What young atheists can teach us.............

[dimbear]

http://www.mbcpathway.com/2013/07/what-young-atheists-can-teach-us/

"Ages 14-17 are key. While some participants said they adopted atheism as early as eight years of age or as late as college, most admitted embracing unbelief in high school.

Emotions run deep. Most students said they lost their Christianity for purely rational reasons. However, the more they talked, the more they described a deeply emotional journey from belief to atheism. One young lady said she became an atheist after her father died – not because she blamed God for his death, but because he was abusive and she did not want to think her father was still alive somewhere.

Online is everything. When asked about the key influences in their conversion to atheism, not a single participant mentioned the “new atheists” like Christopher Hitchens, or their books or seminars. Rather, they mentioned YouTube or website forums."

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Naturally I post this piece of propaganda with reluctance, and only as an antidote to the mistaken belief that any grey eminences have much to do with the zeitgeist.

[rug]

1. Reddit is a prime example.

[Ron Obvious]

2. Irrational

One young lady said she became an atheist after her father died – not because she blamed God for his death, but because he was abusive and she did not want to think her father was still alive somewhere.

That's still believing in something because you want it to be true, and that's not very rational. I don't know how people do that anyway; I don't think I have a choice in what I believe, only in what evidence I choose to look at.

Also "conversion" to atheism makes more sense as a shedding of belief rather than the acquisition of a new set of beliefs.

[cbayer]

3. I think there as many reasons that a person is a believer or non-believer

as there are people who believe and don't.

And one person's rational may be different than anthers, as evidence can be interpreted differently, particularly when it comes to religion.

Lastly, I think atheism, like religious beliefs, can be very simple or very complex. But, essentially, they are just two different ways of perceiving the world.

I think it's interesting to hear these stories, though. There just isn't any right or wrong, imo.

[muriel_volestrangler]

4. Or it's realising that thinking people you love still exist after death is irrational

She didn't want to think he was still alive; so she examined her beliefs, and saw there was no reason to think anyone exists after death. When you remove the desire to believe the supposition that has no evidence, then you stop believing in it.