Is there such a thing as an ex-Atheist?

Question

I've heard that there is no such thing as an ex-Christian. Could the same be said of any religion? Or even Atheism?

Answer 1

There are some people who said that they were atheists, and now are believers. To be fair, then, the answer must be "yes".

If you look at atheists here, it's clear that while many of us understand the reasoning that leads to atheism, others are atheists simply because they find believers to be silly. I think that those are the minority, though I can't back that up with any evidence.

I also believe that the atheists who become ex-atheists are exclusively the ones who never understood atheism in the first place. That's another belief that I can't back up with anything concrete, but I have yet to see any well-informed argument against atheism, whether from a believer or an ex-atheist. That leads me to assume that the ex-atheists never understood in the first place: they seem as poorly informed about atheism as the believers generally are.

There are also ex-Christians - I'm one of them, as are most American atheists. Now, if you're going to argue that we weren't really Christians in the first place, you're going to have a harder time that I would in arguing that the ex-atheists weren't "real atheists", because Christianity doesn't involve understanding anything - it just implies accepting certain things. If I am to be excluded from claiming to have been Christian, it must be on some basis OTHER than the fact that I no longer believe (otherwise you've got nothing but circular logic). I strongly doubt that anyone can come up with any test of Christianity that excludes people who later became atheists but does not exclude a LOT of current believers - unless it's something you really wouldn't want, like "Must not only believe, but be utterly clueless about the relationship between evidence, belief, certainty, and faith". I don't define "real Christian" as "ignorant", and I can't imagine that Christians want to either.

Answer 2

I'm sure it's possible.

And as for there not being such a thing as an ex-Christian, that's a lie. Because I AM one. And I say that because I used to be very much a believer and follower of Christianity (through the Roman Catholic church), but around the time of my Confirmation, I had to come up with questions and try to figure out answers. Upon scouring the internet for questions, and not getting answers from anyone in the church who SHOULD know the answers, I started searching for my own. By the time I was partially through college (just about 3-5 yrs later), I had reached a point where I could not reconcile my beliefs with those of a Christian, at which point I went my own direction. I no longer believe Jesus is a "savior" or "son of God" or that God is the being portrayed in the Bible/Koran. So I have become a spiritual person with a belief in an unknowable and ambiguous deity-type consciousness that is within us all. I have no hatred toward Christians (the non-fundy ones I mean), as they did not persecute me or any nonsense like that.

By that definition, I AM an ex-Christian. And I can believe that, while I've never seen it personally, there ARE ex-Atheists out there...just like there are ex-other religions as well.

Answer 3

Sure, there's an ex-everything for religion. Although some may not accept a person 'switching', it can still be used as a description.

Answer 4

I think there could be an ex anything. I am a Christian, but my cousin was an Athiest. but now he believes in God. So, an ex-Athiest could be possible.

Answer 5

I know people who have denied God for many years and called themselves atheists. They are now Christian.

Answer 6

That'd be me. I studied everything long and hard and finally found out there WAS a God after all.

Answer 7

Any person can have a change of their philosophies..