So I had dinner at my grandparents...

[Demonaura]

Also on point 4, even if you d not bring up evolution with them, Richard Dawkin's book: The God Delusion has a chapter on why people go to god to easily, I think the chapter is the god sized hole or something.

[g-mark]

Good point.

However I'd still be interested in learning more about evolution. Is there a good place to start?

If you prefer alternate learning methods, goto a movie sharing site and watch some documantaries. There are a wide array of educational documentaries, that include all the information you require.

Personally, I prefer to listen and watch.

Good Information:

-The physical Universe, and the science asssociated with it.

-Basic psychology.

-Science in general.

-The contracdictions that exist within religion.

-Religion. You must understand your foe.

Possible questions:

-What was there before human beings existed?

-Why dosen't religion work as it has been applied to humanity for thousands of years?

-What is a thought? To ask this one you must first understand psychology.

-If there is only one god, why do all of the relgions fight against one another?

I have found that the basic questions are the hardest for them to answer.

[fr0d0]

Conclusion
- Summarise 5 points.
- Ask for clear consideration and an open mind (a pointless question? )
- Ask for an honest, non-dogmatic response.
- Ask for mutual respect regarding beliefs. I'm happy for them to believe as they do, so long as they do not try to convert, convince, or persuade me to believe, unless of course they do it with intelligence and reason.
- If they expect me to have an open mind and read christian books including the bible (which I am happy to do, in fact, very interested in doing so) then they must be willing to read books about atheism and be open to the idea that maybe god isn't real.

If it were me, I'd be happy that my grandson was so 'thoughtful' and had an open mind on the subject.

1. Do you think your grandparents wouldn't have an open mind then/ wouldn't be honest with you?
2. Yours isn't a belief stance. It's non belief. They can respect your non belief. You'd have to present an alternative moral basis perhaps?
3. If you ask them to read anti Christian book you of course have to realise that they won't be so open minded that their "brains fall out".

I'm completely open to the idea of god being real, but at the moment, I see no evidence or good, scientific reason to believe.

LOL @ scientific reason to believe ...class! Sorry!

This is more a case of me learning as much as possible about why I believe what I believe, which unfortunately is a habit very few christians have.

So you want other people to tell you what you believe right? :p

[athoughtfulman]

@g-mark - thanks for the tips.

If it were me, I'd be happy that my grandson was so 'thoughtful' and had an open mind on the subject.

1. Do you think your grandparents wouldn't have an open mind then/ wouldn't be honest with you?
2. Yours isn't a belief stance. It's non belief. They can respect your non belief. You'd have to present an alternative moral basis perhaps?
3. If you ask them to read anti Christian book you of course have to realise that they won't be so open minded that their "brains fall out".

1. I think that because of their believing in christianity for so long, it will be hard to imagine a situation where god were not real.
2. Even if it's non-belief, I hope they can respect my position/view, though I don't count on it.
3. I'm not asking for them to be convinced by any book I might give them, but that they would read it.

LOL @ scientific reason to believe ...class! Sorry!

Some christians will say there is scientific reason to believe, just not absolute.

So you want other people to tell you what you believe right? :p

Haha, well no. What I want is to expose myself to many ideas so I can make a proper judgement, rather than just going with one belief because someone tells me it's real.

[Tiberius]

Dunno if this has been mentioned, but have a read through of the creation/evolution "debate" we just did. I think we covered the vital bits, but make sure you talk about what the word "theory" means in science, why evolution isn't just random but is powered by natural selection, and how both the fossil record and genetics back it up.

[athoughtfulman]

No you're the first to mention it. I've had a quick read of it so far, found some interesting things, but I'll be going back for more.