As someone who engages in religious debate online frequently, this question seems obvious or even unnecessary. However, one thing that I am surprised to have discovered is that there are many non-believers, atheists, and agnostics out there who are not convinced that we should be debating or criticizing religious beliefs.

Some of these people are of the opinion that we should just tolerate the fact that different people have different beliefs. What’s the point in criticizing someone’s religion if he or she wants to believe it? Maybe if offers a modicum of comfort in that persons life? Others are of the opinion that debating religion or challenging religious claims is simply a waste of time. No argument will ever change the mind of a person who has faith in what cannot be proven anyway. This point of view is summed up nicely by the following comments that I came across online recently:

Who in their right mind has time to waste ‘arguing’ with a deluded person?

You will NEVER get anywhere with logical arguments. The whole point of believing is to mentally and emotionally FORCE yourself to ignore glaring, unexplainable and obvious contradictions because doing so is considered unwavering FAITH and VIRTUE.

Only the believer can free themselves at the right time with the correct input from the world.

Curiously, this person states that a religious believer can move away from his or her religion only with the correct input from the world. Why can’t discussions with non-believers or reading the arguments of non-believers be a significant part of this “input from the world?” Would this same person argue that anti-smoking campaigns are a waste of time because only the smoker can free him or herself at the right time? I hardly think so.

The more atheists and other non-believers are willing to publicly challenge religious claims the more pressure we can put on believers to confront what they believe. Imagine walking into a social event and striking up a conversation with a stranger by explaining how you believe that the resurrected spirit of Elvis was responsible for helping you come out unscathed from a recent car crash. No doubt, the conversation would quickly become uncomfortable and you would soon feel slightly embarrassed by bringing it up in the first place. That’s because a belief in the intervening powers of a resurrected spirit of Elvis is absurd bordering on insane. However, if instead you mentioned how you believe that Jesus saved you from injury, at worst others would simply shrug this off as your religious belief.

Why aren’t some non-believers willing to treat a belief about the resurrected spirit of Elvis on the same level as a belief in the resurrected spirit of Jesus in a conversation? Fear of offense? Convinced that it truly is a hopeless endeavor? Or maybe you are already a conversational atheist – or in other words, a non-believer that seeks to engage religious people in conversations, discussions, and debate.

I would like to introduce to you, which ever the above you are, to a new website that is seeking to promote conversational atheism: http://www.conversationalatheist.com/

As of now, there is an essay posted defending the author’s decision to engage in religious debate. He gives three main reasons:

1. If people are loudly proclaiming their false beliefs, they should not be encouraged or go unchallenged.
2. (Religion) wastes the time, money, and resources of well-meaning people.
3. Religion teaches inappropriate responses to real world problems.

He then responds to four challenges,  a couple of which I outlined above:

1. “Religious people don’t think that they’re lying, they think they’re telling the truth!”
2. “We should respect their beliefs.”
3. “You won’t change anyone’s mind.”
4. “Let believers have their false beliefs, it only harms them…”

Read the essay, “Why do I argue, debate, discuss, and converse about religion?” for more details.

Additionally, the author is working on a book – about which I am very excited – that outlines various strategies for engaging in religious debate. If you would like to receive e-mail alerts concerning the status of this project, you can sign up to the Conversational Atheist mailing list:

Conversational Atheist

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