How did you convince a devout religious follower to abandon their religion?

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Silliness. They’re far more likely to convince you to abandon atheism.

Religion, spirituality speak to that small part of our psyche that wants to hear that it’ll all be alright. That little part of ourselves begs to be expressed, and we all find our own personal ways to do it.

Once spirituality takes hold, the mind builds on it. Your mind can build an entire cathedral, resplendent in glory and wonder, all within the confines of your brain. And because it’s in your mind, you can stay there all the time. Once that cathedral is built in your mind, nothing’s getting rid of it.

That cathedral is the place to go back to when times get rough and you just can’t do it anymore. You turn back to God and you believe it’s going to get better. The cathedral is always there, in the back of your mind.

Compared with the cathedral in your devout friend’s mind, you’re just a nattering little bug. Of course, he doesn’t see you that way. He sees you as a visitor to his cathedral. When you open up the space for a conversation about his beliefs, you’re bringing him back to his cathedral. The one he’s been building in his head for his entire life.

What cathedral do you have that’s even more glorious and wondrous? You don’t have one. You can’t have one, because science and logic are the paths walked by scientists and philosophers, not you.

You chose to believe in science, that’s the long and short of it. Religion, spirituality, is the path other people choose to walk. It’s way more real to them than your science. Because science can’t build mind cathedrals. That’s not the point of science.