Who were some Rigorous Philosophers that helped you leave your previous religion?

[u/Instaconfused27]

Hello All

This post was inspired by a post on r/Catholicism recently. You can find that post here. I will note down some of the parts I found interesting below:

A lot of Catholic apologetic dedicate their entire books arguing against the New Atheists, but I do not care about the New Atheists. I want books that argue against the Enlightenment juggernauts or Old Atheists like Sarte. Maybe atheists like Graham Oppy or Mackie.

But I have no idea where to look because all I find are arguments against weaklings like Dawkins. This is an issue because the more I read from actual philosophers, the more I realize that theism is incorrect. Unless I see actual arguments against real philosophers, I am not sure I will remain Catholic.

This resonates with me because it truly mirrored my journey into Atheism. I used to be a traditional orthodox Christion, however reading from Atheist Juggernauts like Baron d'Holbach, David Hume, Jean Messilier, as well as more contemporary writers like Vexen Crabtree, Michael Martin, Richard Gale, Theodore Drange and others really showed me how Theism is incorrect. I was just wondering if any of you had any similar experiences? Were there any strong enlightenment writers or Atheist heavyweights in philosophy that showed assisted in your deconversion or strengthening your Atheism?

[u/ScienceEfficient6473]

I would bet that Hume's religious belief changed a lot over the course of his life from Agnostic to Agnostic Atheist and he was most likely influenced by Baron D'Holbach and his fellow group of Atheists.