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I recently became an atheist, anyone willing to help me out?

I am somewhat familiar with atheism, but I want to be educated on what science aspects go alongside atheism. I want to be able to properly and intelligently defend my reasoning of being atheist to my religious family. Also, if anyone knows any good books I should read, it would be greatly appreciated if you let me know. Thank you!

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by RevRyn on February 6, 2012 at 3:46pm

Kaila

I would definitely go along with Marc & Say by far the best book to read if you're interested in the Science / Skeptic aspect is Carl Sagan's "Demon Haunted World". It isn't technically an "atheist" book, but it gives a great foundation to recognize BS in all forms & to defend your skeptical position. Welcome!!

Permalink Reply by Kaila G on February 6, 2012 at 3:52pm

There is something I would like help on. There have been a few people I have told already and me, being the not as informed atheist I am, tried to argue my change in 'beliefs'. If anyone has any good, reliable information disproving or even questioning things from the bible, it would be much appreciated. I live in the bible belt of America, so I want to have as much logical, reliable information disproving there is a such thing as a 'supernatural being'.

Permalink Reply by matthew greenberg on February 6, 2012 at 4:02pm

try evilbible.com

Permalink Reply by Russell20 on February 6, 2012 at 7:20pm

You could try the Skeptics Annotated Bible

http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/

I also have a link to Carl Sagans "Demon Haunted World" in PDF format which you can read for free and is legal, it wiil take a liitle while to load but is worth the wait

http://www.philosophy.thecastsite.com/readings/godwantsyoudead/demo...

Permalink Reply by Annie Thomas on February 6, 2012 at 7:47pm

Kaila- You have made a huge transition, from believer to skeptic, and it sounds like you've just made this known to others quite recently. An important thing to keep in mind is that you really don't have to argue your position to anyone. If someone brings up your atheism, and you don't feel ready or prepared to discuss it, it is perfectly acceptable to say, "I don't really want to debate this right now." It is your choice. Also, if someone presents an argument to you, and you don't feel prepared to enter a debate, it is also OK to tell them, "You've brought up an interesting point. I'd like to take time to ponder that." Not all atheists are chomping at the bit to disprove religion. Not all are sitting around waiting for a debate. To be an atheist simply means you don't accept the idea of there being any gods.

Permalink Reply by Russell20 on February 6, 2012 at 7:51pm

You might also consider looking at Bart Ehrman, I know other people here have already mentioned him, but this is a link to his own multi-media page (which does need updating unfortunately) and he does go into some detail about common Biblical fallacies.In both video and audio formats

http://www.bartdehrman.com/multimedia.htm

Permalink Reply by Kath on March 24, 2012 at 12:19am

A book I really enjoyed is "Biblical Nonsense: A Review of the Bible for Doubting Christians" by Jason Long.

Permalink Reply by Des Bellamy on February 6, 2012 at 3:54pm

I'm just reading Brothers Karamazov by Dostoevsky, who was no atheist. But on page 133 (of the Wordsworth Classsics edition) the illegitimate brother Smerdyakov, learning the scriptures, speaks out at last, like Balaam's ass (which is what they call him). "God created light on the first day, and the sun, moon and stars on the fourth day. Where did the light come from on the first day?" He is beaten for this clear thinking.

Even the committed believer has doubts, and your family have doubts too. They will plaster over them with the word "faith" which simply means belief without proof. I suggest you point out that you share their doubt and have chosen not to believe without proof.

Permalink Reply by Marx on February 6, 2012 at 4:00pm

Welcome, Kaila. Another resource which no one has mentioned yet, and one that I found very helpful is the website at: http://whywontgodhealamputees.com/

Permalink Reply by Roy on February 6, 2012 at 4:27pm

I am also in the process of reading all I can on this subject and for the same reasons. I would like to suggest two starter books for you.

For Science questions, I really liked "The Magic Of Reality by Richard Dawkins. He makes the difficult subjects a lot easier to understand.

For bible discussions, Bart D Ehrman has several great books. You should read is biography. It's amazing. As a starter, I recommend his book "God's Problem" (How the bible fails to answer our most important question, why we suffer). Lots & lots of good pointers in there.

You can find plenty more by doing a search at Amazon.com.

Hope that helps.

Permalink Reply by Alvaro Ramos on February 6, 2012 at 5:09pm

You are going to think that Im just kidding, but I am not, at least not 100%: the bible is a pretty good book to discover the non-sense of the christian god, and how human is deity itself.

Permalink Reply by Rudy V Kiist on February 6, 2012 at 5:54pm

Yes, a large number of us I believe, who "turned", did so because we read the bible starting from page 1, instead of hearing little snippets here and there. To me it's like reading "Mother Goose" or "Grimm's Fairy Tales" in older English than Shakespeare. In fact the only way I see one remaining or becoming Christian by reading the bible (or any other religion/religious text, I suspect) would be not reading it properly or being a tad insane.