Atheos We Always Do It This Way

This is how it's always been done, so it must be right. Right?

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Because that’s how I was raised.

Your parents were unjustified in raising you that way.

Are there things you were raised to believe in that you no longer do as an adult?

So, everyone is justified in believing whatever claims they happened to grow up around?

If everyone retained the values & beliefs with which they were raised, wouldn't we still be stuck with slavery, misogyny & the like?

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I believe because I’ve always believed.

So you're a theist because you're too lazy to reexamine your own beliefs?

Shouldn’t you be concerned about whether or not those beliefs are true?

You were already a theist even in your mother's womb?

A child might say the same about Santa Claus. Would that be justified belief?

Why do you choose comfort over knowing the truth?

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I have faith because of family tradition.

There are many familial & cultural traditions worth holding, but how could faith be one?

Family faiths lead to stoning & honor killings.

Aren't discovery & learning positive things? And don't they often involve revising discredited traditional beliefs?

If my parents & their parents had been high school dropouts, would that be good reason for me to drop out, too?

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It’s what I was raised with.

I was raised with delusions as well, then I reached the age of reason & grew up. Think you can do the same?

So, you believe because of tradition? How do stories being handed down over time increase the likelihood that they’re true?

If you knew something was false, but you were raised with it, would you continue to believe?

Your parents were obviously victims of faith. Why do you to follow them in epistemic tragedy?

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Millions of books have been written about God. If He doesn’t exist, why have so many people taken the time to write about Him?

What does the popularity of a belief have to do with its truth? Haven't majorities been mistaken before?

Don't many of those books speak of different, mutually contradictory deities?

Do you think it has something to do with how well those books tend to sell?

As many books have been written about dragons & extraterrestrials. Don't people just write about what they find interesting?

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My faith has been around for a long time.

Isn't that also true of many other faiths?

The longevity of a delusion doesn't bolster its credibility.

Exactly: It's stale & out of date.

Haven't people spent countless generations holding other false beliefs & reinforcing them in others?

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My faith is integral to my culture.

What does that have to do with the truth of that faith’s assertions about reality?

Didn't your tradition supplant previous traditions? Why was that okay, whereas revising current traditions is not?

Why should we value a culture built around indemonstrable claims about reality?

Are cultures static, unchanging things? Shouldn't we expect them to become refined as time progresses?

So are certain foods, right? Does that mean that your culture's foods are more correct than others?

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My parents believe it.

So your parents are experts on whether God exists?

Do you mirror your parents' beliefs in every respect? Like, do you believe it because they do or because the belief is actually true?

What if your parents were from elsewhere & had another faith? You'd also believe, but your beliefs would be completely different, no?

My parents don't believe it.

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Religion is ancient & everywhere. It must be essentially true.

Just because a belief is ancient doesn’t mean it’s true. Geocentrism was ancient & ubiquitous, but it certainly isn't true.

Out with the old, in with the new,' I always say.

Different religions make different faith claims & they can't all be true. How could Jesus be crucified & not crucified (Surah 4:157-158)?

Misogyny is also ancient & everywhere. I guess I should view women as subordinate to men, then, right?

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There are many martyrs in my faith.

People once believed that tomatoes (nightshade) were deadly.

There are martyrs in almost all faiths & they all can’t be true. Why is the truth of a claim related to how many people died?

Aren't we all equals? You can't put someone else on a pedestal over another person.

Isn't it a shame that they all died for a delusion?