Atheistic Outreach
Pro-Outreach
Advice from an Agnostic Baptist Minister: Culture-Jamming Theistic Memes Effectively…but Respectfully (n.d.) by Anonymous
“Culture jamming the theistic memes” is a perfectly legitimate enterprise if that is what one believes will make a positive difference in the world. Keep in mind, however, that it will be most successful reaching those not already rooted in their particular faith, not to mention that militant culture jamming could hurt some people who truly aren’t hurting anyone with their faith and have no reason to abandon their beliefs.
Response to an Agnostic Baptist Minister’s Advice (2001) by Matthew Goldstein
A response to the Agnostic Baptist Minister’s advice that non-believers should consider avoiding religious debate to avoid razing the everyday hope provided to simple people with simple faith and because such debate is ineffective and counter-productive.
Atheism & Reason (Off Site) (1999) by Austin Cline
“Perhaps you should consider doing what I have long encouraged: planting a seed of doubt. Rather than attempting to foster a radical change in a person, it would be more realistic to get a person to begin questioning some facet of their religion which they had not seriously questioned before.”
On Defending Atheism (2005) by Theodore M. Drange
Drange explains why atheists should defend their atheism.
Friendly Atheism (1996) by Michael Martin
Martin encourages atheists to adopt “friendly atheism.” As Martin points out, atheists who are friendly towards theists will be more effective in their outreach than atheists who are unfriendly towards theists.
How to Defend Atheism (1976) by George Smith
“Atheism will not get very far simply by attacking religious belief. Rather, we have to defend reason, first and foremost, and then criticize religion within that framework.”
Nonbelief and Hope (2013) by Ryan Stringer
Many people hold on to supernatural beliefs because they feel that certain psychological needs could not be met without them—in particular, they feel that they would not be able to have any hope without such beliefs. However, nonbelief need not be the “recipe for despair” that it is often assumed to be; in fact, not only can it leave ample room for hope, but it can help people hope in a realistic, psychologically healthy way when it comes to important things in life. Because nonbelievers can hope for most of the things that people generally hope for, dispelling the myth that nonbelief is a recipe for despair can go a long way toward making nonbelief psychologically acceptable to those who might otherwise resist it.
Planting a Seed of Doubt by Elie A. Shneour (1998) (Off Site)
“To plant a seed of doubt into an unwavering conviction is a vast accomplishment in education as well as in thinking on one’s own. To be able to doubt is humbling and constructive because it requires the application of rational thought in weighing alternatives. Once that seed has been planted, it can germinate into a full reexamination of the options, which opens unlimited vistas, or it can remain a dormant seed. In either case, the process cannot help but enrich each human being and make him or her a more effective and a more balanced member of a better society.”
Should Atheism Be Universally Held? (2001) by Michael Martin
In a recent article, Dmitri Tymoczko argues that religion is false but useful. Therefore, atheism should not be universally held by everyone. Martin responds to Tymoczko’s article.
The Value of Atheism (2010) by Ryan Stringer
Supposing that atheism is true, is it important to defend its truth? Ryan Stringer emphatically answers in the affirmative. Stringer argues that if atheism is rationally held to be true, that alone is sufficient reason to defend it, for truth and rational belief are intrinsic goods, and it is generally noble to try to change others’ minds when they seem to hold false beliefs. In addition, Stringer considers a number of secondary, supplementary reasons for defending atheism. These range from fighting religiously motivated mistreatment, developing beneficial public policies, redirecting resources going to religious institutions to benefit those in need, understanding our place in the world, and fostering thinking freely as rational and autonomous beings, among other things. Stringer wraps up by considering whether anything indispensable to the good life is lost when we abandon traditional theistic belief for atheism, concluding that the purported benefits of theistic belief over atheism typically evaporate on closer inspection.
What Do We Do When Some Theist We Don’t Know Sends Us E-mail? by Richard Carrier
Carrier argues that we should always respond politely; even if we only change the mind of one theist out of a hundred, “that’s worth a great deal.”
Why Bother? In Defense of Activism (2000) (Off Site) by Amanda Chesworth
Arguing that “apathy simply renders us mute,” Chesworth encourages nontheists to adopt an activist stance.
Why Come Out As An Atheist? by Robby Berry
Robby Berry was a gung-ho charismatic fundamentalist until he ran up against some arguments that he couldn’t counter.
Anti-Outreach
Review of Michael Martin and Ricki Monier (eds.), The Impossibility of God (2005) by Julian Baggini
“All infidels … have several reasons to welcome the publication of this definitive anthology of arguments from the past fifty years for the impossibility of God…. That said, I still found the book faintly dispiriting, futile even. Rather than finding myself standing on the metaphorical touchline cheering my team as it chalked up point after point, it seemed to me that everyone on the pitch was engaged in a useless game that no one was ever going to win. This was a bravura performance, but who was it for?”
Jeffery Jay Lowder maintains this page.