The Christian belief system is somewhat different though. If you really do believe that non-theists will burn for eternity in Hell, then you have a moral obligation to save such poor souls. You really are out on a mission of conversion, it’s your Christian duty. Most moderates don’t follow this duty with the urgency that they should; which is quite fortunate for the rest of us.

So atheists don’t have to be in-your-face assertive, but Christians really should.

Sarah, I agree that humanity’s best guess (i.e., science) is not the whole story, at least as it stands right now. I also think some people get a little too cocky when talking about the state of science and the ability of humans to reach greater understanding and control their fate. Science and human reason have their limits. But I think humanity’s other guesses (religions and other attempts at gaining access to super- or extra-human knowledge and experience) are not very good. For example, too much credence is given to anecdotal evidence, logical fallacies proliferate, and unjustified interpretations are made of genuine emotional experiences and psychological states.

But, on to my analogy:

The belief in the Christian god and Jesus is like the belief in Santa Claus in many ways. Santa Claus can really inspire you when you are vulnerable to the myth. You can get very excited about his love and gifts and be frightened by the potential for withholding of gifts or bestowing of coal or orther more nasty fates. Santa Claus has the ability to change the behavior of little children for the better. And yet, it is better for children to grow up and realize the benefit of being good for their own sake (not just for “goodness’s sake” whatever that means) than to retain this belief.

Most of the feelings and morality that existed when you believe in Santa Claus are still there after you stop believing in him. (Some of the “magical” feelings are apparently gone and the influence of Santa’s omniscient presence goes away, but love, fear, inspiration, guilt, wonder, mystery, etc. are all still there. Of course, ridding yourself of one irrationality does not get rid of all irrationality.)

The same can be said for gods and Jesus. Atheists or nontheists can retain the positive outlook and emotions they had as a theist, but they (usually, or in most cases I witness) become more reliant on their own rationality for making decisions and develop their personal philosophy and morality to a greater and more consistent level. Your purpose becomes whatever you deem it to be, and your choice can be as fulfilling as a god-loving evangelist’s.

For those who continue to believe in Santa, gods, or Jesus into adulthood, I will mostly not bring up the topic. However, I deem it to be my responsibility to the rest of humanity to try to show people, when they are receptive, that there is no need for their faith and they will be better off without it. It is really a personal, emotional, and intellectual journey to come to that conclusion and I really can’t initiate that process of my own volition, but I can add another straw to the camel’s back.

In particular, given a certain view, Christianity can be viewed as a death cult. It’s focused on the human sacrifice of a single individual, the cross is a symbol of that sacrifice. It holds that all men are created as immoral sinners. There’s also mindset, that you should do whatever God (or his spokesman) says without question, even if you otherwise think such actions are immoral. There’s also Armageddon and the End Times, which encourages lack of long-term planning. I consider alot of this to be dangerous. There’s more at http://www.cogitolingua.net/blog/index.php/2009/01/22/stump-the-professor/

I am quite certain (it would take extraordinary evidence to convince me otherwise) that there is no “grand master plan” to the universe. As far as intelligent life goes, we are it so far. (I’m sure there is other intelligent life out there, but space travel is difficult, so it’s possible we might not ever see any of it before we die off) Because we are so alone in the universe, it is vitally important that we figure certain things out, lest we do ourselves in. Because each of us lives so short, it’s imperative that we do as much good as we can while we are here. Morality doesn’t require a Supreme Enforcer, we can, have, and (following enlightenment principles) will continue, to figure things out as we grow.

As an agnostic atheist, I believe that God does not exist, but know that I can’t prove it. But the idea of God certainly has power. But any positive idea can have the power to “change you into something beautiful beyond your imagination.” So Barker only recommends reading and thinking critically for oneself.