There will be self-contradictions all throughout your view. You must either adopt it all or nothing, otherwise you do not have a worldview that makes sense. You go on to say, “There’s nothing wrong with picking out the best sides of religion.” That sounds nice, but I disagree. I wonder if you have thought, if you are truly an atheist, how can there even be such things as morals? How can you define good? In relation to what? Where does this come from? If there is some moral law, have you thought about where it comes from? Do you think that implies there must be some sort of law giver? In the atheistic worldview what is the moral law and who is the law giver? You say you are “stealing from religion ” that I agree with as well. However, evaluating your view again, I do not see how you can be attracted to the “moralistic side” of religion without the existence of God. We have common ground here, so again, we do not disagree on everything. Going further in your talk, I must say I too love Christmas carols, looking at churches, and turning the pages of the Old Testament. Without a God, where do we come from? What does life really mean? How do we differentiate between good and evil? What happens when we die? I wonder from your perspective, though, how without a God, any of these key issues in life can be addressed. To me, knowing there is a God (the same conclusion to which avowed atheist Sir Antony Flew came) gives me meaning, purpose, knowledge of where we came from, where we are going, and how to live. This truth claim informs our entire worldview and how we live. That’s the very very beginning,” I can respect that because I agree that a truth claim regarding the existence of God is just the beginning. To start with when you say, “Of course there’s no God. I will try to touch on them in the order you bring them up in your talk.

I am a Christian seminary student and have both many things I agree with and disagree with from your talk.

First, I want to say I admire your courage to share these ideas publicly and I do think you are a gifted orator.

Alain de botton atheism 2.0