Question for Atheists?

Question

Did any of you ever at one time believe there is a God or a higher power? Do your parents believe in that? What happened to change your beliefs if you did?
Just a question, no other motives.....

I would like to thank everyone for answering so candidly. Very insightful. Peace.

Answer 1

Yes. I was a 100% saved & convicted Christian. I was studying for the priesthood as it happened, when I became an atheist. The more I read and studied, the more I learned particularly in the fields of psychology, neurology, and computer science (or what is now recognized as the unified field of 'neuroscience'), plus the fields of religion and history (including religions other than my own), the more I saw that religion had evolved and that there was ultimately nothing new under the sun. Religions followed an evolutionary tree just as does life.

It didn't make any sense to continue believing in an idea when you see behind the scenes to realize how it formed and that its formation had nothing to do with truth but rather explaining that which could not, at the time, be explained.

I've even had powerful visions of the Crucifixion. But understanding how these neurological events happen made it clear that they were not God-given but internal interpretations of otherwise extreme, but normal, neurological functioning, as processed by my beliefs at the time.

As an atheist, I believe in no deities of any kind. However, I often seek out what could be called 'out of body experiences' and in these states, I find myself face-to-face with Fenrir Wolf of Norse mythology. I don't believe he really exists -- I understand that it is just my brain interpreting extreme neurological functioning in the context of my current symbology (which is almost exclusively wolf-oriented).

I didn't want to be an atheist. I spent thre or four terrifying years begging and studying and trying desperately to keep the faith even as it fell apart under the cold light of knowledge. There are days I still think I'd do just about anything to believe again. I miss the way it felt. I think the benefits outweigh the costs but... still... it felt good.

Answer 2

I was raised a Christian, but I left the church and became an atheist by the age of 11. My parents are believers, and my father has disowned me for this. We haven't had a real conversation in over 28 years, which is too bad really, but he won't sway in his opinion of me.

Over a period of a couple years, I grew away from the church. My parents divorced, and my step family was much like the Christians you see in the movie Jesus Camp. My stepbrother is a minister, my stepmother and other stepbrothers had formed a gospel band. It was just too different from what I was used to, so I started questioning and eventually I stopped believing.

I go against the opinions of most atheists in that I still believe that we possess souls, and that our spirits live on as energy after we die. In this respect, I also believe in an afterlife, but not that of the Christians.

Answer 3

I don't remember ever thinking about a belief in God, but I remember deciding not to believe in Him because I didn't like the idea of someone deciding that it was my time to die. That's either going to be my decision or going to result from natural causes like disease or old age. And if there is an accident, I won't be thinking that some deity is personally responsible for causing it. That doesn't sit well with me for many reasons. That happened when I was five and supposed to be sleeping. I still remember laying in bed staring at the ceiling.
I know my mom believes in God but I've never asked my dad.
I tried to go back to church and believe when I was about 22 or 23. It didn't work out, to say the least. I was following the possibility of peace and comfort, but I didn't find that in religion.
I also never found a compelling argument in favor of it all. Pascal and his bet about God's existence came close, but I strongly dislike gambling.

Answer 4

I was an atheist, and I was raised without a religion. My mom was a sort of agnostic, religion just isn't in her interest set.

I didn't not believe in a deity because I had believed and lost faith, I didn't believe because I had no reason to believe. I was born an atheist and my experiences up until about my late teens 100% supported that view.

Answer 5

I attended a Church School. I suppose I used to believe, but I think that was just because it was expected of me, and I was young, and hadn't really thought things through.

I would still LIKE to believe in an afterlife etc. It's such a comforting thought. But the older I get, the more disillusioned with religion in general I become. I think it's pretty much that anyone with any intelligence will question things. Science versus religion? Science will win every time.

Answer 6

A fair question respectfully asked.

Personally I've never properly "believed", but I know a lot of American atheists come from strongly believing backgrounds and fought against a lot angst before they lost their faith. My background is secular and although I was exposed to the usual Christian motifs and stories, they weren't hammered home. By the time I came to finding my own set of beliefs I could judge without anxiety and I had enough familiarity with science and empiricism to arrive at my conclusions fairly easily and fairly early. There simply isn't a single good reason to believe in a god and endless reasons to conclude that there isn't one.

Answer 7

I did. They did. Mom, a Sunday school teacher and church librarian for 66 years, is now agnostic. Dad is passively theist only it's never actually altered him in any way.

What changed my belief is multi-faceted. Mostly it was education about my faith. I had gone to seminary and was into my doctorate when I realized I had nowhere left to retreat with any integrity. The evidence that my beliefs had no testable evidence to support them and tons of evidence to undermine them was simply overwhelming.

Of course I entered seminary as a fundamentalist and inerrantist, which is the most irrational and indefensible of faith positions. I've since come to understand the complete incompatibility of knowledge and fundamentalist zealotry. Zealotry only thrives in ignorance. Once I began to understand the lack of foundation to my own faith I broadened the examination to theism as a whole, then physics and cosmology in particular. Eventually I came to the conclusion that the notions of theism put forth so far simply have no basis other than mere assertion. There may be something. Like everyone I would like to think there is, but there is simply no testable evidence, and holding any convictions without testable evidence is prejudice, not faith.

Answer 8

I became a christian when I was 14.

I became an athiest when I was 16.

I had a terrible fear of death, thats why I became a Christian. I wanted to beleive I could go to heaven. However I couldn't help but think 'what if it's not real?'. I questioned it, I read all sorts of religious and non-religious books. I eventually came to the conclusion that God's existence is incredibly unlikely. I became an Athiest!

Answer 9

I beleive there are many higher powers. The door to my house for instance. Strangers could hit it all day and it wouldn't break . I can't do that. 2 punches and I'm on the floor.
People live inside their heads, they lose touch with reality, so they create Gods so they can keep living in their head. Reality is god. Being made up of real atoms, I am part of it.
Stop thinking, you're not outside of god, you're a part of it and IN it. Think of yourself as a body and you'll be much closer to the truth.
SPEND A FEW DAYS ALONE IN NATURE, THE MOUNTAINS OR DESERT, everyone should regularly. You'll understand the secret...

Answer 10

I believed in God until I was a teenager but then realized how illogical and nonsensical the Bible was and whenever I would question it, nobody could logically answer my questions. It became clear to me that religion was a big lie and God was no different that Santa Clause. My parents weren't regular church goers but they were believers or at least hopeful.