Why are people atheists?

Question

I know this is probably the 5 billionth time that this question's been asked, but... what the heck... I thought I'd give it a go with a few new folks tossing in their 2 cents.

Atheists, go ahead and let us know why.

All others, tell us what you think.

P.S. I suppose I should've said "why are SOME people atheists". Please understand this is what I meant. Now... procede as requested.

Answer 1

Its not ingnorance jenglis...far from it its from deep thought and research about the bible, religion and what it is doing in our world. An open mind not labeling and name calling would help some of you confused understand.

Answer 2

I am sorry how my fellow atheists have picked on you. This is a good question and should be asked. Your trying to understand the world around you and i commemorate you for that. Well most of us have studied the bible and alot of other religious texts. And then we studied who wrote them and where they came from. And then we thought about it.And realized that if there was a god he would not be so horrible and cruel. And he would not give people that believe in him without any prove of him existing. Other then the bible which we studied and found out it was not written by the big man upstairs. But by a cult just like some of the cults you saw in the seventies. It is not because we are delusional or because we have never know him. I was a very strong Christian growing up I went on missions and ATF and everything. And I continually held my beliefs by bashing the ones opposite of mine. But then I realized even if they were wrong which they really were not most the time haha. Then what makes me right. And I started applying rationality to the bible. And it crumbled in my hands. There you go I am not ignorant and I am not the devils son. I was just like you and I am not lying to prove a point. So the answer is education in what we were believing I know that is offensive. But we are not calling your stupid when we say that. You just need to look at your religion with a more open mind and get out of the trap I was in. And also most atheist dont completely count out the god theory. We have to make it a possibility. BEcause anything is possible nothing can be ruled out. But the biblical god being real is highly and i mean highly impoprable.

Answer 3

Well since I have read so much on the subject I continually find that there is no evidence to prove that any of the modern or ancient religions to be based on any fact what so ever. The more I see, the more I become even more entrenched in my knowledge that there is no god or gods.

I would also mention that man can fool himself into thinking that they have had a "spiritual" experience. The brain is a complex organ, different chemicals produced in the brain can cause different effects. One of the more common is the "vibe" effect. Sometimes a group of people together can feel the togetherness increase into a euphoric state, to the Deadhead or Raver it's the vibe of the night, to the zealot it is the touch of god. To the neurologist it is a chemical reaction. Interesting to say the least.

Answer 4

I find the more I answer this question, the lazier my answer becomes (witch is bad), because it’s such a complex question.

When I think about it, I believe the first thing that really got the mind questioning (for me) was the fact that there are so many religions and so many that I saw as obviously ridiculous. I had always tried not to think about it before, but for whatever reason, I decided one day to just think about all these –unaskable- questions, even if it led me to not believe. It did just that. Philosophy is what led me to agnosticism (and eventual atheism – a word I was once afraid to utter) and as I became less afraid of science, I found that it backed up the idea of a godless universe. For the first time, I didn’t see this as such a bad thing.

PS: What's with the whole -men putting there had over there mouth- thing? Just wondering. ;-)

Answer 5

Because I cannot believe.

That simple. I did not chose to call myself an atheist. I see myself as a regular person. So regular that it doesn't need a label.

The fact that all other data, or information that I have about this World points to it, or supports my view is just something that keeps me that way. If I would get other information, like Thomas did, such as maybe seeing Jesus be reborn, then I might become religious. But this luxury is not given to me.

All I'm given is a book, and people who explain it's validity with circular logic, even though I never asked for any of this.

Answer 6

Thankfully, in my life I have been given choices. I was raised knowing that religion was a choice but not coersed to join. The option was always there but I have never found it reasonable enough to follow. I have come to be completely satisfied with my decision to follow the path I have chosen. As I have said many times, "A logical mind devoid of mindless input will find it's own way to reality. I find reality quite comforting."

Answer 7

I always consider atheists to be people who value evidence and proof over subjectivity and emotions. I think they are often good scientists, mathematicians, and logicians because of their emphasis on the objective. Certainly, they provide a valued service to any community - emphasizing critical thought over uncritical acceptance.

The most fascinating aspect of atheism is that even if they do turn out to be "wrong" and there is a god, they, paradoxically, can't be truly "wrong". Atheism, in a nutshell, is simply a refusal to believe. Period. Atheists want evidence, proof, something solid to know. They do not insist that there is no god - they simply point out that there is no evidence for a god and they refuse to have faith in one without evidence.

I'm not an atheist, but I've rarely met one that I didn't like. They also invariably have a sense of humor, probably because they feel like a sane man living in an asylum!

Answer 8

I think some of them may have chosen to be Atheist because of the lovely double-standards and ridiculous man-made rules of a lot of "religions" who claim to be doing God's work. Catholicism is the biggest hypocrisy there is based on religious ideals and supposedly directly from God...I know A LOT of people who have turned from not only religion, but spirituality completely due to having run-ins with the Roman Catholic church, being raised RC and/or having to attend Catholic school.

Then you have your Charles Mansons, David Koresh's and Warren Jeffries' of the world; these guys just make religion AND spirituality look completely insane. (Forgot Osama Bin Laden)

There are others who choose Atheism because it just makes sense to them, like religion makes sense to those of us who choose to believe in a God.

Answer 9

I have gone to many different Christian groups and the thing I saw most was that when a person left it was because they had lost faith or their belief that God is real or that they no longer wanted to obey what their church taught and went out to find another group that believed in a way that the individual could live with. The Bible is interpreted in different ways according to each church or group, but there is in my opinion 1 God 1 Christ 1 church. And if you can't read it from the Bible without interpreting it to fit you then it is what God wrote not how you think HE wrote it.

Answer 10

People believe what they believe, and not always relationally. Even though I am not an atheist, I can understand people being such. They see no concrete evidence of God and so there must be no God. A perfectly understandable reaction I think.

Answer 11

I'd assume that they'd either seen evidence to the contrary, or that too many bad things had happened for them to beleive that an all powerful being took an intrest in everyone