@kyriacos I believe I have told you before here, how much I appreciate all your articles. I've been reading them for 3-4 years now on CFT and you've definitely been inspirational. And it was from your book recommendations there, that I did a lot of my reading.
I think most people follow a similar path with atheism, but a lot don't take the last step of accepting religion as something 'normal' in humans. It's especially surprising to see this in people like Richard Dawkins. In one of his lectures that i saw on YouTube and in his books, he clearly accepts that religion in humans is 'reasonable' and even that it promotes evolutionary beneficial traits, yet he is still a militant atheist. He says that many traits that lead humans to religion do have an evolutionary benefit but they could also have consequences which can be destructive. That makes sense, I guess, it's similar to how evolution has made us crave for carbs and fats so much but it couldn't 'predict' that one day there would be such an abundance of food, that we would end up getting addicted to it and slowly kill ourselves by eating too much. Yet the possible bad consequences don't explain his hatred towards religion and blaming it for the horrible things that some people do in its name.
Everyone is selling something and you can bet your ass no one is not gonna sell shit if they are just analyzing or describing things. Conflict creates attention for the masses that will in return transform it into profit.
I believe this basic factor eludes many that think of the new atheists as people with no motives, no financial interests. This also explains how and why most neo-atheists stem from the political left (that supposedly acts without having profit in their mind). It also demonstrates why they fail to realize how politics become religion and why they fall for the same meme.
As you can see it is quite easy to create a belief among people. This is where Dawkins and others have invested. This is why most neo-atheists can't think for themselves. It is a process but it requires constant revision and shuffling of the book case. Most people need an enemy so they can create their own heroic narrative. For neoatheists, non belief is the effective replacement of religion. Without religion there is no meaning, no evil to fight against.
I accept that everyone passes from that stage. To stuck in it is rather tragic. it shows that one is no different than a religious person like you mentioned.
This is how the movement grew. Transference of evil to another, similar concept. The heroics are much the same.
Suggested reading: The Denial of Death - Ernest Becker.
Glad being an inspiration man. I too enjoy your pieces.
To have someone challenge your beliefs and prove you wrong is one of the greatest gifts you can have. Most people, whether they are religious, neo-atheists, left or right, they choose a belief system and they stick to it. They start hanging around with people who have similar beliefs, they go to lectures of people with the same ideologies as them, they only read those books that agree with them and they usually end up in a circle jerk which makes them feel good about themselves but will never allow them to think freely. I know because I've been there. But once you allow your mind to start accepting other beliefs and you start to understand how your mind works, your critical thinking starts to develop and eventually you even learn to challenge your own beliefs and ideologies.
I want to believe that my thinking is much more free than it was 3-4 years ago but I still have a long way to go. A better understanding of politics, economics and how the market works will be the next step for me.
Thank you for your book suggestion. I will read it over the weekend!