Atheist Evangelism

[The Grand Nudger]

Above we would be advocating or evangelizing for objective facts and objective morality - not atheism. This is why, imo, it's so futile. We generally don't mean to evangelize for the idea that there is no god. We want to evangelize for humanism, for example. There, we run into issues based on our commonly conflating superstitions with religions - so we (ostensibly) reject religious humanism because it contains false and immoral teachings..though we'll be hard pressed to identify which ones those are - and all the while, it doesn't actually matter to secular humanism or religious humanism whether gods exist....which would be the central item of atheist evangelism if that's what we were actually talking about when we use the term - but we're clearly not.

We're talking about advocating for better or more comprehensive education. For better governance. For human unity. For an accurate moral culture. All of these things are great ideas without any reference to atheism, and it's pretty clear that atheism itself provides none of these goods.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

I had no little interest in religion that I wouldn't call myself an atheist for decades. Woke up a bit when I got online and found RDF. I saw the need then.

[FrustratedFool]

Nice people can be religious, and religious people can be nice.
But that just helps religion become more acceptable in society and spreads it more.  Nice people can cause harm inadvertently by making a nasty ideology more acceptable.

At root, all religious ideology is dangerous because all contain false and immoral teachings that inevitably lead to suffering or loss.  The damage religion causes is huge, and it hinders progress enormously.

Nah, this is too much of a sweeping statement and just encourages unwarranted bigotry against religious people. Not all religions require that they contain immoral teachings or false teachings for that matter. And false teachings aren't innately dangerous, they're just false. And religion isn't compelled to impede progress.

And even within one religion, there are many branches and different schools of thought and philosophy. They're not all equally wrong or immoral or dangerous (if at all).

Which major world religion (or even minor) doesn't contain false information, immorality, cause harm, or impede progress?  Which religion is the world better of with than without?

[arewethereyet]

What part of society doesn't contain some false information, immorality, etc. etc,?

Being atheist does not equal perfection in actions or thoughts.

Being human makes that impossible.

[GrandizerII]

Nah, this is too much of a sweeping statement and just encourages unwarranted bigotry against religious people. Not all religions require that they contain immoral teachings or false teachings for that matter. And false teachings aren't innately dangerous, they're just false. And religion isn't compelled to impede progress.

And even within one religion, there are many branches and different schools of thought and philosophy. They're not all equally wrong or immoral or dangerous (if at all).

Which major world religion (or even minor) doesn't contain false information, immorality, cause harm, or impede progress?  Which religion is the world better of with than without?

Some modern liberal brands of Christianity, for example.

Also, false information is not exclusive to religion, it can occur in science and secular philosophy also. Secular ideologies can also contain some immoral/unethical statements/implications. What do you mean by impeding progress when we're doing quite well in terms of science and technology, and a lot of religious folks are contributing to the advancements in science and technology?

[The Grand Nudger]

Are we assigning them factuality and decency on the basis of their liberalism- or the basis of their Christianity?

Personally, I don’t think that Christian religion or any version of theistic religion could evade criticisms of inaccuracy and immorality ( especially by a liberal standard). That leaves pretty much the whole universe of other possible religious claims wide open, ofc - but that’s the reason…and nothing to do with whether gods exist or don’t, that theistic religions are problematic. Religious and secular humanists both could believe in gods- and even believe that they have the strong theistic opinions that many of their adherents espouse- but so what? A gods opinion is yet another opinion that a secularist of any kind might tolerate - but could not agree with.

[FrustratedFool]

What part of society doesn't contain some false information, immorality, etc. etc,?

Being atheist does not equal perfection in actions or thoughts.

Being human makes that impossible.

What does atheism teach that is false and immoral?

[FrustratedFool]

Which major world religion (or even minor) doesn't contain false information, immorality, cause harm, or impede progress?  Which religion is the world better of with than without?

Some modern liberal brands of Christianity, for example.

Also, false information is not exclusive to religion, it can occur in science and secular philosophy also. Secular ideologies can also contain some immoral/unethical statements/implications. What do you mean by impeding progress when we're doing quite well in terms of science and technology, and a lot of religious folks are contributing to the advancements in science and technology?

I can't think of a modern brand of liberal Christianity that doesn't have incoreect or immoral elements.  And their existence tends to lend credence to the worse versions.  Which specific brand were you thinking of?

As for impede progress, think of all the money and education and time and talent wasted on religion that could be spent elsewhere. Think of the harm caused by the teachings of religion on evolution, gays, marriage, women, contraception, law, theocracy, sacred land and sites, the environment etc. Think how advanced we would be if all those intelligent priets had been scientists or historians or engineers or poets rather than preachers. Etc.

How would the world be worse if everyone just lost their religious belief?

[Fake Messiah]

Yeah, saying "liberal Christianity" is like saying "liberal racism".

[no one]

Hoomans excel at discovering ways to inflict misery, suffering, and torment.

I am certain if not religion, they will explore, identify, and invent new ways to inflict said horrors upon those that aren't good enough.