No need to feel ashamed for not reading atheist literature.
Just not believing theist's claims that a god exists is as far as you need to go, to be an "atheist in good standing".
Although, reading a few atheist books did help me hone my arguments a bit better to more easily refute theist's arguments. Not that tough to be sure.
Just not believing theist's claims that a god exists is as far as you need to go, to be an "atheist in good standing".
Although, reading a few atheist books did help me hone my arguments a bit better to more easily refute theist's arguments. Not that tough to be sure.
You'd believe if you just opened your heart" is a terrible argument for religion. It's basically saying, "If you bias yourself enough, you can convince yourself that this is true." If religion were true, people wouldn't need faith to believe it -- it would be supported by good evidence.