How do you suppose atheists become atheists??

Question

I almost feel that they do because of something traumatic has happened to them that caused them to stop believing in God. But what are your thoughts? Are they just born not believing that God exists???

Answer 1

Interesting question, let's suppose some atheists become atheists because they've read and examined the Bible. Interesting concept, isn't it? Let's look at a common Christian concept:Faith Is Required To Know God:
Suppose you were an omnipotent god, and you demand worship, such as the Christian God. Would you give proof of your existence to those who wished to follow you? I imagine for Jehovah that it would be quite simple to perform a continual sequence of verifiable miracles. It would be quite logical in practice too, for it would keep God’s followers from delusion and doubt. There is no such luck with Jehovah though. He demands absolute fidelity without any demonstration of his existence. The only so called record of his existence is the bible. I think it pretty much goes with out saying that not only is the bible 2,000 years out dated, but it is also very unoriginal. Any Christian who proposes that the bible is indeed evidence for God’s existence is proposing a double standard. For there are many books which claim to be actual accounts of a higher power. With this in mind, why not believe in Allah from the Koran? Could it be because your faith is what determines your belief and not your so called “factual” book?
Let’s examine what faith is. The definition of faith is hope for a circumstance or thing that is not proven to be true. There is no virtue in accepting something on faith, since it may very well be false, and it is clearly not virtuous to believe the false. Faith has also been proven through out history, time and again, that it is equivalent to massive hysteria; IE: Crusades, Burning Times, Inquisitions, Holy Wars, etc. On a grand scale faith, thus far, has only proven to be an intellectual weakness, and a significant barrier to scientific and moral progress. With all of this in mind, how can God possibly expect us to view faith as the greatest way to glorify him, let alone demand this of us?
Most importantly, the point to remember here is that if we don’t believe in him, we go to Hell, and this is a greater evil than a lack of the “virtue” of faith or a stunting of science, or anything else conceivable. If God is truly concerned about the good, he will do what he can to keep us from Hell, and withholding vital information from us is the exact opposite of this.

Answer 2

Everyone is born not believing in god.
Ugh, I hate when people think the only reason I'm atheist is because of some "trauma" in my life. In fact, I don't know any atheists who stopped believing in god because of something traumatic. Unless you count actually reading the bible, which can probably be described as such. :)
Why don't you just ask atheists how they became atheists? My story, along with others, is here:
http://www.happyatheistforum.com/ftopic77.html

Answer 3

Most atheists, at least in the US, grew up in religious families, went to church, Sunday school, bible study. Then, at some point in their lives, an amazing thing happened.. they learned ed how to think properly. They learned reason... critical thought... logic. They became curious... they studied and learned about science, and history, and philosophy. They read ACTUAL BOOKS, and for a very strange reason... they actually WANTED to... because they found knowledge, and different viewpoints INTERESTING.

The funny thing is that when somebody does all of those thinks, and turns that knowledge and wickedly sharp thinking skills upon their religious beliefs, their brains tell them "Hey... wait a minute... this stuff is absolute, total nonsense and horse cr*p." And their religious beliefs go 'poof'... gone. They overcome the brainwashing that they were subjected to all the while they were growing up. Santa Claus... poof. Easter Bunny... poof. Tooth fairy... poof. God... poof. Boogeyman... poof.

This only happens to about 13% of people, though... the other 87% move on into adulthood believing the same nonsense they believed as children. Oh, they get over some of the harmless beliefs, like Santa... but the most dangerous, mind-bending one... god... sticks with them, because they never learned the things that could save them... a love of knowledge and learning, and the ability to think properly.

"A thorough reading and understanding of the Bible is the surest path to atheism” ~ Donald Morgan

Answer 4

People believe only what they are taught. Some people ask questions about what they are taught. By doing this analysis, they come to the conclusion that there's no God. Because some religions aren't designed to handle people questioning the belief system, nobody is able to convince these people of religious matters. Then, these people just become Atheists.

It's not a matter of trauma. It's simply a matter of not accepting every single thing that one is instructed to believe.

Answer 5

The most traumatic thing that has happened to me that has made me become an atheist is school. Which I guess is traumatizing. I just found it harder to understand the Bible than science. It felt like trying to understand Christianity required a huge gap to be jumped and you just had to accept, but science allowed me to take baby steps of understanding. I'm the type of person who needs answers, answers I can personally understand, you know?

Answer 6

some of us, yes, are born without the mental defense mechanism that most people have to deal with the prospect of their own inevitable deaths. Or, we have tried to believe, but too many logical things tell us that believeing would be foolish. And attempts at prayer are always fruitless, in our experience. Some might be people who thought they were doing exactly what they believed that "God" wanted them to do and were christians, but then something happened to them that was so awful it woke them up to the fact that the "god" they relied on to protect them, either didn't care that much, or was indeed imaginary.

Answer 7

I can't think of a time when I believed in God. Nothing traumatic happened to me to cause that. I wasn't raised in a church going family. I was never told that God is the almighty and Jesus is his son. My grandparents tried taking me to church but it never stuck. Even at an early age I was always looking for concrete answers and never seemed to get one about God. So I didn't put much faith in it.

Answer 8

No, I don't think people are born believing in God. If you are born and raised in say...Thailand then your probably going to be a Buddhist. So if you are not socialized into any religion, then you may very well be an atheist your whole life.

Answer 9

I'd say it is probably learning and personal experience that does it, especially classes like history and science (not that I'd know - I believe in God, but I think that I can actually understand where the atheists are coming from).

Answer 10

I tend to agree with you! I think they had a traumatic experience, asked for God's help and nothing happened. Like miracles really happen, lol.