I don't know if I know any believers that decided to believe on the basis of the evidence. That is atheist territory.
Most, if not all true believers, seem to have some kind of personal experience or revelation that has convinced them that their particular God or system of belief is correct.
Once they are convinced they are correct producing any form of evidence to the contrary becomes merely a test of the strength of their belief. The harder you challenge their belief the stronger they cling to it.
I came to the conclusion long ago that there was nothing I could usefully do with people in that category aside from attempt to get them to agree/admit that even if their pathway is right for them it may not be the only pathway and that other options may apply to other individuals.
Ultimately if even the most ardent followers can see that there are other, valid options out there for other people then there should be a reduction of those people going to war for their beliefs. That is probably the most we can hope for.
On the other hand there are apparently plenty of believers paying lip service to the religion without actually having belief.
These people can be much more open to the idea of atheism or even agnosticism.
Atheism is spreading. Whether that is because we are better at spreading the message or whether that is simply as a result of atheism not being something one has to hide anymore is an open question.
It will be interesting to see, over the coming decades, how far atheism spreads. Will we one day be in the majority? How big a majority might that be?
Most, if not all true believers, seem to have some kind of personal experience or revelation that has convinced them that their particular God or system of belief is correct.
Once they are convinced they are correct producing any form of evidence to the contrary becomes merely a test of the strength of their belief. The harder you challenge their belief the stronger they cling to it.
I came to the conclusion long ago that there was nothing I could usefully do with people in that category aside from attempt to get them to agree/admit that even if their pathway is right for them it may not be the only pathway and that other options may apply to other individuals.
Ultimately if even the most ardent followers can see that there are other, valid options out there for other people then there should be a reduction of those people going to war for their beliefs. That is probably the most we can hope for.
On the other hand there are apparently plenty of believers paying lip service to the religion without actually having belief.
These people can be much more open to the idea of atheism or even agnosticism.
Atheism is spreading. Whether that is because we are better at spreading the message or whether that is simply as a result of atheism not being something one has to hide anymore is an open question.
It will be interesting to see, over the coming decades, how far atheism spreads. Will we one day be in the majority? How big a majority might that be?
