Is it possible to convert believers into rationally thinking people who are capable of negating God?

Answer 1

No. Many have enwrapped themselves so deeply in their cocoons of safety, if they didn't believe in something, they'd just crack. You'd have to substitute belief in something else(not actually fixing the problem), and those who are hardcore believers have neither the self-esteem nor the backbone to look at life in a logical fashion.

Answer 2

I am sorry to here that it was so easy for some to cause others to lose their faith. If those had only studied their Bibles, they could still have salvation. But as it is they are worse off now then if they had never believed in the first place. And those that caused it? They have a heavy price to pay for that.
To become a rationally thinking person capable of denying God, is to willingly join the ranks of the damned. These damned ones (the wicked ones) will receive the last 7 plagues that God will sent upon them and the Saints will see it but will not be touched by them.

Answer 3

Conversion is probably not the right term for embracing atheism. It implies getting someone to put their faith in a new set of beliefs that substitute for the old 'lost' faith. In my experience, those who have a psychological need for supernatural beliefs are not ready to let go of such belief systems entirely.

It is possible to help someone through the intellectual and spiritual journey to atheism, but it is not going to happen as the result of a single conversation or bout of ratiocination. Rather, one can be supportive of a person and help them find answers for themselves along the way.

Atheism and, more broadly, secular humanism, aren't really prosthetylizing philosophies. They are the absence of easy answers and non-rational beliefs, and thus do not lend themselves to marching out and converting the heathens to 'our' way of thinking: after all, the point is thinking for yourself, not accepting what you're told.

Atheism is not a belief that no gods exist, it's a only a deep skepticism that any such beings exist without solid scientific proof of such an extraordinary proposition. As an atheist, I don't believe there is no god, I just don't find the postulate consistent with the totality of scientific knowledge and common sense, and thus I hold it disproved, or in the same category as UFOs and perpetual motion machines, until there is evidence that might warrant entertaining reconsidering it. Such a position is not mentally comfortable for most people for various cultural reasons and generally it is not rewarding enough for me to seek to bring people around to this view of the world. The religious have added a new member to their social control group if they succeed in convincing someone of whatever supernatural wackadoodle they might believe in - whereas all I will have done is freed another from such arbitrary social control. The incentives for prosthetylization are obviously much stronger for the other team.

Answer 4

The most rational position is agnostic atheism i.e. the majority of atheistic beliefs (people who claim agnosticism as in "they don't know" are actually also atheists, and are in actual fact agnostic atheist). I'm one of the few atheists who identify with strong atheism (and in my case anti-theism too) where I use the positive assertion that there is no god. This is a much more rational position than theism as there isn't even one single piece of evidence for deities. The same reason I'm not agnostic as to the existence of fairies or goblins. I believe that they don't exist either. So to sum up.. the most irrational position to take is that of theism. Atheism is the rational position to take (and we're all born atheists anyway) as you are essentially saying there is no good reason to believe in a god and that will remain the case until proof is provided. It could be argued (poorly) that strong atheism is a little less rational, but only if you say it's irrational to believe in fairies as I've just said.

Answer 5

The short answer is yes, but you should think carefully about your own motivations for this. Is it just to give yourself the satisfaction of "proving" yourself "right"?

Unfortunately many religious belief systems contain cognitive booby traps that make it very difficult to escape. An extreme example and a literalised form of this is the death penalty that actually applies to apostates to Islam in some countries, but even in mainstream Christianity there are subtler forms of the same type of blackmail in the form of threats of dire consequences if you even contemplate drifting from the party line. This can make the act of examining ones belief systems a very fearful experience, rather than one of joyful curiosity.

Many religions set these mind traps in early childhood, before the child has the cognitive capacity to recognise the absurdity of people making certainly-held claims about an afterlife no-one has been able to return from and report back on. This cripples further enquiry, and in my view, is a form of intellectual and spiritual child abuse. It is comparable to sexual abuse, and is morally wrong for the same reasons.

Answer 6

Yes. I used to be one of those believers. I changed my mind about belief in god when I learned more about how much the innocent. have suffered on this earth. For instance everyone knows about slavery and the holocaust. But to really know details of the suffering is another thing.
I am not sure if converting is the right term. It has to come from within

Answer 7

Oh there are times when we do wonder of the track but God has a way of pulling us back to him again May God bless you and Merry Christmas

Answer 8

No, cause some people need a strong belief that will make them feel real. Also, there are some people who need the universe to be human, and for them it is a desperate need.

Answer 9

Just because you don't want to believe in God doesn't mean that He doesn't exist. Recognize that your disbelief is an act of faith also.

Answer 10

Yes. Done it.
Thank God!
It takes a good long time. It only worked because I was interested in why she or anyone believed in god. She probably thought it was a good opportunity to save a lost soul. To many unanswered questions by elders at her church, eventually led to her loss of faith.
And it was totally passive. I never told her that she was wrong. I only raised questions