identityRecently I came across Carl Sagan’s Cosmos video series on Hulu and was blown away. It really cemented my views of the world. Had I watched it as a kid it would have helped me explain my atheist viewpoint much better.
What common influences can cause one to be come an atheist?
Most atheists seem to share in common a concern for free inquiry and critique, although we should recognize the paradox inherent in the question of ‘common’ influences on free spirits.
(On this point, we might consider the vast differences between three writers who can perhaps be recognized as exemplars of a rigorous atheistic philosophy – Nietzsche, Marx and Freud –and we may ask: who here are the ‘common’ influences, when each engages in such astonishing conceptual creativity?)
At any rate, in a perverse way it may be precisely the religious ‘yearning for truth’ that sets into motion the scientific critical apparatus which heralds a non-theistic enlightenment and the twilight of all idols.
Joseph Campbell and The Power of Myth, available in many forms including YouTube ranks up there pretty high. It covers the commonalities across cultures, so it is hard to avoid that your personal god is just a choice. He gets specific about some Christian myths too and provides alternative interpretations that incorporate modern thinking.
Have a good listen to any apologist from any religion and your belief will melt away (assuming you had any to begin with) Have a listen to this “The skeptics guide to the universe” to see why a person might leave religion after devoting their life to it and become an Atheist. show 293 http://www.theskepticsguide.org/archive/podcast.aspx?mid=1
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