My Sister's Deconversion

[Christopher Peter Robinson]

My sister is in the process of un-converting from Christianity. Last time I checked, she is at the point where she doesn't know what to believe, but thinks that Xianity doesn't make sense. What should I do to help nudge her over the edge into the light of atheism?

[Фелч Гроган]

Sam Harris Letter to a Christian Nation for a festive season present. Short, sharp, to the point and may make her hunger for more. You can read it in a couple of hours.

[Goz]

Dawkins The God Delusion is a good read.

[Фелч Гроган]

Yeah, but its big. Sam's letter is small and not intimidating.

[Christopher Peter Robinson]

Actually, I think I just so happen to have LtaCN checked out of the library!

[Gregg Deering]

Ask her to read the books, but I find that personal interaction and reinforcement is crucial.

I'd try to separate the ramblings of itinerant bronze-age goat herders from reality. It opens up a million questions, did the Jews have morality before the Ten Commandments (because we atheists are an amoral lot, since we don't worry about eternal punishment) Have at the bible - it's a gold mine of hypocrisy and vice!

Some people are troubled by atheist's reliance on science ("replacing one religion with another") - so see if she gets the "God of the Gaps" idea. If not, skip it. Atheists don't have to have the answers, we don't have to be expert scientists or Darwin incarnate, we are just eliminating one more mythological fiction. We have to be open to not knowing and not expecting answers to come from imaginative goat herders. Not that there's anything wrong with goat herders.

I find a lot of quasi-religious people believe "there must be something." This can be really difficult to address, because the person's anxiety about life opens the door to all sorts of pseudo-spiritualism and nutty stuff that tries to fill an assumed spiritual void. In my experience it is a very real social void that needs to be addressed, and that's out of atheism's domain.

Good luck,



Gregg

[Goz]

She might want to watch this as well:
http://unreasonablefaith.com/2008/10/07/penn-and-teller-the-bible-i...
http://www.slashfilm.com/2008/06/06/religulous-movie-trailer/?=rssfeed
And:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjZ-lSn0A3M
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVuw1wEuaAQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2epvSAGuLc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkXOwBIRX7Y&feature=related