Most atheists started with religion and gave it up. How can you dismiss atheism if you've never tried it?

Question

That's the big difference you know. Most atheists have decided that god isn't real because they've explored both sides of the coin. There is credibility when you're arguing from the position of someone who was religiously educated, and then decided it was wrong, as opposed to only having the religous point of view to go by.

We tell children try things before they say they don't like them, so what's your excuse theists? Are you afraid that trying a different viewpoint might open your eyes? What do you have to lose... you can always beg for forgiveness and go back.

Answer 1

The problem is that most atheists that I have talked to were Christians and left because of the way Christians behaved or it was too restricting. The problem is that you can't judge Christianity by Christians because we are all human and make mistakes. Not all people behave the same way and people usually look at the worst examples to judge the entire group. There are a lot of really good Christians out there and on Yahoo! Answers. They are out there feeding starving children, providing medical care to 3rd world countries, praying for peace everyday, and many more things. I used to be a fence straddler. I used to think about becoming an atheist or Wicca, but I didn't. I got it. A lot of people who think that they are Christians either try to follow the laws of the Bible and not the spirit or vice versa.
Those who only follow the law tend to be very judgmental, like the Pharisees and Sadduccees. You know like telling Jesus that it is against the law to heal people on the Sabbath.
Those who follow the spirit tend to have a disdain for the moral code of the Bible. Let everyone live the way they want as long as it doesn't effect me. That would be fine, I guess, if everyone was descent. For every race, religion, or sexual preference their are people within those groups who go too far. Not every parent who wishes that their child would date within their own race burns down churches or uses racial slurs. Not every Christian or muslim believes in using violence to promote there beliefs. Not every homosexual is a pedophile and not every person who thinks that homosexuality is a sin is a "gay basher."
I, and a lot of Christians, do my best to follow the law and keep the spirit. I try not to judge people because I know it's not easy to make decisions by the Book. Look at something like lying. How many times a day would it seemingly make your life easier just to lie? Think about it: Do I look fat in this dress?, How does that taste?, Why are you late?
I love everyone regardless of your religion or lack of one. I hate your religions because they keep you from our Savior. We cannot save ourselves no matter how many good things we do. We can only be saved by Grace.

Answer 2

Sorry to say this,but you're wrong. Maybe it is true that some atheists tried religion at one time and decided against it,and that's their perogative.But,I have to say this wether anyone likes it or not.Noone,and I mean noone,who has had a REAL relationship with God could just one day say He doesn't exist and never has. If atheists had really tried to open up to God instead of worrying about what was being said and done around them that they thought were "unchristianlike",they would never have become atheists.The blame can't be put on anyone or anything but themselves.They have let themselves be robbed of what is rightfully theirs simply because they didn't like something that was written in the Bible or thought the Bible was full of happenings that couldn't possibly be true.So,they dismiss the whole religion thing for a theory that is even more unbelieveabe,and then call themselves educated and the religious people uneducated. Well,many religious people are just as educated,both in religion and in science,but they were strong enough in their faith and trust in God, whom they have a personal relationship with because they didn't let outside influences corrupt their minds,not to be deceived so easily.It takes a strong person to stand against the crowd,but a weak person follows the crowd.
A person who calls themself an atheist has never truly given God a chance.If they had,they wouldn't be asking questions like this,and if they had ever truly felt and seen God work in their lives,they certainly would NEVER deny His existence. Atheism is a cop-out,an easy way out for those who are just itching to find any excuse to deny God for whatever selfish reason.

Answer 3

I don't believe that you Are an atheist, because I don't think you claim to know everything. And that's what the meaning of atheism is. An atheist knows that there is no God of any type.

So at best you are an agnostic. You're not sure if God exists, you can't know God doesn't exist, because then you would be saying that you know everything.
But what type of agnostic are you?
There's the ordinary agnostic who says he doesn't know anything for sure, and then there's the ornery agnostic who says he can't know anything for sure.
Most people that think they are atheists will say they are ornery, you can't know anything for sure.
But if you can't now anything for sure, then how do you know that for sure?
So, now most will say then that "I must be the ordinary agnostic". That they don't know anything for sure.

So now I ask the same question of you. I am will to bet that you have not really tried Christianity, you may have had to go when you were little and that turned you off, I hear that quite a bit, "I had to go as a child, so I'm not going to go now"?? But you have not really look at the facts. I have looked at both sides of the coin, and it takes more faith to be a so called "atheist" than a Christian.

Answer 4

Because I've heard nearly every argument there is that atheists use. There reasoning is always flawed or sounds like they are just trying to sound more intelligent then they are. They credit everything to chance. Then try to say that the laws of physics keep the universe ordered. Normally a random cause will have a random outcome. This is how the universe operates.

I have heard very few arguments from atheists that I can't easily punch holes in. Most just don't hold water. And they are pretty biased in their views and refuse to accept good reasoning.

Not to mention that I am good friends with three atheists and I look at their lives and then look at mine. Their lives pretty much suck, they'll never amount to all that much and they are in constant turmoil. I found peace in God. My religion gives me strength to draw upon. I pity those without that strength.

Answer 5

"They went out from us, but they were not of us, for if they had been of us, they would no doubt continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us." - 1 John 2:19. Therefore if they started with religion and gave it up then they were never Christians from the beginning. A Christian cannot try atheism because that would be a contradiction meaning they would no longer be a Christian. In the end meaning they were also never a Christian in the first place. A Christian is a Christian because that is what he/she is. It's not something you do, it's something that you are.

Answer 6

My mom was raised Catholic but did not practise as an adult.

My dad was raised Greek Orthodox and did not practise as an adult.

I heard about God and Jesus but did not have a relationship; honestly, I lived 90% of my life without religion/God/Jesus. I can remember arguing with my parents and saying things about God/Jesus that I have sinced asked for forgiveness for.

Then there came a time in my life where I had problems. They got bigger than me and it's at this time I turned to God for help.

My life has been 100% better since I've started to build a relationship with God through Jesus. It has helped me see where I needed to make personal changes that have improved my life.

To go back would be unfathomable plus I'd feel as though I'd be letting myself and God down. I was lost then... I feel comfortable and safe living out of God's hands.

Answer 7

Oh,for Pete's sake.Guess what?There are plenty of converts to religion from people with a non-religious background too,including people who used to be atheists.You talk about us and tell us we should try to look at other viewpoints,but you don't sound very open-minded,do you.What's our excuse?What's yours?A lot of us have been to the other side anf found out what is important to us.You are entitled to your own viewpoint,but what makes you think that yours is necessarily right?What gives you the right to judge us?How do you know what our backgrounds are?

Answer 8

I am an atheist who was raised religious, but I think your request is not realistic. I doubt that believers can just "try on" atheism.

I do wish believers who deny scientific knowledge on the grounds that in contradicts a literal interpretation of the Bible would "try on" the belief that parts of the Bible are allegorical. That doesn't require disbelief in the Bible, but would eliminate most of the conflict between faith and reason.

Answer 9

I see your point. I have tried it on your side too. I lived the first 30 years of my life without God. Angry, stressed, anxious, until I asked Jesus into my heart. Then I received peace for the first time in my life, I'm learning to not worry, but to trust, not to be angry, instead to ask God to help me with what I get upset about. Wow, what a diff. I wouldn't go back for anything, having peace is worth it, but there's so much more.
So I have been on both sides of the fence, and I'll stay on this side.

Answer 10

I have been on both sides of the coins, and I'm back in my faith. I mean, there are so many things that are concidered "Scientific", when they are just confusing us more. It's actually a lot of things in science that made me realize that there had to be a God. I know this idea isn't completely scientific, but if mass can not be created or destroyed, then...where did it all come from? It had to come from somewhere. Why are we who we are? Why aren't we just large masses of Chemical and Physical reactions moving around? We aren't computers, we have souls. Where did they come from?