Atheist Propaganda Effectiveness

Does atheist propaganda result in the conversion of theists to atheists?

How many cases do you know of personally in which people stopped believing in God as a result of an atheist persuading them that there is no God?

As with any form of propaganda, a certain percentage of the target audience will be persuaded to act. Probably equivalent to the average response to a direct mail campiagn: ~1-5%. However, the bigger question is: What is the recidivism rate?

That said, why can't we just let this area of discussion alone for awhile?? And where's the zero option?

Does libertarian propaganda result in the conversion of statists to libertarians?

Why isn't 0 an option?

Why isn't pecan pie an option?

Because Pecan Pie sucks. Next question!




Oops... wrong thread...

Because I made a mistake, that's why, darn it!

The discussion of theism and atheism seems to be unending in the forums. People who don't want to read the thread should skip the thread.

The question of whether libertarian propaganda converts statist to libertarians is a perfectly good question, and might be generalized to other ideologies as well.

Results from direct mail campaigns probably tend to deal with convincing people to buy a product or service, which isn't quite the same as changing a core belief that one holds about the nature of reality, and thus does not apply very well.

I personally don't know of a single case in which arguing with a theist has caused them to stop believing in God.

again.. i didn't vote due to the lack of a zero option, but i think it's an interesting question.

honestly, i'm not sure of the rate.. but i imagine it's a small number in actuallity. more than zero in world-wide total.. it must be, right?

just like if you reverse it, the amount of atheists who are turned to theists due to an arguement are probably quite small in number as well, but a number above zero, nonetheless.

i mean, if arguments didn't "win over" the other side.. then how many would exist on either to begin with?

thanks for making me excersize my neurons a little.

I have found that most theists arrive at their state due to indoctrination (church and family) and education (selective or lack of). That's something that a rational discussion simply cannot undo.

In my case it was a near-death experience (complications during surgery) at a young age that initially emboldened me to question the existence of a god despite my very religious immediate family. From there it took at least half a decade to completely undo all the religious indoctrination to the point where catholicism is now just a supernatural mythology to me.

In regards to atheist propaganda, I did find it profoundly compelling, persuasive, and enjoyable after I had initiated the transition. It helped that I was exposed to this during my college years while simultaneously learning the scientific method in the context of chemistry, physics, biology, evolution, and mathematics. Now I would sooner die than dial back my mind to the witches and goblins that haunt the unrefined christian mind.

~Ulrika~

Atheist Propaganda? Wow. Well we know what side of the debate you're on. Posting your opinion on the forums isn't propaganda. It's opinion. Here's the definition of propaganda in my software dictionary:

chiefly derogatory information, esp. of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote or publicize a particular political cause or point of view : he was charged with distributing enemy propaganda. • the dissemination of such information as a political strategy : the party's leaders believed that a long period of education and propaganda would be necessary .

I stopped believing in god without any exposure to "atheist propaganda". All it took was exposure to fundamentalist Christians. We need a poll on that. "What effect does Fundamentalism Have on Driving Thinking People Out of Christianity?"

We should have negative numbers. I know a few atheists who listened to atheist propaganda (albeit some of the less believable kind) and converted to Christianity.

Your God is dead and no one cares! Theres your propoganda right there! So suck it up, theists! Abandon your faith! You know there is nothing out there except the One Truth.

For an insight into the One Truth, look deeply into my forum icon. Concentrate. Then do whatever your subconscious tells you to do and you will be on the path toward revealing the One Truth.

Must... Give... Kris... Money...

If your question is how many people have survived my attempts at converting them, the answer is: 0.
Tomás de Torquemada ain't got nothing on me.

I'd have voted 0 if the choice were there. I also don't know anyone who was converted to faith by argument either.

I dunno about athiest propaganda converting anyone, but the bible does a pretty good job all by itself. Biblical scholars who started as theistic end up agnostic or even athiest quite often after a lifetime of study.

Of the athiests I know, I don't know of any that engage in any sort of propaganda. When confronted by the obnoxious believer though, they will tell them they don't belive in ghosts, goblins and fairytales and laugh at them. Agnostics will tell you straight up they don't know if there is a god or not and are convinced you don't either.

I'd say the religions of the world have propaganda down to a science and no one else has ever come close to matching them. The Nazi's never managed to get over a billion people to believe a meteorite is god's excrement and get people to kiss and pray to a god turd.

Well, in 60 years, I've never personally met anyone who became an athiest as a result of listening to "athiest propaganda". I have, however, met numerious individuals who moved from undecided to theist as a result of theist propaganda... in most cases not from any newly discovered love of God, but from shear fear of the possibility of hellfire and damnation.

Glad someone remembers us agnostics exist, we get forgotten so often in these discussions.

What's that you say? "Sitting on the fence"?!?

Ooh, just had a thought. (Damn, that's my quota used up for the week )

I'd like to make the point that theists can convert to atheism without 'propaganda', but it doesn't work the other way 'round.

Many Atheists come to the conclusion there is God on their own. More and more we are seeing scientists convert after studying nature.

I believe it's more a political issue from the perspective of Atheist organizations that want to convert others to believe as they do. Because they feel under-represented it's normal for them to seek out converts.

With religions it's either a battle for the hearts and souls of people, or in some "religions" it's a matter of income. I placed the word "religions" in quotation marks because I wouldn't call them real religions.

prop·a·gan·da ( P ) Pronunciation Key (prp-gnd)
n.
The systematic propagation of a doctrine or cause or of information reflecting the views and interests of those advocating such a doctrine or cause. --- dictionary.com


Propaganda is a specific type of message presentation aimed at serving an agenda. At its root, the denotation of propaganda is 'to propagate (actively spread) a philosophy or point of view'. The most common use of the term (historically) is in political contexts; in particular to refer to certain efforts sponsored by governments or political groups. A propaganda message can be distinguished from more general forms of publicity because it includes significant and deliberate falsehoods, and/or omits so many pertinent truths that it becomes highly misleading. --- Wikipedia.com

Kris, I love you. And, on a completely seperate note, here, have my wallet.

To try to answer seriously, Suez... Not one bit, 0 (for me personally). It's the irrational and backwards way that religion and the people who preached/propagated relgion work that scared me away from organized religion. You can preach either side all you want in my ears and it won't phase more than 1% at the most IMO.

This is a silly question. Propaganda has nothing to do with it. Substitute "reason" for "propaganda" and you'll have a more sensible question. Consider that the vast majority of people are indoctrinated in religious belief from birth. That means that the vast majority of atheists were once believers who came to their senses.

zOMG MORE ATHIEST PROPOGANDA!

Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated.

Your argument is speculative, at best
Christian people often claim that atheists must have suffered some traumatic event in their lives who made them stop believing in God.
Both are true to a certain extent. Some people become atheists or agnostics simply because they eventually found the theocentric view of the world illogical after giving it a fair bit of thought.
Others can certainly rebel against religion because, having once been devout and having received no attention from their God in a time of great need, concluded God must either not exist or be a real asshole.
Indoctrination can also generate atheists. Hey, at least *I* happen to have been taught a scientific world-view from the cradle... and not baptized or otherwise forced down a particularly religious path.