to the atheists?

Question

were you ever a christian or believer in Jesus? If so why are you an atheist now?

Answer 1

I'm not sure.

I gave lip-service to Jesus when I was a kid because those around me did. People don't like the comparison, but exactly the same as I was with Santa Claus. But I don't think I've ever actually felt God or Jesus or whatever in my heart the way some thiests have.

For me, it's not so much that I 'became' an atheist as that I accepted that I was one. That happened when I was, I guess, thirteen or fourteen.

Answer 2

Because I believed in Santa Claus when I was little too. When we are young many of our ideas come from those older than us, we trust they are wiser. It's only when we become older and wiser than those we thought were wise that we see things for ourselves. How can I believe in something invented by man to control man through fear. Christianity works on a principal of reward or punishment, two human concepts. We use this to get a lab rat to do what we want them to do in a an experiment. The control which Christianity has on so many human minds is a roadblock to the continual evolution of the human species. We could be evolving further, expanding the abilities of our minds and exploring our truer existence within our universe. Instead Christians are stuck in a single book which is supposed to explain all and there's no need to look further, for all will be clear when you die. What a waste of human life, to live for what comes after it. What about making the very best of what we have now through true love, compassion and expansion of human understanding. Why do we need war? Why are so many Christians talking metaphorically of war in reference to their religion? Christianity keeps the worst of what we are as humans alive, segregation of those not Christian, war to expand their beliefs to others, oppression of gays who have always been and will always be here but the church deemed all sex unnecessary unless for procreation so of course gays are unnecessary. Christianity breeds hate and distrust for others not Christian. I've meet more than one Christian who think all Muslims are bad people though they themselves don't know any. Some of the nicest people I've meet on this planet are Muslim, on average they don't seem even nearly as close to hate and distrust as Christians on average. Good luck in your beliefs I hope they work well for you:)

Answer 3

No, I've never been religious at all. I probably used to half-believe in Santa Claus when I was very young but that's about the limit of my belief in fantasy characters, and I grew out of that long ago.

Answer 4

I was raised Catholic, by parents who never went to church.

I was forced to go to Saturday Catechism....

I was forced to make my communion and confirmation....

and not once, did my parents ever go.....

I have read and re-read the Bible many times......and have never gotten satisfactory answers to my questions....

I decided that this religion wasn't for me, when I was in Church one time during lent, and the priest said I was going to HELL if I didn't " give up " something for 40 days!!!......

Answer 5

I was never a believer. I was never raised on any religious tenets and I came to my conclusions on my own. They are mine and only mine.

Answer 6

no never got brainwashed great parents thay are not brainwash not even my sister and two nieces are not brainwashed

Answer 7

Here is my answer as it is posted on my yahoo 360 blog

Realizing the fallacies of religion

Throughout most of my life I had doubts about religion and god, despite being baptized catholic and attending catholic school for twelve years. I never really cared for attending mass, unless it was for a wedding or funeral, but still had a belief in god.

In December of 1986 I attended Christmas mass to pray for the well being of my grandfather who had been in and out of the hospital with cancer since the summer. Coming home from mass I heard the phone ringing; since we received calls from family members who live in Italy, it was common getting calls this early in the morning. However on this day, I felt nauseated at the sound of the phone, my instincts told me this was not going to be the normal holiday greetings.

My mother answered the phone, seconds later I could see tears running down her cheeks, I knew what that meant even before being told, my grandfather had passed away. I inquired about why my prayers were not answered and the answers that I was given were: god works in mysteries ways or it is not for us to question god. I felt let down, and that no definitive answers to my questions could be answered. My faith in god decreased as the years passed on, I started to question religion and god. The more I questioned religion and god the more I realized the logical fallacies with religion and how it is used to exploit the ignorance of people.

Prayer is defined as a spoken or unspoken communication with god, a saint or deity. Prayer is either performed during mass or privately. Now if prayers are answered by god then not only would my prayers have been answered but also others prayers ranging from diseases being cured to world peace and yet, people are still diagnosed and die from various diseases, world hunger still exists and fighting between various nations still rages on. So what are the reasons why prayers are not answered? What are the explanations given by clergyman? The answers boil down to: gods will, god does answer prayers, god answers them in a different manner, it is not meant for us to know; we are not to question why god did not answer our prayers. These are nothing more than copout answers given by clergymen to ensure that people do not stray away from religion and not question their belief in god. To try and make changes in society for the better, people should take action or attempt to make a difference in society rather than relying on some verbal ritual with god.

For example, in grammar school during a religion class, we were told that god is everywhere. I inquired if god is everywhere, couldn’t I simply pray to god from my home instead of going to church on Sunday? I was told that I had to attend church on Sunday. At that time, I just accepted the answer being young and naïve, but later began to question more about religion and god. The three concepts of god as I was taught were: all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-loving, it is my opinion all three are logical flaws. The concept of god being all-powerful could be refuted with the omnipotent paradox; could god create a rock so heavy that he himself could not lift it. The purpose of this paradox is to expand a person’s intellect. Of course there are a few religious people who despise this paradox simply because it questions god being all-powerful; and a few others would blindly state that god can do anything and still refuse to open their mind to the question.

The concept of god being all-knowing and all-loving is inconsistent with what has been mentioned about him in the bible. If god was “real” and was all-knowing then he would already know in advance, that Adam and Eve would disobey him for eating from the forbidden tree, even before “creating” the universe. However, the bible says that god was angry and tossed Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden; if he was all-loving he would have forgiven them for what they had done; according to the bible he did not, therefore, disproving that he is all-loving as well as all-knowing. If god is all-knowing and knows what is going to happen before it happens, wouldn’t it be logical for god to change an event or action that displeases him? If god is all-loving then why is there a hell? Religious people make the claim that the reason for a hell is for those who refuse to accept god; but if god is all-loving wouldn’t he still accept a person into the kingdom of heaven? Of course he would, but hell is used as a fear factor to condition people to follow the rules of the religious denomination they belong to.

An interesting quote by Lucius Annaeus Seneca: Religion is regarded by the common people as true; by the wise as false and by rulers as useful. I feel that this quote is an excellent example of how religion is used by influential people to convince others to blindly follow their ideology regardless of who is affected by it. Most times in order to achieve this goal, quotes from the bible will often be used and interpreted to conform to the ideas of the person giving the interpretation. Jim Jones founder of The Peoples Temple, David Koresh head of branch Davidians are example of people using religion and quotes from the bible to convince people to follow their ideology and way of life.

Of course the end result of these two individuals is known due to media coverage.

While the war in Afghanistan to capture Osama bin Laden is justified, due to his involvement with the terrorist attack on September 11, 2001; the Iraq war is not. President George W. Bush stated that god has told him to invade Iraq as a way to justify his reason for going to war against Iraq; Osama bin Laden using Islam to influence his followers to carry out terrorist attacks, both are clearly great examples of the quote by Lucius Annaeus Seneca.

Despite these obvious logical fallacies with religion and the concept of god, people still refuse to let go of their beliefs because they are so dependent on it that it appears to be more of an addiction than anything else. Religious denominations have mentally conditioned people throughout the centuries to think and assume that without religion and the belief in god, society will be doomed. However, society is capable of living an ethical life without being dependent on religion or a belief in god; because we as a society set the tone for what is acceptable and unacceptable behavior. There are other examples of how the use of religion has had a negative impact on society than a positive impact. The Crusades, the Inquisition, Salem witch trials, Native American Indians killed for not converting to Christianity.

Therefore; religion exploits the ignorance of people and attempts to take away a person’s individuality, and independent thought; because of this, I have turned away from religion and freed myself in order to be an individual, with independent thoughts. Relying and believing in god only creates a false sense of security and when society starts to realize this, the better off everyone will be.