It’s difficult to make people change. But one thing we can do is to show them that they’ve been doing the same thing on most aspects of life. Our Math, Biology, and Physics are pretty much atheistic. We no longer ask bible, or quran, to explain how to build skyscrapper or how to launch rocket on the moon. Here, non religious approach is what people use to get things done and that’s just that.
However, quite often, on what truly matters in life, people resort to religions. People resort to religions to pick a mate, to decide how to deal with others, to vote, etc. That’s because on those area, religions still work. After all religious people successfully reproduce more than atheists. They also tend to be more successful politically.
If we can show them that people can attract mates and be powerful through atheistic understanding, people would at least learn more about secular approach to analyze their problem.
There are many reasonable explanation why people still use religions. It’s basically similar to the reason why people use emotion or instinct at all rather than purely their ratio.
The more something is important, the more that thing is hardwired in our brain. In other word, to successfully reproduce in the gene pool, humans do not need to think. They just need to follow their instinct and feeling. Quite often the way to win is to hurt others. Such thoughts are often hidden deep in humans’ subconscious mind. People want to feel that they’re good but being good is just not the way to maximize their profit.
Instinctively, for example, humans want to get rid competitors. Deep inside, people want to control, enslave, and kill others. However, they need a veneer. A way to justify that things are good. Here, religions give them the veneer. Religions allow them to get the benefit of screwing others without having to feel bad about themselves.
Hence, it doesn’t matter how wrong religion is. As long as religious people keep having that edge, people will be religious.
So how do we persuade people to see the world from atheistic points of view?
Still by showing the benefit.
There is a progress in science. First science works on aspects of life with cooperative aspects. It doesn’t hurt anyone to believe in Newton’s mechanic. It benefits everyone that the truth show up. When it comes to economic truth for example, things start getting controversial. Even though free market countries are richer, many do not like it. Hence, for many years, people do use religions to select their economic system. After all, science maybe true, but young, and religions may be irrational but old and proven. So for a while religion is actually on the side of capitalism and more religious countries are richer because they are capitalistic.
Then science catch up. Now, we no longer need religion to see that free market works. We have plenty of evidence that wealth of a nation depends on economic freedom. So, science then start answering economic issues replacing religions.
Politic and sexual selection, however is more controversial than even economic. The zero sum aspect of the game is greater. For every piece of power held by one guy it’s less power for others. For every one hot babe that picks you, there will be another male that would have to pick someone uglier or jerk of to Miyabi.
Making the world a better place is not a big turn on. Humans are selfish. The one that masked their selfishnest are quite often the one most selfish because they want to get rich by screwing others.
The easiest way is to persuade them to read evolution theory of course. But why bother reading evolution theory?
Well there is something in evolution theory that explains how to attract mates beyond what religions teach. There is also plenty of atheistic analysis on politic. Robert Green, Matt Ridley, are great sources of this type of thinker. People with atheistic understanding of these aspects tend to have an edge. People that think that God gives mandates to leaders, will be easily controlled and exploited by people that knows that power comes from barrel of guns to those who control the army and the media. Giving this benefit will motivate people to at least learn, understand, and use atheistic evolutionary psychology to get the most in life.
Most ideologies, and religions, for example, will tell you that beauty doesn’t matter. Evolutionary psychology not only predict that beauty matters a lot, but also correctly predict that people will try to convince you otherwise.
After all sexual selection is pretty much a zero sum game. One’s victory always means another defeat. Hence, evolutionary psychology and game theory would correctly predict that most religious guidance on how to get laid will not only be wrong, but will quite often be the opposite of what’s true.
If you’re a hot woman and you want to attract a high quality husband, you’d have a much better chance if you show some cleavage than wearing burqha. Quite obviously many will compel you to do the opposite. Most males do not want prince charming to see your beauty. Also most girls want to get rid pretty girls from competition.
Here, an atheistic girl, will get better mate, if she understand evolutionary psychology. Hence, she’ll have intensive to study evolutionary psychology, and will be sympathetic to atheistic causes more.