Has anyone discovered a successful way to make religious people atheist?

[ignoramus]

For all intents and purposes, all religious people "act" like atheists 99% of the time in their everyday life.

They wear their seatbelts, look before crossing the road, they know gravity is "just" a theory like evolution anyway, but why risk it! lol!
Since belief in God is strictly just a state of mind, there can be no special manifestation which makes them act differently.

We have covered this many times before. Thank God (pun) that 99% of Christians are the café variety and don't actually follow the bible's literal stories.

[robvalue]

Encourage people to go read their holy book.

Properly read it. Not cherry pick the bits they've been told are the important parts.

The bible especially has been the number one book for creating atheists. Christianity survives because of people's general apathy towards reading it. They make huge assumptions about it, and actually reading it can sometimes shatter them.

The advantage of this strategy is that it's hard for the theist to object. It's more than likely what they are telling you to do too, at some point in the debate!

I'm not suggesting harassing random theists into doing this of course. You're almost certain to fail by getting in someone's face, about anything.

[Mudhammam]

Yeah. I see education as the best "weapon" against all form of irrationality. Good, quality, reality/evidence based education. It's a peaceful and painless way to chip away at all absurd and harmful notions, over many generations.

I'm not suggesting other approaches aren't sometimes needed, especially in extreme situations, but I think this should be the underlying strategy.

You nailed it. Education. That is why I will gladly say, "What Jesus is to the Christians, what Muhammad is to the Muslims, Socrates is to me." The simple reason is Socrates' ironic attitude that: "I know one thing: that I know nothing." And as Francis Bacon (who died 390 years ago today) would argue, rightly, in the text every believer and unbeliever who cares about education owes themselves to read--I mean The Advancement of Learning--wonder is the seed of knowledge.

[robvalue]

Building on that, I find the "Socratic method" to be excellent.

You ask a serious of questions, which are carefully chosen to make the person really think about the subject. It may well be that they have never stopped and really analysed things before.

You can gently lead someone to more rational explanations, by encouraging them to do the thinking along the way, so that they reach the conclusion.

I used it a lot when I used to teach maths (I didn't realize that's what it was called at the time). Instead of me just telling the person how to do all the bits they don't understand, I work through it with them. It also highlights exactly where errors in thinking are occurring, so you can focus your efforts.

With a theist, I usually start with, "What is God?"

The audible gears cranking show me that they have probably never been asked this before.

[Jackalope]

Secular education, including critical thinking.

Convincing someone who's already steeped in religion? Good luck with that. If they become atheist, they'll do it on their own.

Personally I'm not a fan of "evangelizing" into atheism. It's not my thing.

[robvalue]

Nor me. I find that it's a waste of time, in any subject in fact, unless the person comes to you. Making yourself available is good; calmly stating your position when asked is good; forcing yourself on people is not.

I have changed several people's minds in what I consider to be positive ways, and it's always been through them coming to me with questions.

[Aegon]

People generally just come to the realization themselves. Weird way to phrase the topic title though. I don't know why I'd want to make anyone think anything.

Idk why making people atheist has to be seen as a Machiavellian scheme, when it can be as simple as telling someone some scientific facts. I believe that being predisposed to science not only gives you a broader perspective of the world, but it will probably make people who really pay attention less religious. That's just my theory, because I've always loved science and payed attention it, I feel that it's help make me that way. That doesn't seem dubious at all, in fact it seems like a very good thing.

Science and atheism are not fundamentally related.

[Phosphorescent Panties]

Idk why making people atheist has to be seen as a Machiavellian scheme, when it can be as simple as telling someone some scientific facts. I believe that being predisposed to science not only gives you a broader perspective of the world, but it will probably make people who really pay attention less religious. That's just my theory, because I've always loved science and payed attention it, I feel that it's help make me that way. That doesn't seem dubious at all, in fact it seems like a very good thing.

Science and atheism are not fundamentally related.

Interesting.

[Goosebump]

The advantage of this strategy is that it's hard for the theist to object. It's more than likely what they are telling you to do too, at some point in the debate!

I'm not suggesting harassing random theists into doing this of course. You're almost certain to fail by getting in someone's face, about anything.r them.

In all of baseball a manager has never over turned a call getting in the um's face. Yet they persist in this strategy.

[Brian37]

Brass knuckles and pepper spray? Ok, no, of course not. But no, there is no one way to skin a cat. Outside of force which would make us monsters ourselves, the only things we can to is use education, blasphemy, ridicule and debate.

I am no fan of censorship, but certainly also am not for Mein Drumpf tactics. So it depends and there really is no one set cure to do anything. Many of us here did get send down that road because someone questioned us, sometimes politely sometimes sarcastically and sometimes with blasphemy that offends them.