Originally this was written in response to an article that talked about "New Atheists" not actually giving up on their religious beliefs. I'm reposting as I think there is something profoundly disturbing about the way religious individuals "CONVERT" to atheism, [as if there is even such a thing as conversion]. There is no conversion it is just giving up on religious claims and seeing them for the lies that they are.

What's interesting in the post is the idea of "Giving Up Religion." I have often asserted that the new atheists come to atheism throught faith and belief. They do not know how to interact with the world around them in any other way. Atheists do not believe in atheism. Atheism is the result of critical inquiry. No atheist believes Hitchens, Dawkins, Harris or anyone else. The "atheists" who come from religious backgrounds fall into atheism as if it is an alternate belief system. They may be free from their religiosity but they are not free from the "Just have faith and believe" mode of making sense out ot the world. They do not know how to function in a world free of their religious ways of making sense of the world.

Okay, with time and patience they may catch on. Certainly being around Atheists and sites like this can help. Nevertheless, this is what I see among the new "converts." [Keeping in mind that there is no such thing as "converting." There literally is nothing to convert to. Atheism is not a belief system. There is no dogma. There are just loads of people who have reached the concusion that religious claims have not met their burden of proof.