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

ReasonI will agree with your statement; we do sometimes put too much "faith" in the power of reason. Phobias are a good example because they are defined as irrational fears, so reason holds little or no weight in convincing something otherwise. This is similar to how some people irrationally cling to irrational beliefs; in these cases, reason will have very little impact. But then again, so will anything else, so I do not believe that this point places any doubt about reason being the best tool, in general.Atheist OrganizationsI will still argue that placing an "atheism" label upon any organization or effort is still a declaration of opposition to theism. The sole meaning of that label is to indicate a position that is opposed to theism, and the organization that accepts that label will inherit that image, despite what good it may do. At best, this may improve the image of atheism to make its existence more acceptable, but it will not make it "right" to theists.You give an example of an atheist organization that *aims* to bring people out of religion. Such an organization will still be the perceived enemy of theism. If such an organization were to adopt religious humanism, it would likely have no bearing on convincing theists to abandon their beliefs. If a theists says something to the effect of "I might become an atheist if they weren't so evil", then that person is certainly NOT demonstrating the belief that his religion is correct; he is already an atheist. To suggest that changing your mind about what is true is possible by act of will, then one must not truly believe that the original belief was true.The bottom line is that demonstrating that atheists can be good will only make it more acceptable for people to officially accept the title of atheist. This will have no bearing on influencing theists to drop their current beliefs.Liberal ChristianityIf individuals possess an irrational belief, it is not irrational to them. If reason will not work to alter their perspective and beliefs (let alone drop them all together), then promoting a more liberal outlook will have no real effect. Alternative, it may make stronger enemies out of the more rigid believers as the see atheism undermining the weakness (tolerance) of their religion. Tolerance does not coincide well with religion [1]. Of course, we know that the bible has several verses that denounce unbelievers [2]:Revelation 21:8 "But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.” 2 Corinthians 4:4 "In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God."Romans 1:18 "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth."In order for one to accept (and not just tolerate the existence of) atheism, one must be able to reject at least these portions of their beliefs and the bible. Demonstrating good works has no bearing on their beliefs.Thank you for instigating this positively-aligned debate![1] Christ Answers Network - http://www.christiananswers.net...[2] OpenBible.Info - http://www.openbible.info...