Cognitive Dissonance: Atheism Links

Cognitive Dissonance

Cognitive Dissonance: a discomfort caused by holding conflicting ideas simultaneously The theory of cognitive dissonance proposes that people have a motivational drive to reduce dissonance. They do this by changing their attitudes, beliefs and actions. Dissonance is also reduced by justifying, blaming and denying.

Atheism Links

This is a (short) list of some of my favorite resources regarding the conversation between belief and nonbelief. Whether you're a Christian, an atheist, an apostate (like myself) or an "aspiring apostate" - you'll find most of what you want/need to know on these sites/pages.

Big Think
Sam Harris
Atheist Alliance
Ask the Atheists
American Atheist
Apostates of Islam
Reddit - "/r/atheism"
A Guide For The Godless
Richard Dawkins Foundation
American Humanist Association
Christopher Hitchens (1947-2011)
Follow me on Twitter (@fisheswithfeet)
Talk Origins - Evolution vs. Creationism 
Christianity Disproved - Beyond a Reasonable Doubt!
- Freethought Blogs (I'm hoping Fisheswithfeet will be hosted here someday)

One must state it plainly. Religion comes from the period of human prehistory where nobody—not even the mighty Democritus who concluded that all matter was made from atoms—had the smallest idea what was going on. It comes from the bawling and fearful infancy of our species, and is a babyish attempt to meet our inescapable demand for knowledge (as well as for comfort, reassurance and other infantile needs). Today the least educated of my children knows much more about the natural order than any of the founders of religion, and one would like to think—though the connection is not a fully demonstrable one—that this is why they seem so uninterested in sending fellow humans to hell.” - Christopher Hitchens

Beware the irrational, however seductive. Shun the 'transcendent' and all who invite you to subordinate or annihilate yourself. Distrust compassion; prefer dignity for yourself and others. Don't be afraid to be thought arrogant or selfish. Picture all experts as if they were mammals. Never be a spectator of unfairness or stupidity. Seek out argument and disputation for their own sake; the grave will supply plenty of time for silence. Suspect your own motives, and all excuses. Do not live for others any more than you would expect others to live for you.” - Christopher Hitchens

"This to me is the true horror of religion. It allows perfectly decent and sane people to believe by the billions, what only lunatics could believe on their own. If you wake up tomorrow morning thinking that saying a few Latin words over your pancakes is gonna turn them into the body of Elvis Presley, ok, you have lost your mind. But if you think more or less the same thing about a cracker and the body of Jesus, you’re just a Christian." - Sam Harris

We are all atheists about most of the gods that humanity has ever believed in. Some of us just go one god further.” - Richard Dawkins