Godless: How an Evangelical Preacher Became One of America's Leading Atheists

by Dan Barker

I finally realized that faith is a cop-out, a defeat—an admission that the truths of religion are unknowable through evidence and reason. It is only indemonstrable assertions that require the suspension of reason, and weak ideas that require faith.

I did not lose my faith—I gave it up purposely. The motivation that drove me into the ministry—to know and speak the truth—is the same that drove me out. I lost faith in faith. I was forced to admit that the bible is not a reliable source of truth: it is unscientific, irrational, contradictory, absurd, unhistorical, uninspiring and morally unsatisfying.

Millions of good people live happy, productive, moral lives without believing in a god.

It is easy to produce or coax inner feelings, and it happens in all religions.

Some values are truly transcendent (in the natural sense), rising above religious walls. Human love, kindness and intelligence are better than belief, and superior to superstition.