Why are you ATHEIST?

Question

WHERE you a christian before and now atheist?
WHERE you born into an atheist family?
WHERE you raise in the church and turned atheist? or vise versa
ETC.

I am christian but I have always wanted your point of view....can someone enlighten me please

ALSO, being an atheist, what are your positive views?
What do you believe?
.

Answer 1

I'm a former Chrisitan who "woke up" and realized I was being deceived in the same very way we deceive our children with the story of Santa Claus. It is done to "keep people in line" a way to manipulate the masses to "self govern" themselves.

I believe in Karma - in doing good things and good things happen to me. I have no guilt, I have no shame. I have a wonderfully healthy family (including emotionally) and I donate the time I would have spent in a church helping to build my community.

I don't look down on people who are religious - I look at it as their choice.

Answer 2

Why are you ATHEIST?
----- i believe in occum's razor: that the simplest explanation is most likely the correct one. it's simpler explanation to say that there's no god. "what's more likely, that an all-powerful god put us on this earth an left no proof of his existence or that he simply doesn't exist?" - from the movie contact

WERE you a christian before and now atheist?
----- i was a catholic christian before i made my own spitiual decisions.

WERE you born into an atheist family?
----- i was born into a catholic christian family who went to church regularly.

WERE you raise in the church and turned atheist?
----- i actually went to a catholic preschool, elementary school, and high school... where we were made to attend church during school.

ALSO, being an atheist, what are your positive views? What do you believe?
----- i believe that life is a phase. that we live and die, and that life for everyone and everything else goes on. we live and die like a blade of grass or a bumble bee. every living thing is equal and the same, and that we aren't special. we are a part of a grander whole.

note: this doesn't cover all atheists as a whole, simply my beliefs. i believe that everyone has their own beliefs for an individual reason.

Answer 3

I was born into a Christian Family, did the whole 'Received the Spirit' routine, was a Convicted-by-God Born Again believer who was in the process of studying to become a Priest.

I am an atheist because the more I read the Bible and studied other religions, the more I realized that they had all evolved from earlier forms and that there was no religion that was truly unique in the world. The more I studied science, the more I realized that the deific hypothesis was untenable and untestable -- and even if testable, it provided no predictive capability.

As far as belief, I have none. People may say, "Well, you believe that when you sit in that chair, you believe it will hold you." That's not belief in the sense of holding something as true without evidence -- all the past times I sat in the chair it held, and I tend to sit carefully in case whatever chair it is DOES happen to collapse.

There are three things I hold as valid, but I do not consider them 'true'. In fact, because they are axiomic, that means they cannot be proven. They are simply the rules of the game, as it were:

1. Mathematics and logic are valid. Truth is an inherantly logical proposition. Without logic, the truth-value of any fact could never be known, there would be no way to distinguish between a true fact and a false fact. Without logic, knowledge would be unattainable.

2. Observations, unaided and aided, are valid. However, aided observations must be supported by prior observations and mathematics. For example, before the theory of optics was discovered, a microscope would have been invalid; but through study of unaided observations of lenses and beams of light, the theory of optics was mathematically formulated, so the microscope is valid. A crystal gazing ball is still invalid, but if a way to define the effect mathematically and in a way that could be verified with unaided observations was found, it would become valid as well. Without being able to trust our observations, we could aquire no data on which to operate, and thus knowledge would be unattainable.

3. The supernatural, if it exists (note: no statement is made of its existence or non-existence, just a conditional), does not in any way interact with the natural world. If a supernatural involvement can be had, then nothing can be assured as true. If the deity that oversees gravity decides to change the universal gravitational constant, for example, all things we know will suddenly be invalid, and thus knowledge could not be attained.

It is important to recognize that none of these things is considered true; they are axioms. An axiom is a statement that must be accepted or not accepted on its own merits. However, as each of them can be shown to be necessary for knowledge, one must either accept these three things, or, one must accept that nothing at all can be known, let alone known to be true or false. So these axioms must be 'accepted' or 'held' to attain knowledge, even though their axiomic nature means they themselves cannot be proven.

Answer 4

I was brought up in a very strict religion, I felt it was impossible to live up to the standards required, I was constantly crushed with guilt about doing even a really minor thing wrong, as imperfect humans we sin every day, and I could not cope with the huge guilt burden.

The hypocrisy I saw there made me sick, the church elders got away with a lot of things that were not christian, imposing their own personal views of things on the congregation.

I decided I could not be part of that anymore and left, I never understood the finer points and I do not have the brain for remembering scriptures so felt I could not defend my faith.

I am now free of the huge burden of guilt, I am now able to live my life and enjoy each day without worrying that I am not good enough, my self esteem and confidence have rocketed, I do not believe that organised religion like that is a good thing, and it destroyed any faith that I once may have had.

Answer 5

I was born and still live in a country of catholic tradition.Though not very religious my parents got me baptised and for practical reasons rather than religious they send me to a catholic school run by monks (La Salle). There I have a very good education, relatively openminded I am grateful for that. At school, we have some mass along the year and we pray for 5 minutes at the start of the day. At that time I believe in God as a natural thing.
It is later in life when you start questioning things. I became an atheist by reasoning. These are the main points thaat take me to be an atheist:
1. I base my reasoning in Socrates sentence "I only know that I know nothing" (not sure if that is the correct translation into English). For me that means we have to believe nothing, the foundations ofour knowledge must be empiricism and rational thinking, not believes ans superstition.
2. Nothing indicates that there is a God: science has gradually stripped god off his powers. Religious explanations have given way to rational explanations with the advances of science. God in not neccessary to explain physical fenomena. Science does it in a more that satisfactory way. Praying won't save anybody, penicillin saved millions.
3. All the theology is based on abstract concepts: soul, Holy spirit, heaven... We do not have any proof at all that this is not the fantasy af someone. For example, the Holy Spirit, the Holy Trinity, the virginity of Mary and her mother, etc are concepts introduced long after Jesus by the Church Hierarchy. The Pope is infalible. Why? Because the Holy Spirit talks through him.
4. Religious principles have been used to impose a particular way of living and to control masses. It seems to me that religions has been and still is a instrument of the powerful.
5. It is kind of nice to believe. You will live an eternal life, and you will see again in Heaven your dead love ones and you will have eternal happiness in the company of God. This fairy tale is what makes people believe, death is hard to accept, and in form or another all religions promise you eternal life. But if we were ready to accept death I am sure that we would be much more grateful in accepting life and we would live each and every day of our lives as the wonderful present it is.

We can look through the window right know. it does not matter if we see the countryside, a busy street or our backyard, you will see how wonderful is this world, if you are ready to appreciate small things. Also having no Religion does not mean you don't have principles. This being the only opportunity we have to enjoy this world, you will realise that LIFE is sacred. Life is given to us by superior forces indeed (Nature, chance...) and we have no right at all over it. It follows not just that life should be respected but we must make every effort to get it improved for ourselves and for others. We must work hard to provide for us, for our families and for all those not so lucky. We must give the opportunity to future generations to have an even better wold than we have. We must look after the Environment, improve life conditions and make this world, the only one we'll ever have, a better place.

Answer 6

>Why are you ATHEIST?

I've looked at a large amount of evidence, and it simply points towards God not existing.

>WHERE you a christian before and now atheist?

No.

>WHERE you born into an atheist family?

Yes.

>WHERE you raise in the church and turned atheist?

No.

>ALSO, being an atheist, what are your positive views?

Well, I do believe in the idea that 'while there is life, there is hope'. Just because God doesn't exist doesn't mean everything's pointless or that there is no longer anything fun to do. Humans may not have any innate purpose in this Universe, but as conscious beings we can give ourselves a purpose.

>What do you believe?

That God doesn't exist.

Answer 7

I was born and raised in a Christian Protestant family and went to church every Sunday. I was a faithful beleiver but could never reconcile the poor standing/positions that women were "assigned" by god - or natural order as christians like to call it. I could never get beyond always being secondary in life. I've always believed evolution and eventually read enough scientific literature to decide that religion just wasn't for me and abandoned it altogether. I realized that I didn't need an all powerful eye in the sky scaring me into be a good person. I make all my own decisions without guilt or doubt. I felt as if a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders since I didn't have to force myself into a mold/role that I didn't fit into. I am a happier and healthier for it. I don't begrudge anyone their beliefs as long as they don't try to force them on me.

Answer 8

Maybe it will help you to know that Sigmund Freud thought that if you did not have a harmonious relation with your father you would not be able to believe in God.
My parents had religious beliefs they divorced. For some reason even though I went to a religious school till grade 4 and to learn some about religion and go to church I always had a questioning mind. I can remember being in a catholic kindergarten and they took the kids to church I was walking close to a church wall and abruptly saw a pair of bloody feet 2 feet away and I jumped very frightened.
Starting early on I questioned how can it be possible to resurrect and go to heaven? At age 8 I argued with a catholic kid my same age that in any case Jesus body could not have gone to heaven only his spirit.
Then my animosity increased with efforts of family members or acquaintances to deny evolution. When I read about evolution being animals evolving or men for me it was something liberating and magic in the sense that the real world the real story was more interesting and compelling than any fairy tale or religious story.
If there is a God he must want me to use my brain not to shackle it with authoritarian dogma no matter how well intentioned.
I find the christian tale manipulative of people's emotions in the same way that Mel Gibson is a hypocrite anti-semite making millions out of the Passion. Hundreds of thousands of people died in the cross by the Romans. I find the goriness of religious tales sickening. You must realize that there is a lot of mental illness related to religion. Some people compare religious education of kids to abuse. I certainly believe that even the tale of Santa Clause is abuse of a minor kind.

Answer 9

i was born and raised Christian, and now atheist.

my positive views are basically to live life to the fullest here and now. my mother always aimed low or didn't try at all because she honestly thinks Armageddon is coming any day now so why bother doing anything? why bother trying to be happy? she's just going to do her duties as a Christian and thats it. though not all Christians are the same though.. but my mom and others i have encountered have that grim outlook. that is just not for me.

as far as beliefs go.. i have none religious wise. but socially i try to accept people for who they are and that respect should be the most important thing in the world.

if you meant beliefs as in how we came to be.. well i do follow evolution, but that is not a religious belief. it is fact (though you may disagree, that is fine). i agree with mostly what science says and i do not try to twist it into something else. the cold hard truth. though it is always wise to keep in mind that new things are being discovered everyday. there is always a possibility of something out of the norm to happen, and there are still many many things in this world that cannot be explained (yet).

i think it is a good thing that you are trying to understand other people's point of views. it is a very rewarding feeling, isn't it?

Answer 10

My family was pretty much non-religious from the start (I'm from the Netherlands btw, lots of atheists there) and I was always encouraged to critically examine all faiths (muslim, jew, buddhist, christian, hindu, the list is endless).

From that list, the only one I can't find fault with is Buddhism. The rest all seemed flawed in some way or the other. To answer the header of your question: I can't find any positive proof of god(s), just negative proof (i.e. you can't disprove the existence of god, which is not proof at all).

Views and beliefs? Even though I believe life is, for all intents and purposes and especially for any human definition of the word, pointless, this is not a bad thing. It means you are free to give whatever meaning to life you want.

We evolved a complex social system, as shown by the many bonds and connections we make with our peers and family. Those bonds are precious to me.

I enjoy being self-aware in this universe, as it is a beautiful and complex and mysterious one (it also sucks donkey balls at times). I love traveling this great globe of ours, so small in the grand scheme of things, and yet so large on my modest human scale.

Answer 11

Judging by the wording of your question I assume you are an American. I was a Christian before becoming an atheist. I guess I just answered 3 questions there. I am an atheist because I don't believe that gods, angels, ghosts and whatnot exist. There goes 4. My positive view is that I am in control of my life discounting any extraneous variables and there are no gods working against me.