Opinions on Alain de Botton.

Alain de Botton is a very successful Swiss author and philanthropist.



You will notice how nice I am being to him in this short intro, because I am about to go off on a long rant possibly containing some negative opinions.

Alain de Botton is an Atheist.

Good so far...

But that is where our agreements end. Alain thinks religion plays an important part in modern society and that even without the divine implications we should keep some of the more popular doctrines.

"We can then recognise that we invented religions to serve two central needs which continue to this day and which secular society has not been able to solve with any particular skill: firstly, the need to live together in communities in harmony, despite our deeply rooted selfish and violent impulses. And secondly, the need to cope with terrifying degrees of pain which arise from our vulnerability to professional failure, to troubled relationships, to the death of loved ones and to our decay and demise."

I pretty much agree with him here. Religions were created to form communities and to prevent people from spending too much time worrying about death (since the average life expectancy was about 25 back then).

But adopting these features to Atheism is pointless. A good community can be formed around anything that brings people together with common likes and attitudes. Whether this be chess, knitting or a belief in zombie Jesus.

Communities only form around atheism when they are the minority and feel outnumbered. This is normally in very religious countries like the USA and India where the people just need to know that there are other people in a similar situation as them. Here in the UK atheists comprise around half of the population, but there are very few atheist communities. This is because it is no longer necessary to group together over our beliefs, we just live our lives as a normal person would.

But that doesn't mean there aren't communities. There are communities based on age, gender, race, geography, hobbies, thoughts, attitudes and ideas. Religion may be absent, but you can still join the Hispanic LGBT Marxist Kayaking Society of Hertfordshire, no borrowing from religion needed.

As for being exposed to the pain of possible failure and your own potential demise, atheism isn't the problem here and religion isn't the solution.

There are people all over the world that have such trouble with pain that they need something to separate themselves from reality and escape the consequences of their actions, and we call them drug addicts.

Mankind has been able to live comfortably pretending that the world revolves around them and that there is a divine being looking after them. This has gone on for so long that the transition into reality where you only have yourself to be accountable for is scary and troubling for some people. But the change is liberating, beautiful and a step everyone must take if they are to break the shackles of comfortable superstition in exchange for the bracing truth.

A Christian tries to be an Atheist for a week.

So this guy tried to get into the Atheist mindset for a week to see what would happen. I will say no more and just copy his posts.

Here is his first post -

It's just what it sounds like. I was born and raised as a devout Christian. It is all I have ever known and believed in, and still do. However, I'm presenting a challenge to myself. I am going to "abandon" my faith for a week and try to objectively study the bible. I am going to question the existence of God. I am going to critically think about any arguments I read against God. And I am not going to use a bible except for these purposes, not to justify my faith. I am not doing this to change my belief system, but to understand Atheism better. It may prove entirely futile, but I like to constantly improve and learn so this seems like an interesting exercise. I'm not even sure how this will go. I know it's going to be difficult to even abandon my thought process and suddenly think opposite as I always have for a week. I'm going to give it an honest effort though.
Now, I have thought about the 2 outcomes of this. (1) "Best Case" Scenario: My faith is now stronger because I have not found a good enough basis to think otherwise. (2) Worst Case Scenario Two: I am now an Atheist. I'm accepting those because for 1 of those to happen I would have had a pretty good reason. Like I said before though, I'm not doing this to become an Atheist.
Here are some of the reasons why I am doing this:

• I want to understand why someone would become an Atheist.
• Since this is a default subreddit, I have been exposed to a few valid points that (while I may not agree with them entirely) seem rational and warrant further explanation.
• I don't think this will change my faith, but it may very well strengthen it.
• I have always had to understand the other side of an issue in order to fully understand the issue itself. I have done this with most everything in my life except for religion. It's kind of a taboo thing to do as a Christian.

Also, I am posting this not for some sweet Karma (clearly it's a self post), but just because I thought /r/atheism may have some good suggestions for me this week or good places to start. ALSO also, as you can see this is on a Throwaway account. I promise this isn't an attempt to "troll" or anything. I'm only using a TA because my actual user account is known by too many IRL redditors that may not approve of this, although I don't see anything wrong with it, that's just the way it is!
Of course, at the end of this week I will provide an update. Regardless of the outcome, I hope the reaction to be judgment free.
So, here's what i'm starting with:

• It seems the book "The God Delusion" by Richard Dawkins is a favorite among Atheists, so I am going to be reading a copy. I do a lot of reading and this book doesn't look like it would take me longer than a week.
• I have found some YouTube channels from proclaimed Atheists (TheoreticalBullshit being one) that I'm going to watch, with my guard down of course.
• I'm not sure what would be the best source for this (like The God Delusion seems to be an overall simple and easy to read counter to the existence of God), but I am still looking for a good book that proves Evolution. I know there are many, but like I said I want one similar to God Delusion that I can easily digest in a weeks time. For the time being all I can do is internet research.
• I decided to look into the origin of all religions. I think this is important to understand if I want to claim mine is correct.

That's all I really have for now. I know it's not some major breakthrough and I'm not doing anything that wild, I just thought /r/atheism might enjoy the journey with me. And if you have anything to add to my lists or suggestions for reading material or how to successfully do all of this with the objective and critical thought process I would like, then I'm all ears! I don't presume that to be easy and i'm sure I will catch myself many times faithfully shaking my head.
Off I go.
EDIT: Already! It was brought to my attention that my phrasing of "worst case scenario" as becoming an Atheist already didn't seem open and honest. I completely agree and that was an honest mistake. You have to see from my current Christian perspective how easily something like that could slip because let's face it, as a Christian, becoming an Atheist is the worst possible outcome haha. I meant no offense and assure you I am going to do my best to be neutral and "deprogrammed" for a week.

EDIT: I guess I need to explain myself a little more. I should have worked on my phrasing before posting apparently. When I say "become" an Atheist I mean in the context of someone changing their belief. I know we are all born "Atheist", but I meant nothing deeper than someone becoming something different. That's all.
Also, as far as "the week" is concerned. It may prove at the end of this week that I am still very curious and not satisfied and carry on with this learning experiment. At the point it will be no more than a symbol. I assure you though that if I still want to do some reading, I won't just stop because of a self-imposed time restraint.
Hope that clears up my intentions a little. And thank you all for so many great suggestions and thoughts, as well as encouragement. Very cool.

ANOTHER EDIT: Final edit for the night. I just want to say this was an overwhelming response, literally, I can't keep up. I was not expecting this. I expected maybe a couple helpful suggestions and tips and that's all. I especially want to thank everyone for being just as open-minded in their responses to me and understanding my current perspective and how it is difficult to throw it all aside, but that is the idea and I promise you all I will try my best. I have read every single comment and am doing my best to respond. If I haven't responded though, just know I now have this archived for me this whole week and this is going to prove to be a greater reference guide than I could have imagined. I have a lot more to look at than I imagined too. Things escalated quickly...
Thank you all again for the advice as well as the wishes of wellness and good science! I will be updating, especially at the end of this week.
And i'm sorry for capitalizing "athiest"!" Won't happen again.
Also, considering this is getting far more attention than I originally thought, it would be very cool for other Christians to take up this challenge with me, should you be currently reading this and think it's a neat idea.

EDIT 4/21/12: For anyone that is checking back on this post for any updates I just wanted to provide a quick one before I head to bed. The past 24 hours have been exhausting. I can feel an emotional tax taking its toll. It has been scary, fascinating, and entertaining all in one. Obviously I have reached no conclusion, nor is the purpose of this to reach a conclusion after a week. You atheists may be excited to know that I had an experience today where a few things just made good sense. PUT YOUR BABIES BACK DOWN and let me finish. I was having trouble really thinking as someone who does not believe in God up until a few hours ago and suddenly my heart jumped a little and my eyes lit up and I realized I can really dig in now and get what I want out of this week. Not saying I fully grasp the thought process, but an absolute step in the right direction for this experiment and I was happy because I knew I would be able to report back honestly now. That is all for now. Don't worry too much about checking back here if you even are. I'm going to make a new post at the end of this week as an update. No need to pile on any more edits to this post than there already are.

His update post one week later -

Hello everyone. Like the title says, and like I promised a week ago, this is an update for my self-declared "Think like an atheist week." This is the original post and context for anyone that cares. Just to clear up any confusion, I know I posted last Tuesday, but like I mentioned in a comment I had already started on Monday and only thought of the idea to post it to /r/atheism on Tuesday. So anyways, here we go...
The past week has been overwhelming. I don't even know where to begin with this post. I have sat here for probably 15 minutes trying to formulate even a first sentence or introduction. That got me as far as "hello everyone." and I'm still not even happy with that. I guess I just have to dive in and start with a generalized conclusion:

I no longer know what I have faith in or believe. I am holding back tears even writing that sentence. This is a feeling I am almost completely unprepared for. I was very naive in my post last week to think this was a simple and fun exercise. I thought knowing the truth either way would only generate joy. That still may be true, but I can tell you right now I am more crushed. My heart, for lack of better term, is broken. (I'm now 30 minutes into this and making terrible progress.) My life has turned upside down. Part of me hates that I chose to do this. The first thing that came to mind when everything started to sink in was Cypher in The Matrix when talking to Agent Smith over a nice steak dinner. "Ignorance is bliss." I don't know what I would choose as of right now if I had the ability to wipe the slate clean and start over. Bite back into that juicy steak like it's 8 days ago. If offered a red pill or blue pill right now though, I would be inclined to swallow the red pill. Sorry to digress into a Matrix Metaphor. I want real. No matter how bad real tastes. Real won't hold me back and I can tap into a previously unknown potential. I still have a lot more to figure out before I get to that point though. Many questions still, and probably always will, need answering. You were all absolutely correct in telling me that this would not only take more than a week, if I was sincere. A week has left me with only confusion and my journey has only begun.

I began reading A History of God by Karen Armstrong. I haven't finished this book as it's rather lengthy and very dense with information, not to mention I did have other things to do last week. I read this because I wanted to go straight to the source. The Bible. Does the Bible deserve belief and strict adherence? At this point I have to say no it does not. Holding back tears yet again just seeing those words on my screen. There is a clear lack of credentials in its history. This part was an emotional rollercoaster. At some points I was left devastated and my instincts kicked in to immediately dismiss what I was seeing. I had to remind myself constantly what this week was supposed to be. It's heart breaking to see your god discredited so easily. And
I was left with nothing to throw back at Karen Armstrong. I couldn't dispute what she was saying. And who was I to do that anyways? Like I am the authority on this subject. I took to the internet, in this step and in throughout, to keep looking into it. It didn't really take much further research though. If I wanted a neutral source, the points were pretty clear. There was nothing monotheistic in it's origins. It was manipulated later to read that way. I've told you the emotional low, but a rollercoaster also goes up! I went to my bible (I also purchased a king james bible to have a second translation on hand) and constantly referred to it. NOT because I wasn't thinking like an atheist. I just needed to see things with my own eyes in regards to history. I have a new outlook on history. I actually found the bible more enjoyable to read! Everything made more sense to me in the context of what I was reading in AHOG. All these references to "godS", not one god, "godS". Why would God be a JEALOUS god if there was no one to be jealous of? Why would HIS people after witnessing their deliverance by HIS hand and the miracles HE performed for them so quickly go back to worshipping other gods? Like baal? Could they really be that stupid? No. They were polytheistic. I still have further questions to go into and hopefully her book and other books will shine some light on it for me. I don't want this to be so terribly long that I lose all interest though so I will move on.
I read most of The God Delusion. In hindsight, I would have to say this was not the best book for me to pick up so soon. I know many of you love that book, but it read to me at some points very biased and borderline propaganda. That being said, looking past that, there is no denying that my questioning wouldn't have progressed throughout the week without it. It gave me a good push in the right direction. Many questions were raised and points made that I had no response for. The argument for complexity has been a standby argument my entire life. Surely due to complexity in nature there has to be intelligent design. This is a concept that I am struggling with greatly still. I am inclined to take the Occam Razor route because it simply makes sense. Which leads me to Evid3nc3.
Evid3nc3 YouTube account is amazing. I watched the entire playlist "Why I am no longer a Christian" twice. The manner in which he lays out his arguments and in such an objective way deserves an award. I related to it very well. It was because of him I picked up A History of God and am having trouble putting it down. I can't stress enough how logical and reasonable those videos are. Provided me with excellent perspective.
Some questions that I "struggled" with pretty basic. I spent a lot of time dwelling on things as simple as

• Why am I here?
• Why would God create the Earth?
• Why is there even an issue of Universal Ruling or Sovereignty if he is all powerful?
• Is this a game or does he not exist? If he exists then I have to severely question his methods for the past 6000 or so years. Looking into the Bible now there seems to be a lot of unnecessary suffering. Looking into the world today there seems to be a lot of unnecessary suffering. He has clearly shown that he is capable of anything in the Bible. Why drag things out and use questionable methods in the process when you can just start over?
• If I am to accept the Bible as the one true infallible source of universal wisdom. Why not give other books the same sort of credit? They contain the "same" unbelievable accounts. What makes my unbelievable accounts better?
• Why bother with the Old Testament? Why preserve so much damning information?
• An important one to me, WHY "inspire" a bible that can so readily be translated and confused and interpreted in literally thousands of different manners? An omniscient God would know that would come about and the conflict it would create. Why provide us with riddles and vague examples and symbols? Why not clearly state the full intent and meaning in every case. Knowing that leaving it so vague and open to interpretation would cause so much suffering in the future?

If I am to accept that he created the Earth and Mankind and therefore accept that the rest of the bible. I have to ask a very strong WHY to every page in it and my very existence.
I am so sorry for this being all over the place. I kept notes throughout the week and wrote things down, but I saw it becoming a much more organized and well thought out post than I have just created. It's all over the place. It isn't an easy subject to put into words to begin with. And I fear I have lost any audience halfway through this post. For those of you who read it all and stuck it out I thank you for your sincere interest in me. A stranger in a dilemma. Your comments on my last post were beyond helpful and 100 times what I expected to receive. Many of you have messaged me throughout the week and I apologize if I missed any responses. If anything though, I would hope for a good response to this post. I think I need it more here than I did before.

I guess, if I were to form a conclusion off of this one week, I have strong doubt in what I have believed my entire life. I can't in good conscience say I believe in the Christian God. I just got shivers typing that out. I am emotionally spent and mentally drained. I want to look forward with optimism and positivity. I think first I have to recover from this forceful smack in the face that has been dealt to me. I left out my previous denomination of Christianity when asked because I wanted to attack the subject broadly. Not just focus down particular beliefs. I will now tell you that I have been a Jehovah's Witness for my entire life. This presents an all new set of problems that I will have to deal with. An entire new branch to cut down. This journey that I began a week ago has barely began and I can't emphasize that enough. The amount of problems I now face are extreme to say the least. I hope that context may help answer any lingering questions for some of you of where I stand. This week has become only an introduction to a new book in my life. Many pages and chapters follow. I thank you all for your help with this and your concern and understanding. You are not the devil worshiping baby eaters everyone believes you are :)
1 week down. A lifetime of weeks to go.

EDIT: Just wanted to say that I will be off for the night. I will do my best to respond tomorrow though. Thank you for the responses so far. Incredibly touching and humbling for anyone to take such interest and display such concern for me. It feels great. I may have shed a few more tears because of it.

Bible can't decide between Monotheism and Poltheism.

The Bible seems split between two ways of thinking pretty much all the way through the Old Testament.

I will demonstrate it like this -

In the Bible there are 14 references to there being only ONE God.

But there are also 39 references to there being MULTIPLE Gods.

The Old Testament almost doesn't even bother to hide some rather brutal facts of the time.

During 1 Kings there are multiple mentions of Hadad, the Canaanite rain God, using the Hebrew slang - בעל

This is because Hadad (and several other Gods) were incorporated into the umbrella term 'Yahweh'.



This is just the tip of the iceberg. Whole books have been written on the cultures conquered and squashed into the Christian doctrine.

My prediction about the French murders.

As you may have heard there have been a number of murders in France over the last few days.



First there was 3 French paratroopers shot dead by a guy on a scooter, and then I think it was yesterday when a guy open fired on a Jewish school and killed 4 people. The news has been saying that it was quite possibly the same guy who committed both acts, so I am going to make a prediction.

Who would have a motive to kill army personal and then Jews?

I don't want to sound racist, or anger anyone out there. But...

I think if/when they catch the killer he/she will be Muslim.

Who else would want to kill French troops (In 2008 France had 20,000 troops in Afghanistan).

Who else would want to also kill Jews (The people who occupied an entire Muslim country and claimed it as their own).

I think a Fundamental Muslim has a pretty good motive for these crimes.

I will keep you posted.