無神論者也宣講

And in one of San Diego’s biggest parks， you can find Christians， 3）Hari Krishnas， and Muslims， handing out pamphlets， defending their religious views， and looking for converts. Recently a group of atheists has set up camp nearby to 4）proselytize as well.

Stroll through the plaza of Balboa Park and you’ll pass an assortment of musicians， face painters and religious groups spreading their beliefs. But you’ll also see a table draped with a large blue banner that says： Relax， Hell Does Not Exist. Approach and you’ll hear conversations like this.

Kid： If you’re an atheist， you don’t believe in heaven or hell.

Rob Hudson （San Diego Coalition of Reason）： That doesn’t even make any sense. Who in their right mind would choose to go to hell？

Kid： No one will go to hell unless you choose not to believe in God.

That’s Rob Hudson talking to some kids who strolled by. He spends every Saturday at the booth and seems to thrive on religious arguments.

Woman： The Bible lines up with everything in history perfectly.

Rob： No， it doesn’t.

Woman： Yes.

Rob： I studied history.（to reporter） It’s actually kind of fun because instead of just giving the same argument back every single time， you like to mix it up a little bit.

San Diego Coalition of Reason opened this booth to support the atheist community and to 5）evangelize non-belief to religious people. Jim Eliason， one of the Coalition of Reason members， says they’ve actually had de-conversions at the booth， but with people already questioning their beliefs.

Jim Eliason： Even if they come up to you beforehand and they tell you very stridently that they’re a believer and they’re a Christian， probably what they’re doing is that they’re trying to see if you can give them any new information.

More often， religious people try to convert the atheists. On a recent Saturday， Valentine Ilin was walking by with four of his kids. Ilin is a Baptist and decided to give the atheists a message. So he led his family in a song.

Ilins： （singing） The precious， precious name of Jesus.

Many religions seek converts， but why would atheists care whether other people believe in God？ Debbie Allen， the Coalition of Reason director， says they think the world would be better off with less 6）dogma.

Debbie Allen： I think there are some good tenets within some religions that point people in the right direction， but when you’re talking about a faith that is unwilling to change or grow， that this is the right way and there is no other way， those people are at risk of continuing practices that are 7）detrimental to other human beings.

She also hopes the booth will break down stereotypes.

Debbie： Atheists are not necessarily strange or bad， but a lot of people of faith never meet someone that would be out about being an atheist.

Allen says everyone， atheists included， can benefit from meeting people with different beliefs or a lack of belief， and she’s happy to have that interaction happen at the atheist booth. San Diego is one of several cities with this kind of atheist outreach， but it’s only one of a few places with a booth that’s open every weekend.

在美國圣迭戈市最大的一個公園里，你可以見到基督教教徒、克里須那教派的信奉者和穆斯林在派發宣傳冊，捍衛著各自的宗教信仰，并尋找新皈依者。最近，一群無神論者也在附近設營扎寨，勸說人們改宗。

你如果在巴爾博亞公園的空地上漫步，你會從各色人物身邊經過，音樂人、臉部彩繪師，還有宣傳自身信仰的不同宗教團體。不過，你也會看到這樣一張桌子，掛在桌邊的大張藍色橫幅上寫著：放輕松，地獄并不存在。如果你走近這張桌子，你會聽到這樣的對話。

小孩：如果你是一名無神論者，你就不會相信有天堂、地獄的存在。

羅布·赫德森（圣迭戈理性聯盟）：那種說法不合情理。哪個腦子正常的人會選擇下地獄呢？

小孩：沒有人會下地獄，除非你選擇不相信上帝。

剛才是羅布·赫德森與路過的小孩子的對話。他每個周六都會在這個宣傳點上度過，關于宗教的爭論似乎讓他興奮不已。

女：《圣經》里的事件與所有歷史事件完全吻合。

羅布：不對，不是這樣的。

女：是的。

羅布：我就是學歷史的。（對記者）這種討論其實很有意思，因為你不是每次都用相同的論點，我更愿意把不同的論點混在一塊兒。

圣迭戈理性聯盟設立這個宣傳點旨在支持無神論者這個群體，并向信教的人進行無信仰的宣傳。詹姆·伊萊亞森是這個聯盟的成員，他說，確實有人就在他們這個宣傳點放棄了自己原來的信仰，不過，那些通常是早已對自己的信仰有所懷疑的人。

吉姆·伊萊亞森：他們可能之前曾經來過，他們曾非常堅決地告訴你他們是堅定的信徒，他們信仰基督教，那他們來這里或許只不過是想看看你能給他們提供什么樣的新信息。……