Atheists need to do more good deeds and should embrace religious humanism

Hello, Thanks for accepting the challenge. I don't know how strong reason is going to be for many people that do not traditionally use reason to believe. Pew research showed that many religious people {at least in the survey} did not have that much basic knowledge about their religion like what was and was not a commandment for example. It also found that atheists tended to know more about religions. So they may not be too familiar with what they are defending or opposing as supporters of the Bible and so I don't know how much reason is going to be helpful for that crowd compared to people that are on the fence or questioning and looking at things more academically. I often hear theists arguing that without God there is no strong moral foundation which is incorrect but for those that believe it that could be a big stumbling block for changing views. If you belief without God there is no morals and the world will fall into despair that may hinder letting go of a belief. I would also argue that it would probably be easier to argue that morality and good deeds can exist without God {through examples} then using reason and getting into the specifics about the accuracy of Biblical accounts of events thousands of years ago. Currently religious people do {on average} donate more money to not for profits and volunteer more hours than the non- religious especially in the case of devout Mormons. Many charities and hospitals were created by religious people and the old argument about how many hospitals have atheists built is still around and could be destroyed. If atheists pledged to donate, volunteer and build hospitals at the same or higher rate and the infrastructure to foster that was there. The same way the church fosters giving and volunteerism. It would also strengthen the argument that atheists can be just as good as everyone else which they can. Religious humanism and liberal Christianity should be promoted by atheism from a practical stand-point. Religion is here to stay and there are religions like Buddhism and Unitarianism that can exist without a belief in God and atheism does not automatically mean no religion. There has been a fall in church attendance {in some parts of the world and some churches} but many that do not go to church still actually belief in God and so belief is still alive and well. The Clergy Project also talks about the pastors that have become atheists but are afraid to come-out for career or even safety reasons. So I think promoting liberal Christianity gives them a better place to be at. Religious humanism would give people a real tangible example of how religious beliefs and church attendance {and the social aspects of that} can exist without God and the supernatural. Liberal Christianity shares a lot in common with critics of religion like not taking the Bible literally, supporting gay marriage, not being so dogmatic and this might be a good partner to have to help weaken the negative aspects of religion. It could also give people that can't bring themselves to jump from theism to atheism a place to be and brings people closer to atheistic type of views. http://www.pewforum.org... http://www.pewforum.org... http://clergyproject.org...