Conversion to atheism

Is it worth the effort to try and ‘convert’ theists to atheism? Here are some other, related questions. How important is it for one to know the truth?
Some theists derive emotional strength and support from their religion. Is it right to try and ‘convert’ these people?
And finally, what do you believe to be the benefits of being an atheist?(My use of quote marks in the above sentences indicate, because I do not wish to imply that atheism is a religion.)This message has been edited by Zawinul, 12-29-2004 14:53 AM

Sometimes my mother and I (my mother is a Christian) get into conversations about the origins of human life. I often have to let my mother win the argument for the sake of peace. Her religion is her life, and she gets really upset sometimes, because she does not think I will make it into the new kingdom. This is an upsetting position for me, too; I have only recently finished wrestling with the problem of whether to keep on pretending that I believe in creationism, just so that I can make her happy.I am of the opinion that there is no real need to change people’s beliefs. Atheism seems to be propagating itself through cultures, seemingly on its own steam. Although I don’t have exact figures, I am pretty sure that only a few hundred years ago, the vast majority of the British population believed in God. It is surely the case that much fewer Britons believe in God today. How did this come about? We don’t see atheists preaching door to door or anything, I think it’s simply down to people calculating the evidence for themselves. Truth will out, eventually.

"What you hold to be true is not necessarily true for me, i.e. me - that vase is blue, colour blind person - that vase is green, interior decorator - that vase is aqua. Does that mean that any of these statements are not true, accurate, or without flaw?" - ShazAs far as I know, outside the human perception, the vase is only one colour. The same could be said of a lot of things. There are many different perceptions of what the ultimate truth is (where did we come from; who is God, etc), but outside of our perception, there exists only one truth. Who knows what that truth is? (I guess that this makes me a fence sitter )"Mind you I should add I am not your 'classical' Christian" - ShazI suppose that in a way, I am a Christian too, in the sense that I agree with and tend to live by Jesus’ teachings, which are convergent with a lot of the teachings of Eastern philosophers. I’d be interested to know how you mean you are not a classical Christian. I also find it interesting that you started off as atheist/agnostic and then found Christianity. Most people I know went about things from the other direction "Compared to the scary world of unimpeachable superbeings offered by theists like you, I find atheism quite comforting. It's a relief to know that my efforts to do good in the world will be opposed only by other humans, not by the personification of evil with powers unopposable by mortals." - CrashfrogYep I was brought up to believe that there was no real need to try and do good in the world, because eventually, God would sort out the problems. Any attempts made to bring paradise on sooner would be seen as being disrespectful to God. Personally, I don’t like the idea of suffering without doing something about it.

p.s. Are you Jar? - ShazNope... I'm a newbie. Orangutans sure are getting popular, tho