(May 21, 2015 at 9:52 pm)Losty Wrote: ...
I'm all for sharing stories, but I think the best use is to encourage new atheists and give them hope that the world isn't going to fall apart now that they realized god isn't real.
I agree. It is useful for a new atheist to hear about how others went through deconversion. It is, or can be, an unpleasant experience. But having gone through it more than half my lifetime ago, I am very happy that I deconverted. I am much happier now than I ever was as a Christian. I have no worries that I am going to screw something up just before I die and then end up in hell for eternity.
I feel much more peaceful and calm than I did as a believer.
That, of course, is not why I am an atheist. But it is a nice fringe benefit.
"A wise man ... proportions his belief to the evidence."
— David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, Section X, Part I.