Ok so here I am agian, I would like to know what happened in your past that made you become Atheists?

Question

I'm trying, Ok? stay with me on this, I might learn something. Please be honest. I am a very open minded person. At first all I was trying to do was stir the pot, but now I would like some intelegent information.

Answer 1

But i'm not an athiests - im a hethan.

Answer 2

I question your sincerity, but will give you the benefit of the doubt and respond. Like you, and every one else on the planet I was born an Atheist. Theists are uncomfortable with that fact (tough noogies), but, by definition, we are Atheists (lacking a belief in god) until such time as we can grasp the concept of god and, then, accept it as a valid premise. At the age of three or four my parents introduced me to the concept of 'god'. It made sense to my impressionable young mind, and bingo, I was no longer an Atheist. Throughout my childhood many questions remained unanswered and many of the things I was told didn't add up. The most damaging single thing was when I learned that my church was lying to me. I was a bright and curious child. If something that interested me was brought up in a sermon I would go to the library and expand my knowledge. I can cite numerous examples but the one that stands out (because I have a natural interest in physics) is when the pastor referenced Einstein as being a believer. It is not that I doubted the pastor at that point, it just aroused my curiousity and I wanted to learn more about the man. What I found out was that the pastor had quoted Einstein out of context to give the impression he was a believer when, in fact, he was clearly an Atheist. Einstein's own words describe the belief in a personal god as 'childlike' (as a matter of interest, judging from what I see on this site, those lies are being perpetuated to this day) It was at that point that I asked myself "If religion cannot stand on its own merits and must resort to deception, how valid is it?" After that, the more my education advanced and the more I became aware of the real world, the more religious concepts came into focus as the backward superstitious nonsense they are.

Answer 3

The stories and rules of Christianity never made any sense. For me it solidified when my newly indoctrinated Christian brother told me that no matter how "good" I lived my life, if I didn't accept Jesus I was going to hell. I have always been a very moral person. I decided at that time not to have anything to do with a God like that. Over time I read up on religions and their history. It became crystal clear to me that religion was created by humans to control the masses, like slaves, and there was no god. The universe is just fine without god and makes much more sense.

Answer 4

I think that Friedrich Nietzsche captures my mentality best:

"I do not by any means know atheism as a result; even less as an event: It is a matter of course with me, from instinct. I am too inquisitive, too questionable, too exuberant to stand for any gross answer. God is a gross answer, an indelicacy against us thinkers -- at bottom merely a gross prohibition for us: you shall not think!"
--Ecce Homo

Take this quote along with another by Nietzsche:

"Convictions are more dangerous enemies of truth than lies."
--Human, all too Human

...and you will begin to understand how I moved from being a theist to an atheist.

I grew up Catholic, but I always had difficulty accepting the dogma. I was always skeptical about ideas like God killing himself on the cross. It was not until I began reading the philosophy of Voltaire and Thomas Paine's "Age of Reason" that I was given enough ammunition to renounce my Christianity altogether. But I did not break with theism until later. After disposing of my Christian belief, I then briefly adopted the deism of Voltaire and Paine until I realized that it, too, bothered me. It, too, was difficult to believe. In the end, I guess it would be best to say that I've always been an atheist. It just took me several years to undo my Christian upbringing, but the process was constant from childhood to now. And I see no reason why I would ever return. I cannot. To believe in God is an indelicacy against thinkers such as myself.

Answer 5

I was a Christian, then Agnostic, now Christian again.

I was raised in a Lutheran household, and became Agnostic. I don't believe in Atheists because Atheism is the belief in nothing, and that in itself is the belief in something, hence, Atheists don't exist.

I was reading about the death and destruction religion causes and did not like where it was going. However, during that time, it was horrible. It sounds cliche, but feeling the absense of God was a feeling I did not enjoy. I coasted through life, not having any direction.

I was brought back when I started talking with people about faith and realized what I really believed, I "found" myself, I guess you could say. I went to a therapist about this. I didn't have religious experience or anything like that, it was gradual until I started to re-build my faith. It took a lot of soul searching.

But I became agnostic because I no longer cared. I didn't want my faith to be the cause for suffering in the world. My best friend is simalr, he is Agnostic for similar reasons. He thinks religion is personal thing and doesn't think people should call themselves Christian for the sake of showing other people you are. I agree with him on most of that point.

Answer 6

When I was a Christian the first time I was going to be Baptized. First I went to classes and something came up that put me in a catch 22 sort of dilemma. I was going to hell either way. I didn't know what to do and could not think my way out of it or get an answer from the priest that made sense, so I did the rational thing at the time and said to myself "there is no God". And the bible thumpers who preached at me when I was an Atheist only made me angry and pushed me farther away. I became a Christian again after 9 years because I had an encounter with God, like Paul. That is why I tell the 'born again' Christians to leave the Atheist alone. You are only driving them father away. If God wants an Atheist to know Him, He will come and find them Himself.

Answer 7

Well I was raised by an atheist but it is still very much my own decision to be one. I don't need any god, or knowing the origin of the universe, or wanting to go somewhere nice when I die. I just want to live life. If you are serious about trying then it is good to respect atheists and even if you arent one. I would respect someone who did.

Answer 8

ok firstly i want to point out that it's not god i have a problem with but the people that serve him (or so they say) and what drove me away was just that "people" the same old boring, judgemental, gossipping,show up once a week to compare clothing, people, i was sick to death of it telling folks how they are to live life and if the folk i spent my time with didn't agree, then the pressure that was put on me to wash my hands of them, i couldn't be like that anymore. now i don't know if i qualify as a atheist, i still look for god admittedly not as hard as i used to but what i see now are people and here on earth it's people i have to live with. the way i look at it now if i can't make peace with the world i'm in, i'm not ready for god yet

Answer 9

Evidence. Facts. Education. Open eyes. A functioning brain.


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Answer 10

Uhh, we opened a text book? We actually studied observable evidence. We are all born Atheists, so I guess we were born? It is not until we are brainwashed as children that we get religion.

Answer 11

I'm not atheist but I left Christianity when I had studied it enough to know that it couldn't possibly be true. That and all the unanswered prayers...