(December 2, 2019 at 12:20 pm)Mister Agenda Wrote: On what do you base the claim that 'most atheists in the West left their faith for reasons that are specific to their former religion'? The reasons I left my former religion (Pentecostal Protestant Christianity) left me still believing in some sort of God, the reasons I stopped believing in God (a couple of decades later) would apply to any religion that posits any kind of supernatural deity, and I find that to be common among atheists in my little part of the USA. Assuming Christianity as an 'initial religion', leaving it makes you 'not-a-Christian', not necessarily an atheist. I have reasons for not believing Christianity AND additional reasons for not believing in God.
Can you elaborate on your reasons for not believing in God?
(December 2, 2019 at 12:20 pm)Mister Agenda Wrote: For the record, I've read the Koran, cover-to-cover, plus the hadiths. I didn't find it particularly impressive or convincing
I assume you read a translation and not the original Arabic text. It's the latter that is impressive and miraculous judging by the way it came into being. Someone who doesn't understand Arabic simply needs to read the experts' comments on the original text to make an impartial judgment.
(December 2, 2019 at 12:20 pm)Mister Agenda Wrote: but I think jettisoning the hadiths in their entirety would be a good idea. They're particularly problematic, not part of the Koran, and explicitly not infallible. If you're unwilling to do that, have you considered Shia? They manage to avoid the problem of Mohammed being a pedophile by estimating Aisha's age considerably higher, maybe even 21, before he consummated their marriage. Once upon a time, Aisha being very young was considered a plus by the Sunni, since it made her transmission of the Koran seem more miraculous, or at least prodigious. Now it just seems creepy.
They're not problematic at all.
A minimum age for marriage changed greatly throughout history, it makes absolutely no sense for you or for anyone to judge a marriage that took place 14 centuries ago. It's actually a huge mistake even modern professional historians warn of. (called anachronism, if I can recall correctly)