A question for the atheist.What did or didn't happen in your life that made you decide you didn't believe in

Question

God.Did family members believe in God,were you happy as a child,or abused as a child.When and why Did you decide there was no God ,or did you ever ,has any ever prayed.Or did a tragedy make you feel this way..Do you think God and heaven is a fairy tale,when a tadpole can wiggle it's way into a egg and become a human being,that is incomparable,,and the amazing world,with it's incredible animals.If we had to read about all of this from a book,not able to see it all with our eye's ,would'nt you think the book was a lie and a made up fairy tale,if all this can be real why not think everything up above is real..OK I'm sorry ,.I didnt come here to judge or preach to,you guy'sI am only really curious and amazed as to why some don't believe in God.,it amazes me as to why one would'nt, b/c the world is to incredible for everything to be this way by accident.Have you ever felt the joy of god in you?Do you believe there is a God but not in God,what is a burial like with no God THANKS YOU ALL

Answer 1

critical thinking ; try it .

Answer 2

Let me address your entire post. :-)

"Did family members believe in God,were you happy as a child,or abused as a child.When and why Did you decide there was no God ,or did you ever ,has any ever prayed.Or did a tragedy make you feel this way.."
For most of us unbelievers, our families may still believe in God... a lot of people in this country are Christians. But you're wrong to assume that our disbelief stems from some sort of tragedy or crisis of faith... this is certainly not the case with all atheists. We acted upon our critical thinking and doubt and skepticism and arrived at the conclusion that there simply isn't enough evidence to show that a god exists.

"Do you think God and heaven is a fairy tale"
Well, most of us would put it into that language... because yes, that's essentially what most of us view it as. God was created by man, not the other way around.

"when a tadpole can wiggle it's way into a egg and become a human being,that is incomparable,,and the amazing world,with it's incredible animals."
If you're suggesting that baby frogs wiggle into eggs and grow into humans, I don't know what fantasy world you're living in. I do agree, though... it is an amazing world with amazing animals and amazing things to discover. These things do not prove a god, though. Just because things are wonderful does not necessitate that a god had to create them.

"If we had to read about all of this from a book,not able to see it all with our eye's ,would'nt you think the book was a lie and a made up fairy tale,if all this can be real why not think everything up above is real.."
This is incoherent. Please rephrase this.

"I'm sorry ,.I didnt come here to judge or preach to,you guy'sI am only really curious and amazed as to why some don't believe in God.,"
Regardless of whether you came here to do it, you're doing it right now. I don't know why you're so amazed as to why people don't believe in your God... only 33% of the world's population adheres to some sect of Christianity, and maybe less than half of that, fundamentally. 66% of the world doesn't believe in your God.

"it amazes me as to why one would'nt, b/c the world is to incredible for everything to be this way by accident."
This is the classic Argument from Design and Argument from Beauty. Look into the atheist refutation and perhaps you'll be a little more enlightened.

"Have you ever felt the joy of god in you?"
At one point, some of us have, some of us were believers once.
Then we realized that it was nothing more than an emotional response to an adrenaline-based stimulus.

"Do you believe there is a God but not in God,what is a burial like with no God"
This is also incoherent. Atheists don't believe in any gods. What do you mean "believe there is a God but not in God"?
All burials are done with no god... they are done with shovels.
If, perchance, you mean "funeral", then that's a religious service. I know that I'll want to be buried with no religious service. I don't mind my family mourning for me in whatever way they see fit, but I think it would be very disrespectful to my memory if I were to be given a full-blown religious service to my death.

Answer 3

Yes, I had a religious upbringing, I also had an abusive child hood but those factors did NOT influence me in my decision. Reality did. We are all part of one energy form, and energy never dies, it just changes form. Eventually religion will be a thing of the past and science and reality will be the common belief. Im sorry to tell you this, but the bible was written by men, to control men and to give them a way of controling their subjects. I see football players kneel down and pray before a game or after a touchdown. Do you actually believe if there was an ominant being that he would care about a football game when 200,000 people die in a sunami? Grow up and read some text books. This is not all an accident, it is called evolution and there is much more proof of this than the other. You believe in one belief? I was asked once if I believed in the bible. I asked "Which one?" and got a shocked look. There are many bibles, telling many things, all written by men and translated from a language we do NOT understand and we change it to fit our needs wants and desires. I believe that when we die, our energy changes form, and that our memories are still there. All I see in religion is hypocracy, how can they preach one thing and live another? Doesnt the bible say NOT to force your beliefs on others? By your fruits ye shall be known! If there was truly an ominant being, then he better stop watching football and start stopping disasters! I wish it were so, but this is reality. Thanks for asking and I hope this helps you understand why so many of us think differently than others. Which is our right in this country. Isnt it? At least it is supposed to be.

Answer 4

First let me say it's very refeshing to hear some non-U.S. opinions on the matter. It's good to remember that there are very advanced societies that are NOT in the grip of the dogmatic fervor we see in large parts of the U.S.

I arrived at my position, like many others, after a fairly thorough study of religion itself - and some immersion in science.

It didn't take me long to be repelled by the "biblical" portraits of the Abrahamic deity; a cruel, vain, whimsical and tyrannical entity. He seemed to be the archetypical ruthless primitive ruler one might find precisely in the societies that produced the scriptures themselves. ("Mmmm .." said a young JAT.)

For a while, Jesus seemed more appealing. But a closer examination proved that he was probably just an extension of the then-existing traditions, and any unique message he might have had got buried in the weirdness and rigidity of Paul and cohorts.

The idea of a personal god kept getting thinner and thinner on its own merits. Why would the creator of the universe want people to cut their weenies, or not eat pork, or the thousand other ridiculous affronts to common sense? From here it was just a matter of time before I examined non-Abrahamic alternatives and, of course, deism.

The problem came to a head when I realized there actually was no need for a deity in order to explain anything at all. Religious concepts of "creation" were based on monumental misunderstandings of the physical universe and what science was rapidly developing. The tipping point came with the concerted attack on science itself by certain religious individuals and groups. ("Wait," said a young JAT, "This is sounding more like an attack on reason from a group attempting to deny reality.")

At some point, reason will not be denied.

Answer 5

Started to THINK, and ask serious questions that superstitiously inspired answers were not able to answer. It is not something that is stumbled on in the dark or in a blinding flash. To achieve rationality is a developmental process that has to overcome the mindless programming that has been shoved at you since childhood. I'm amazed that I started asking the right questions when I was eleven and even more amazed that I was able to take the "because" answers of religion with a jaundiced eye at such a young age. Still it took three more years before I called myself an agnostic and three hard years more before being to call myself an Atheist. Happy about it? Sometimes I envy delusionalists who think they are going to end up in some cosmic Disneyland when they die, instead of the void on non-existence, but in the end, I'm happy I do not live in the delusional haze that seems to keep them anesthetized to reality.

Answer 6

Raised Catholic, became Evangelical, grew disgusted with hypocrisy in the church, did some real, time consuming, open minded research into the factual history of Christianity and all religion, took college courses in biology, chemistry, anthropology, archeology, learned the real principles of scientific research and came to the well thought out, well researched, and logical conclusion that the myths humans developed before the age of enlightenment were just that, Myths used to explain the world that they had no other explanation for. Now that there are other, demonstrable explanations I know that there is no need to fall back on a myth that is full of holes to explain this marvelous Universe. The Universe is a creation without a creator, nor does it need one. Life is the natural consequence of carbon based organic chemistry, and evolution is a fact.

Answer 7

As one who turned from Christianity to atheism at one point in my path, I'll offer my experience.

My dad died when I was 9. Aside from the anger issues with God ("a loving God wouldn't do that"), the comment from a Born Again Christian who told me that my dad "must have done something bad to be taken so young and he was burning in hell now" basically turned me away from the Christian concept of God. Sorry, but NO. A being that would do that isn't worthy of my respect and adoration.

As my agnostic hubby now puts it, "I would rather spend an eternity in Hell than worship a being that would create such a place."

I was atheist for a while and tried to believe that this life is all there was, and there wasn't any rhyme or reason behind events, but that rang hollow with me and didn't feel right.

I moved from atheism to agnosticism ("I don't know if there's a God and I don't care"), and eventually to a Pagan, nature-based path, where I am today.

Answer 8

I have prayed only once of my own volition (at the end of assemblies in britain there tended to be a prayer, but I don't know if they do that anymore) for jesus to take away my stomach ache. And you know what? That stomach ache went away. I was about 5 at the time.

But I realised that I've had other stomach aches that went away even though I hadn't prayed so figured that I had just been talking to myself.

Then as I was educated and only briefly exposed to the modal religion of this country, I found that the rational, scientific explainations for the things around me made perfect sense. There was no reason to suspect that there was a supernatural entity opperating in my life.

Heaven a.k.a. Sugarcandy Mountain (Animal Farm -George Orwell)

Answer 9

There was no single event that did it. Not believing in deities simply came about through years of disappointment and mistreatment at the hands of so-called "good Christians."

Try being told at five years old that you can no longer play with your best friend because you don't share the same religion. My friend was Methodist, and I was raised Lutheran, but somehow I was a "bad" person. God took my best childhood friend.

When at a family reunion with all my Christian relatives, I wanted to show them my new pocket knife. I was 12, and proud that I saved up the money to buy it and that my mother had trusted me with the responsibility to have it. I left it in one of my relative's cars when they went into town, and when they returned it was gone. I searched and searched, and despite being shown the knife just the day before, ALL of them denied ever seeing it. So God's "children" stole from me and lied about it, supposedly "for my own good."

These still did not destroy my faith. I wanted to believe, because it sounded so good to be "saved" and go to heaven. But God wasn't there during some VERY dark times in my life, never helped me stop drinking, never helped me through college, never paid my rent and never once gave ANY sign of existence when I hit rock bottom.

Each and every time I looked to God for answers, strength or companionship, I received NOTHING. So over a span of about 10 years, I stopped believing in God and started believing in myself. It was like slowly waking up on a cool summer morning and realizing that I had been sleeping in the dark all that time.

Ever since I found what I need from within, I have accomplished far more than I thought I could. I believe the true power of a person comes from inside, and that trusting in a magical, invisible man in the sky instead of taking responsibility for your own life is simply illogical and unrealistic.

I wouldn't class myself as "atheist" per se, I think that making a black-and-white statement that there is NOTHING is as silly as insisting that there IS. Such attitudes are not based on fact, just consensus.

I do not hate people that believe in other religions, I simply despise being told that I am wrong for not falling for the same crap that robbed me of my friends, my posessions, my dignity, and what I thought was truth. My joy in life isn't in knowing everything, it is in finding my own way, and I am a far better person without God.

Answer 10

I used to go to church when I was young I am by nature not a follower I have always use critical thinking to come to conclusions and most of my decisions are based on facts. As I grew older I notice that religion wanted me to base too many things on faith not on facts,basically I would say that I am Agnostic I question everything and don't except things because a book or someone said so.

Answer 11

I attended church until I was about 16 or 17, and believed fervently. However, I've always been of a logical bent, and when questions came up that people in my church couldn't or wouldn't answer, I went to do my own research. I had no intention of leaving Christianity; I simply couldn't reconcile what I believed with fact--and I have to let fact hold precedence. For the record, I'm not even talking about science here; mostly history and dogma. And I think the deal-breaker was with the dogma.