atheists, when did you lose your faith?

Question

assuming you did of course. I gave up religion in favor of reason and science 10 years ago and live a much fuller life for it. Tell me about you

Answer 1

You didn't give it up, because you never had it. Seeking the approval of your own kind won't salve your conscience either. Read the Gospel of John.

Answer 2

I remember the event clearly, happened when I was 13 years old, I was in church, and I was a devout Christian. The only money I had was 25 cents to put in the collection plate. The usher gave me a dirty look for only putting in a quarter. I was so embarassed I left the church and never went back. The pastor even saw me on the street and asked me why. I was too young to be able to answer so I avoided him and his church. As I grew older, it bothered me, Why did I feel so guilty or ashamed? Since these are not healthy emotions, I looked for the source. Was there a reason for me to feel guilty or ashamed? In other words, what was my part in the whole deal. Many years later, I came to the conclusion that I should not feel guilty, nor be part of an institution that manufactures guilt as a control measure. And I never went back to church nor embraced the Christian religion as a solution.

Over the years I have done much soul searching, and I am a political atheist. However, I do believe in a higher power, that being love. It is a power available to all who seek, it is everywhere and it is "God" to me. Very few people understand my journey but that should not matter one iota.

The science community is very important to me, as is the ideals of the community. Some religions have principles that I hold dear. Thou shalt not kill, do unto others, etc. However, in my opinion, no religion has the corner on the market, most of the principles are the same and they are spiritual principles. When humans put their 2 cents in, we often see self serving, self righteous bigots, that clearly have their own agenda. I never want to be associated with any group that denies other groups. LIVE AND LET LIVE. Peace.

Answer 3

I was a very strong Catholic up until the age of 14. Then I got into science a little bit, and was totally confused. I was at the stage of 'kinda not believing 'God', but I would start believing in it, if someone gave me some 'proof''. I am now 18, and an atheist. Some might think, that I am too young to make a decision like this, but I am just glad that I realised it sooner than later.

And yeah, it changed my life quite a bit. Now I am scared of death. But I don't see it as a negative at all. I mean, I don't sit there thinking "Hope I don't die. Hope I don't die. Hope I don't die". I just started worshipping my life more, knowing that this is my only chance to do something.

Answer 4

I never really had faith. I wanted to believe for several years... most of my childhood actually. I felt like there had to be some truth to this whole god thing because everyone else seemed to believe it. I went along with the charade until i graduated from high school and went off to college. Being free of my family and able to explore things on my own opened me up to the reality of the world. Even while in college i still had some spirituality. Up until my junior year or so i believed that everything happens for a reason. It just seemed to me that a lot of my actions led to other things. I soon realized that i was simply mistaking chance correlations for fate or whatever you want to call it.

Now I'm totally free of magical thinking, superstition, and belief in the supernatural. I'm much happier for it.

Answer 5

I'm an agnostic. I left organized religion as a teenager. I read a lot, and went to college. It is a very freeing thing. The world makes more sense. Life is easier.

Answer 6

As my critical evaluation and reasoning skills improved, my reliance on religion decreased. I found literalist denominations wholly unconvincing, and moved farther into interpretive Christianity, to the point where I had to stop and ask myself if this was rational at all, no matter how symbolic any or all of it was.

And it was not. An exhaustive search and time of reason led me to the conclusion that the only rationally defensible position was agnosticism.

Answer 7

I never feel that I *lost* my faith; I merely repositioned it!

It was gradual... I attended churches and bible camp throughout my childhood but I as always the rebellious one, always the one asking questions that those who were supposed to be in the know could not answer. My mother had very pagan thoughts and ideas and shared them with me.

College philosophy courses threw more questions an doubt at me, as they tend to do!

I enjoy learning about other people's beliefs, and can understand thoroughly the lure of organized religion -- man is a gregarious animal, no? The sense of security and belonging are attractive. But I just prefer to put my faith in something more tangible, and do what I can do to benefit myself and others in *this* life.

Answer 8

I never lost faith - I can't lose something I never had!

I've always been about science and love learning different things about the world and where we come from ~evolutionary speaking of course :P!

Answer 9

Well when i was a child I went to church but I always questioned wether it was all real. I felt as if it could have all been one big fable that got passed down and added to along the years. And while in highschool I studied evolution very heavily and it makes so much more sense to me!!!

Answer 10

I'm more of an agnostic atheist (or is that atheistic agnostic?)...anyway... I tuned out from my synagogue when they showed us this movie that basically was propaganda against marrying outside of the faith. I was 11 years old.

Answer 11

gradually after 9/11 and I heard that many Muslims did as they suffered mentally from terrorism and religion so now they enjoy peace of mined and they do not have to worry about joining terrorism.