternity' anywhere would be absolutely maddening.

Imagine every twitch, blink, fart or burp being repeated an infinite number of times. Everything that could ever possibly happen will happen over and over again repeatedly for an eternity.

I used to imagine 'Heaven' or paradise as spending an eternity with Jennifer Aniston. Even Brad Pitt couldn't deal with that after only a couple of years.

I think that people who find the notion of existing for an eternity appealing haven't really thought about what it really means..