Atheist: How has atheism affected your life? Please participate in survey.?

Question

1.How long have you been an atheist?

2.How did you come to this decision?

3.How did your immediate family react to your decision?

4.Since becoming an atheist have you had any doubts about the existence of God or a higher power?

5.Do you believe in ANY unseen spirits such as fairies, ghosts or demons?

6.Do you feel it neccesary to 'convert' others to atheism?

7.Do you feel the need to associate with other atheists formally or informally?

8.Do you think the Bible contains any value such as wisdom, intrinsic truths or historic references? If so what value do you attribute to it?

9.Has atheism affected your life for better or worse?

10.Do you come to this forum because:(choose as many as apply)
a.you have sincere questions or answers
b.you enjoy debates
c.to set believers straight
d. you enjoy ridiculing believers
e.you enjoy the company of other atheists
f.some other reason (state reason)

Thanks for your participation.

JUST WANTED TO THANK EVERYONE WHO PARTICIPATED. CAN'T REALLY CHOOSE A "Best Answer" TO A SURVEY SO THE IT WILL BE RANDOM AMONG ACTUAL ATHEISTS WHO DID THE SURVEY. AGNOSTICS AND BELIEVERS, WATCH FOR SURVEYS THAT WILL BE POSTED IN THE COMING WEEKS DIRECTED TOWARDS YOU.

Also, for it's worth, I am a Christian who does not believe any of you, or anyone else for that matter, will burn eternally in Dante's Inferno. (Beleive it or not it is not a Biblical teaching that any part of you survives death to be tormented or enjoy bliss, however I know this is not the time or place to preach.) Thanks again.

Answer 1

1) 7 years.

2) Through critical thinking and rational analysis. It lead me to the only logical conclusion.

3) Not happy but also not screaming furious. My siblings figure it's just rebellion, my father doesn't seem to care much and my mother thinks I'll be going to heaven regardless as long as I'm a good person.

4) Do you mean to ask if I've had doubts about my atheism and whether or not a higher power exists? If so, no.

5) No to all.

6) I would not FORCE my position on anyone, but I do feel it's very important to encourage people to stop relying on faith as an entire "life perspective".

7) I don't belong to any atheist clubs or groups. I have atheist friends online but I haven't gone out searching for fellow atheists.

8) The Bible, like most other works of fiction, can be very moving and may contain within it wisdom, but on the whole is not a reliable historical record or philosophical guide.

9) Better.

10) a, b, e, f (disseminate truth, dispel misconceptions, oppose blind faith)

Answer 2

1.How long have you been an atheist?
I was an atheist for 31 years.

2.How did you come to this decision?
I grew up in a fundamental Christian family where questioning the church and it's teachings was the absolute worst thing a person could do. This didn't sit well with me so I rebelled and left.

3.How did your immediate family react to your decision?
My father essentially disowned me.

4.Since becoming an atheist have you had any doubts about the existence of God or a higher power?
Many times I doubted, questioned, begged for a sign.

5.Do you believe in ANY unseen spirits such as fairies, ghosts or demons?
Ghosts, my house has some spirits in it. There are no demons or fairies. Nothing in the spirit world is capable of harm.

6.Do you feel it neccesary to 'convert' others to atheism?
Absolutely not. Everyone is entitled to their beliefs.

7.Do you feel the need to associate with other atheists formally or informally?
No, I get along with everyone, I don't need a specific group.

8.Do you think the Bible contains any value such as wisdom, intrinsic truths or historic references? If so what value do you attribute to it?
I think the Bible can be a valuable resource, especially the NT. Jesus had it right, I like his teachings and try to follow them.

9.Has atheism affected your life for better or worse?
Looking back, it made no difference, it just "was".

10.Do you come to this forum because:(choose as many as apply)
a.you have sincere questions or answers
b.you enjoy debates
c.to set believers straight
d. you enjoy ridiculing believers
e.you enjoy the company of other atheists
f.some other reason (state reason
A,B,E,F....to learn, to see other points of view.

Thanks for your participation.

You're welcome.


***For what's it's worth, I am no longer an atheist, but after being one for so many years I felt like answering your questions. I still consider myself to be a part of the group at times, not because I have doubts, but for 31 years that was where I lived so to speak.

Answer 3

1.How long have you been an atheist?
14 years.

2.How did you come to this decision?
It came to me. The progress from Theist to Atheist was not instant and occurred over a period of time. I started asking questions and demanded answers. When the answers I received were incoherent I lost faith.

3.How did your immediate family react to your decision?
They feel bad for me. They think I am lost.

4.Since becoming an atheist have you had any doubts about the existence of God or a higher power?
Not really, I ponder my existence a lot but I have always done that.

5.Do you believe in ANY unseen spirits such as fairies, ghosts or demons?
No.

6.Do you feel it neccesary to 'convert' others to atheism?
I try to revert people back to Atheism

7.Do you feel the need to associate with other atheists formally or informally?
No.

8.Do you think the Bible contains any value such as wisdom, intrinsic truths or historic references? If so what value do you attribute to it?
There are some historic references. There are values, and wisdom that can be gained from the Bible.

9.Has atheism affected your life for better or worse?
Better.

10.Do you come to this forum because:(choose as many as apply)
a.you have sincere questions or answers
b.you enjoy debates
c.to set believers straight
d. you enjoy ridiculing believers
e.you enjoy the company of other atheists
f.some other reason (state reason)
a, c, e

Thanks for your participation.
You are welcome.

Answer 4

1. I am 19. I have rejected God since 16... so roughly three years.

2. I realized that there are probably a couple thousand different religions in the world, and all of them claim to be right. If one religion was correct and all the other religions were wrong, it doesn't make sense to me why the God of that sole correct religion would even ALLOW the establishment of all those other "wrong" paths. For example, I did research and studied around and became nonreligious. If I'm wrong, why doesn't the "one true God" do something about it? Why doesn't he get my attention and steer me in the right direction? It just makes more sense to me that they're ALL wrong. Also, certain parts of organized religions just SCREAM "man-made", in my opinion. For example, the "homosexuality is an abomination" part of the Bible. There's no possible way that the supreme creator of the universe could possibly care about something as silly as sexual orientation. (sorry for the long answer but I had a lot to say for this one, haha)

3. My dad approves because he feels the same way. I don't really discuss religion with my mother or anyone else in "the real world" for that matter.

4. Not really. I don't like to become too sure of anything, but where I stand right now, I'm not doubting the conclusions I've made.

5. Fairies and demons, no. I believe ghosts are a real phenomenon, but also that there's a scientific explanation for the sightings and experiences that people report. In other words, people who claim to see ghosts actually ARE seeing something, but they're not "the spirits of dead people".

6. No. It's not my place to tell other people what they can and can't believe.

7. Not really.

8. Sadly, I think all the violence in the Old Testament, as well as some of the ridiculous rules, kind of outweigh most of the good stuff in the Bible. The book has some good stuff in it but there's too much in there that I would avoid, honestly.

9. Better. It allowed me to explore all sorts of other topics relating to spirituality that I wouldn't have been able to explore if I believed in the Bible word for word.

10. I enjoy the discussion. I've met some awesome people here and I've had a lot of fun in the debates. My core beliefs haven't changed much but that's not really what I was looking for.

Answer 5

.How long have you been an atheist?- about 7 years

2.How did you come to this decision? I realized I was forcing myself to believe things I knew werent true. I decided to go throug my beliefs and figure out what I really did believe. Atheism was th e logical choice.

3.How did your immediate family react to your decision? I dont talk about it, except with my husband who is also an atheist.

4.Since becoming an atheist have you had any doubts about the existence of God or a higher power? No

5.Do you believe in ANY unseen spirits such as fairies, ghosts or demons? No

6.Do you feel it neccesary to 'convert' others to atheism? No

7.Do you feel the need to associate with other atheists formally or informally? Not really, but some of my friends are.

8.Do you think the Bible contains any value such as wisdom, intrinsic truths or historic references? If so what value do you attribute to it? I think there are stories with morals

9.Has atheism affected your life for better or worse? Better

10.Do you come to this forum because:(choose as many as apply)
a.you have sincere questions or answers
e.you enjoy the company of other atheists

Answer 6

Jeez, I'll bite.

1. Since I was born, but I didn't realize it until I reached 16 after being indoctrinated into the Catholic church.

2. It wasn't really a decision, I didn't choose it. It just happened.

3. My mother was surprised, but understanding. My father, a strict Catholic at the time, was also surprised, but also understanding. My mother said it was "just a phase" when she first heard it. She wouldn't dare say that now.

4. I've always had doubts. Becoming an atheist just confirmed them.

5. No. It would be nice to believe in fairies, but there's no evidence for such extraplanar creatures except in RPG's.

6. Nope. I do find it necessary, however, to encourage critical thought and reason, as well as good doses of healthy skepticism. Religion has done more harm than good in society.

7. I don't feel the NEED to, per se, but it's nice to know that there are other people out there that feel the same way I do.

8. Of course. To say that the Bible contains no intrinsic truths or historic references is at the very least intellectually dishonest. They're overshadowed, however, by numerous contradictions, discrepancies, and inconsistencies.

9. For the better. I'm much more analytical about everything.
I tend to over-analyze things sometimes, but we all have our flaws. :-P

10. a. Yep. The last one I posted was sincere.
b. Yes. They're a great opportunity to learn and be heard.
c. Some of them need to be set straight. Take a look around for a little while and you'll easily be able to point them out.
d. I don't ridicule believers. I ridicule the beliefs themselves... ridiculing the believer does not make their arguments ineffective. Religious beliefs are not immune to criticism, scrutiny, or ridicule.
e. I enjoy the company of people, regardless of theological position.
f. Yahoo! Answers is like crack.

Answer 7

1.How long have you been an atheist?
For about 20 years

2.How did you come to this decision?
Reason, study, and experience. I'm the son, grandson, nephew and cousin of ministers. I majored in religion at a Methodist college and attended one year of seminary before dropping out.

3.How did your immediate family react to your decision?
My dad's a minister. We don't talk about religion.

4.Since becoming an atheist have you had any doubts about the existence of God or a higher power?
No. Everything makes sense only if there is no God. There's not been any reason to believe in the supernatural.

5.Do you believe in ANY unseen spirits such as fairies, ghosts or demons?
No.

6.Do you feel it necessary to 'convert' others to atheism?
No. I only feel it necessary that they avoid imposing their rules on people who don't believe as they do. That is creating a theocracy.

7.Do you feel the need to associate with other atheists formally or informally?
Only online. It would be nice to associate with people who don't feel it necessary to insert a deity into their daily events and conversations.

8.Do you think the Bible contains any value such as wisdom, intrinsic truths or historic references? If so what value do you attribute to it?
The bible is not a book, per se, it is a library. Some of the books in it contain wisdom, but this is because it proved practical. Much of the writing is so much hokum it deserves to be placed in the folklore section of the bookstore or library.

9.Has atheism affected your life for better or worse?
Much better.

10.Do you come to this forum because:(choose as many as apply)
a.you have sincere questions or answers
b.you enjoy debates
e.you enjoy the company of other atheists
f.some other reason:
To encourage people to guarantee the rights of others.

^v^ ^v^ ^v^ ^v^ ^v^ ^v^ ^v^ ^v^

Answer 8

1. 15 years

2. Found I was following a religion for my family not myself. I didn't believe. I basically started asking questions, and more questions, and more questions; then found the answers were insufficient and cyclical.

3. When I told them, disappointed, but they were not shocked and dismayed. Religion is a personal choice not an social edict.

4. Not any deity or higher power. Life, nature, so much left to be explored but from a view point of open mindedness, not "here is the world, here is a box (belief), let's try to squeeze the world into the box..." it doesn't always fit.

5.No, not until they appear in Times Square professing love for strawberry ice cream.

6. No, faith, belief, religion, again it's a personal choice thing, it's not my job to convince people of a 'true' path, people need to ask questions for themselves, self-discovery after all...

7. Nope, it's a big world, many people live here, I'm not going to stick my head in the sand.

8. I think it has allegorical value and some historical value in so far as a newspaper from WWII has, a historical source coloured by the geo-political pressures of the time it was written, we have to take into account successive translations and edits by different authors, plus the environment where the first edition was cobbled together from different books, who got to choose what was acceptable and what was not. Why this gospel and not that one... I believe these are valid questions... we should challenge accepted ideologies to assuage their veracity not simply accept it as a truth because we are expected to.

9. Atheism has had no tangible effect on my life, no thunderbolts out of the blue if that's what you believe, except that I feel content with my decision. I am no longer sitting in church feeling out of place.

10. Because I have an opinion. I have a voice, atheism is defined as a denial of a deity therefore this is the appropriate forum in which to make ourselves heard. And wouldn't it be a dull world if everyone agreed with everyone all the time; et al, "There is no god," echoed to the nth degree "You're right, there is no god!"
1 voice says, "There is a god!" another says, "I disagree, let's talk some more." We have much more to say to each other if we all have different opinions. But I do believe that we must respect our individual differences, I do not agree in disparaging another group just because they do not share the same belief.

And to be fair I think you should repost this question aimed at all other faiths....

Cheers.

Answer 9

1. I have been an atheist for about nine years.
2. I came to this decision by realising that religion is full of hypocrisy, and that there is no logical proof for the existence of God, so why base your life around a hypocritical set of ideas that are based on something unprovable. I also saw that religion did more harm than good, and that secular organisations do just as much if not more, good than religious ones.
3. My immediate family always encouraged me to come to my own conclusions, they never talked to me about their religious beliefs because they thought I should make up my own mind.
4. When you think back to the creation of the universe, it is impossible not to think of God as a possible explanation, but then again what explains God? I never once thought any higher power would take the form of a human-like consciousness.
5. No.
6. No, I would not like to convert anybody, but to encourage people to question their faith and some of the problems it poses.
7. I feel more comfortable around atheists and agnostics.
8. Whatever wisdom, trut or historic references there are in the Bible, are for me marred by the way it is used and abused. There are undoubtedly some good moral lessons, but then there are contradictory ones as well. Because so many use the Bible as a reference for their lives, when it contains so many contradictions, can be open to so many interpretations, is so outdated and was written by humans and I do not believe at all it was the word of god, I find it a very dangerous book indeed.
9. For the better. I rely on myself, I take responsibility for my own actions, I try to be good because I feel goodness is an end in itself, I love life for the simple thing that it is, and I will at the end, be able to let it go.
10. a and b.

Answer 10

My wife wanted me to do this although I'm really not an atheist. So here it is:
1)Not really an atheist. Since about age 17-18 I have questioned the validity of the traditional view of God. It does not make sense to me but the idea that is no God does not make sense to me either.
2)Observation, conversations with believers and non-believers, soul searching.
3)I'm sort of viewed as an oddball
4)Yes. Both of the existence and non existence
5)Yes. I have seen ghosts and supernatural events in my former home.
6)No
7)Yes. I always learn something new and fascinating associating with both atheist and non-atheist.
8)Yes. How can anyone argue that Do unto others is not a sound philosophy? There are other things but that is the one I remember most. I think that a lot of it reflects social norms of the times in which it was written and some of the basic laws of today are based upon the laws of the Bible. I also believe it has some literary value.
9)N/A
10)a,b,e, f -pure entertainment!

You are quite welcome.