Atheism in a pamphlet

In our neighborhood we don't get too many door-to-door religion salesmen, but they do happen by every once in a while. Recently it was the Mormons. Previously we've had Jehovah's Witnesses and various shades of evangelicals. Most of the time the encounter is very brief: I simply very politely tell them I'm not interested and/or don't have time, and send them on their way. But last year I hit upon a cool and funny idea: send them home with some of my literature. So…

I started thinking about an "atheist pamphlet". It was mainly a gag: Something to hand a hapless proselytizer when they pass me a Watchtower, "WWJD" pamphlet, or start lecturing me on the Bible. But the more I thought about it, the more I thought it was a good idea. I realized after the Mormon encounter that many people of that type don't have a good working knowledge of the non-religious: they only know what they've heard on the news or from their religious leaders… so, generally not positive. I could have a chance to educate a few people, just a little.

There are other "atheist" tracts and pamphlets out there put out by various people and groups, and they're "OK", but they are usually much more antagonistic and negative than I care for, make statements I cannot personally stand by, or they are directed towards a different audience than what I intend.

What would I put in an "atheist pamphlet"? Nothing too long, obviously. Nothing aggressively anti-religion (my personal tastes). Nothing too ivory-tower or philosophical. I wanted something that represented my views and my beliefs, and most importantly, my tone.

So, call this working draft 1:

atheism in a pamphlet.pdf

I'd like to fancy it up a bit, but it works for now.

I've also included the LibreOffice/OpenOffice document if anyone would like to modify it for your own use.

atheism in a pamphlet.odt

Feel free to use it as is or modify it for your own use, with 3 licensing caveats:

Be nice (don't litter or be a jerk while handing them out, etc).
If you modify it, please make a note in the pamphlet that you have modified it from the original.
Provide a link to this page.

2013-06-20 #religion

Comments

Jinx said: 2013-08-31 00:30:49

Nice!

Two little touch ups, page 2, column 1. 2nd area has two "about"s listed. 3rd area first line, I believe, could use an "a".

I wonder if you would want to expound on atheism and "evil" more? Perhaps how not believing in a god doesn't mean you are aligned with "Satan" or whatever?

Thanks!

Quaap said: 2013-09-02 08:53:40

I fixed the typos, thanks! If I end up making another pamphlet, the "we're not evil" would be a good candidate!

mocular said: 2014-03-03 08:01:10

Very nice indeed. I really appreciate the ODT version. Since you provided it, I will use that as a basis for my own personalized version and keep the link to your site as a reference for the original source document.

Looking forward to handing these out to the next crew of door-to-door proselytizers.

Best,

Mocular

alandeon2 said: 2015-04-05 15:17:24

Regarding the believing in God during personal tragedies. The one line I would likely add after "Doubtless some do: people do many things when under extreme stress" would be something like ",as do some theists who decide to stop believing in gods once they experience a tragedy and realize that it is a natural part of life and there was no deity involved." or something like that, just to remind them that it goes both ways.

Great pamphlet. I plan on making a selection or different topics to hand out More...

Pink said: 2016-08-25 01:02:10

Hallo,

I was wondering if I might use your one pamphlet (atheism_in_a_pamphlet.pdf) as a base. I would like to hand it out but, I will first have to translate it and I will change some things here in there.

Rusty said: 2018-06-05 13:34:39

As an atheist I am in agreement with the vast majority of religious traditions on earth, in rejecting the claims and practices of all of their respective competitors. Maybe that's why some claim that atheism is a religion. :)

MyKoL LoKyM said: 2018-06-14 14:10:09

For me, I like to use Logic and History as my side of the "no god(s)" topics. Such as Krishna, Horus Ra, Mithras, Dionysus and the long list of other Crucified Saviors that were written of thousands of years before the advent of the mythical jesus, which is nothing more than a re-write of the afore mentioned. Once researched, its the most logical outcome. Historically, the historians of the time of "jesus" never make mention of him or his 'works'. And they would ha e, had such a man existed. So, More...

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Atheism in a pamphlet

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