Again To Atheist?

Question

Lets be civil about this...and Atheist only because this important to me
1. Were you religious before or grew up in a religious household?
2. What turned you off to Religion?
3. What would bring you back? Be serious and work with me here!
4. Do you take the holidays off from work with the rest of us?

Please be kind and no parasites

Answer 1

1. I was very religious and had massive questions about God and the mystery of existence since I was a young kid. I would ask and ask and sincerely went searching, drastically upset that I couldn't believe like others. No one who believed could answer my questions (most never even considered them) and I was severely distraught over this major upheaval in my faith. I didn't want this pain but also couldn't just adopt a belief system because it made me feel better.
2. I was turned off by what I now know is the creation of false concepts of God. God does exist but he's not the one found in the bible or the koran. Those are petty ego-projected gods. The Unmeasurable is something beyond all that. I consider myself an atheist only because I reject the negative concepts of god.
3. Fundamentalists need to consider that their concepts of god and jesus are wrong and are hiding the real god and jesus. If a fundamentalist were to seriously try and get rid of their false deity and get rid of the concepts of hell, sin, guilt, judgement, and punishment, atheists would also have nothing to focus on and the Real God may be discovered.
4. Taking off religious-based holidays doesn't mean one celebrates them, any more than using the term, Thursday, means that we're worshipping Thor. The implications of your question is the crux of the problem: the pedantic attachment to rigid concepts that serves only to separate. Get rid of the false gods and the love will shine through.

Answer 2

1. Yes. Very. I grew up Catholic and wanted to be a priest for a long time. When I was 9 I remember trying to address the problem of god's omniscience VS man's free will. Yes, 9.

2. Contradictions and nobody's willingness to directly confront them. Every time people would talk about god, I would hear the equivalent of "There's this great big square-circle in the heavens." Whenever I would ask something like "a square-circle doesn't make sense... how can something like that exist?" No one would answer me. I have read many writings of apologetics too, and still have yet to find an answer to those questions...

In addition, by getting a science degree I saw the extremely limited knowledge of mankind in general (there is SOOOO much we don't understand), and the certainty of religious people put me off. Especially because they would be certain in areas where I was clearly more knowledgeable and knew they were wrong. It's like they were scared of saying "I don't know"

But the final nail in the coffin was George Smith's "The Case Against God." That book just spoke to me more than any other I have read before or since, because it dealt with the issues at the fundamental level. There were a few things I disagreed with, but the overwhelming case against god was made for me.

3. It would be difficult, but not impossible. Although I am firm believer that reality cannot violate the laws of logic, reality is the final arbitrator. So a direct and unequivocal experience of god would do it. Even then, though, there would be a lot of explaining to do to get me to go from belief in god's existence to worship. There's a lot of needless suffering in this world that would have to be explained by an all-powerful deity before they deserve my respect.

4. Yes. As someone else stated, it's mainly because I'd be the only one in the office otherwise. I think all the religions should conspire to denote the last 2-3 weeks of December as one big holiday. Nobody wants to work when it's that cold anyway. :)

Good question.

Answer 3

1. Were you religious before or grew up in a religious household?
My family is almost completely nonreligious, so no. I was never very religious either.

2. What turned you off to Religion?
Lack of evidence, more than anything. And the question of "What makes one religion right and all the thousands of others wrong?" that no one has ever been able to answer for me. As I grew older it made more sense to me that they were ALL wrong.

3. What would bring you back? Be serious and work with me here!
Absolutely nothing. I already know where I stand on these issues and I'm completely comfortable with my current set of beliefs. I'm not going back.

4. Do you take the holidays off from work with the rest of us?
Sure, why not? Nonreligious people can participate in the nonreligous end of Christmas and the holidays, can't they?

Answer 4

1. Were you religious before or grew up in a religious household?
Yes, Roman Catholic.

2. What turned you off to Religion?
The short version: No evidence for the existence of God, the thousands of churches who all think they've got it right, and the horrible things that happen around the world.

3. What would bring you back? Be serious and work with me here!
I would have to directly experience God. I'm not talking about almost being hit by a car, or surviving a terrible wreck, I'm talking about something paranormal or seeing God directly. (As far as paranormal goes, it has to be something EXTREMELY unexplainable, such as saying "If God exists, my glass of milk will float" and it starts floating.) Nothing else is sufficient enough to convince me.

4. Do you take the holidays off from work with the rest of us?
Yep. I especially love Christmas :)

Answer 5

1) I was raised to go to church, but it was a weak, "social" thing, and I saw through its inconsistencies while I was a teenager, which covers 2) for the first time.
(Preaching love, kindness and charity, but "blood on the carpet" over flower rotas and the harvest festival, and very little forgiveness). At university I was challenged that what I had rejected was not "real" Christianity, and that I should re-consider. I did, and having seen the limitations of Science as a religion in the intervening years was converted, as convinced and serious and as real as it can be.

But back to 2) Apart from the attitude of many Christians, which was never easy to reconcile with the gospel of love (even allowing for us all being sinners), after many years studying, in order to teach Christianity, the history and nature of the bible itself and the history of the church slowly convinced me that, at core, Christianity was not what it claimed itself to be. This was a slow and painful process. I didn't like what I was finding.

3) I'm not sure, now. It would need something very shattering. That religion can work as a social and personal support structure independent of its truth doesn't leave that open as a way to decide (and I can't leave the truth question out of the reckoning, however attractive the social consequences). Personal mystical experience doesn't offer security either. I've had intuitive, "feeling", experiences or episodes of utter conviction that proved utterly mistaken.

4) Odd question! .Society goes on, and I take my holiday allowance and national holidays with everyone else. Holiday is much more "vacation" than "Holy-day" for most folk, I think.

Answer 6

1. I was a Christian for 20 years.
2. The truth as I came to see it is that religion is not the truth.
3. For the existence of god - A body of empirical evidence, for a theistic religion like Christianity - nothing I can think of.
4. Not usually, but I never have taken them off very often because the industry in which I work is one that is busy on holidays.

Answer 7

1. I was Catholic by upbringing.
2. The fact that religion advocates belief in the nonexistent, defending the indefensible and faith in patently absurd concepts.
3. In all honesty, nothing. This isn't because I "hate" religion. This isn't because I have a "grudge" or anything. It's because I simply could not force or will myself to believe in something that IS NOT THERE. If I can't believe in God, why bother with religion? All the aspects of religion are tied into God and as for anything remotely "positive", I can find them elsewhere in the secular world.
4. Yes. Primarily because if I didn't, I'd be the only one at the office.

Answer 8

1. Yes, I grew up in a Catholic household, and I used to be extremely religious!
2. I have a daughter that I love more than anything in the world, and if there is a God, then he/she doesn't deserve to have me worship him, because there is no reason for him to make my daughter handicapped. She will now have to go through the rest of her life worried about if people are going to be mean to her and call her names. I just can't believe that if there is a god how he/she could let kids be born into a world like this with handicaps, Innocent Kids!!!
3. It would take god himself explaining to me why he does it in a way that I am able to understand and forgive!
4. Sure I do, just because I don't belive in god, doesn't mean that my Kids and Family doesn't, and I would do ANYTHING for them!!!

Answer 9

1. Not particularly religious. Mom conceived me out of wedlock at 16 and was likely whispered out of church. Been to Sunday school, various church services and probably a few different denominations of protestantism.

2. I never got turned onto it. It seemed silly and childish to me once I realized that it was never going to make rational sense.

3. If you're going to pretend to be civil you need to realize that your presumptions are insulting. I was never there, I'm not damaged because I don't believe and there's no way to get me into what looks as absurd and irrelevant to me as belief in the greco-roman pantheon probably looks to you.

4. I work in a factory, I'd be happy to get holiday and overtime pay for twiddling my thumbs (drawing and or reading) in a mostly empty and therefore not running factory if I had regular off days. My job tends to be a six or seven days a week deal so any days off are appreciated, what other people do with them isn't any of my business. I'll pretend this isn't a badly disguised insult that asserts that nonchristians should be discriminated against by allowing christians more built in off days. You know, for the sake of civility.

Answer 10

1ne: I went to sunday school. A lot. My parents were religious, my grandmother super religious.
2wo: I don't know. I started asking questions about the bible, why I had to worship if I "didn't understand," I didn't like the sunday school classes. Then I became a whining athiest biatch for 2-3 years!
3hree: I am confused. You mean from my childhood? <_< I'd like to bring back my grandmother, dispite her super religiousness...
4our: I do, but to spend time with my family :D It would be descrimination if I wasn't allowed to, right?