2007-03-21 19:24:03 · 19 answers · asked by pinkrose 3 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Thank you for all your comments. I want to broaden my horizon and understand people--not condemn them.
I am a Christian and it saddens me that some of you got turned off by Christians who don't think enough, and love enough to take you serious, and to answer your questions, and accept you where you are at.
2007-03-21 20:34:16 · update #1
No one teaching or event. It was a three to four year process of pain, agony, and terror for me.
More than anything though, a complete reading of the Bible from cover-to-cover was enough to force me out of my beliefs in Christianity, which was surprising since I undertook such a task trying desperately to preserve my faith, not get rid of it, because I wanted with all my heart to continue believing.
2007-03-21 19:27:35 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 8⤊ 3⤋
The fact that we know humans were not here at the beginning of the earth. The fact that we know stories like Noah are versions of older less ridiculous stories. Noah came from an old Sumerian tale about a man name Noah saving his family from a village flood caused by a river. The fact that we know the universe is self maintained and follows the law of physics chemistry composition and all other scientific non deity induced laws. And after I read the Bible, Koran, and book of Mormon combing for something to explain these atrocities to the myth. But of course all I got was bronze age myths explaining nothing except how the non believers will be punished. I don't like this question I know you don’t mean to be condescending. But people don't become atheists because they want to feel cool or some tragedy happened. They become atheist's after examining there life and everything around them. Although some of it could be brought on by that I had a somewhat traumatic childhood and wanted to rebel from my fundamentalist parents. But rebellion is what fuels someone to think for themselves. Believe it or not our parents are not the genius's we all thought they were. Most atheists base there opinions on scientific evidence not theology. Religion is corrosive to the mind I know that right now you’re reading this and saying what an idiot. I know that's exactly what I did when I was a Christian. You can get my information and email me or something if you’d like to talk about it more or are thinking about becoming an atheist or agnostic. A good book I'd recommend would be The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins it might be a little offensive to Christians and other believers but is nevertheless very thought provoking.
2007-03-22 02:50:26 · answer #2 · answered by Beaverscanttalk 4 · 4⤊ 1⤋
Why do Christians always assume that its some teaching or event that makes a person Atheist? You are again assuming that the person is rebelling against your god, not that they just don't believe in it.
See... me I grew up. I learned the realities of the world. I learned about science and people and life. And I realized that the whole bible thing is nothing but crap used to decieve a gullible people that didn't know any better.
2007-03-22 02:29:23 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 5⤊ 2⤋
Not so much anything making me an atheist, as nothing ever making me a theist. I don't think the notion of having to "decide" if I believed or not occurred to me until I was well into my teens, if not 20's - it just never came up that I had any reason to; actually it just never came up at all. "Religion in Life" at primary school was just the same as any other story time to me. I'm sure I went to a few Sunday school classes as a very small kid, but then I'm sure I went to ballet classes as a tyke too, and I certainly never believed I was a ballerina!
2007-03-22 02:37:13 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 2⤋
I decided it when the religion I participated in did not give me reasonable answers to my most difficult questions. The stupid answers I got were always, "You just have to have faith". And I'm not one to have blind faith in something I've never seen, something I've never felt, and something that I've never seen make a difference in the lives of others. Although there are many delusional people out there who think, "God helped him through his illness." No, the doctors and the medicine helped him. People keep confusing miracles with coincidences or just blatant facts. If you give someone medicine and time, they will heal. It is no miracle....its science.
2007-03-22 03:37:36 · answer #5 · answered by Abby C 5 · 4⤊ 1⤋
when i was about 16-18 years old, i realized that humans made god not the other way around. then i understood how the small church i was in works, and realized that most churches work that way... it's like having poor people pay you to give you a false sense of hope...
original sin, guilt tripping, that kind of stuff... then i read an essay about the flaws of christianity and i saw lots of points there about the inaccuracies of the bible, the contradictions...
i read the skeptics annotated bible, and agreed with most of what it said about contradictions and funny absurdities.
that's my story.
2007-03-22 02:42:54 · answer #6 · answered by lnfrared Loaf 6 · 6⤊ 1⤋
I have a Christian friend and he and I started discussing religion, the bible and such. The more I learned about the bible the worse it got. I kept finding problem after problem after problem.
But what really blew my mind is that everytime I pointed out one of these little problems (like the fact that the bible has about 20 pro-slavery statements and not a single, explicit statement against slavery) he just shrugged and said that god must know best.
So it wasn't the problems as much as my friends in ability to see them as problems. That's scary!!!
2007-03-22 02:35:06 · answer #7 · answered by Alan 7 · 5⤊ 2⤋
Well I'm not an atheist, I'm an agnostic. I'm smart enough to question the existence of an upper force. My parents never took me to church. They talked about God to me when I was younger. But now that I've reached my teenage years (I'm 14) I have began to question the existence of God. Truthfully, people who are extremely religious drive me insane. I have nothing wrong with religion but I wish people would just accept everyone else. I'm sick of people criticizing homosexuals, colored people, and people of other religions. They are like everyone else if not better. They respect people (For the most part) and most of them accept everyone else.
2007-03-22 02:31:31 · answer #8 · answered by Keyleigh 2 · 6⤊ 2⤋
I am certain that some atheists reall did have no particular influence or cataclysmic event that prompted them to become atheist. But for some it was a process that occurred over a period of time.
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AjfAjEoDuDUxfqfGxqeglfvty6IX?qid=20070123090648AA5x7AU
2007-03-22 03:25:22 · answer #9 · answered by babydoll 7 · 3⤊ 1⤋
The very same one that convinces a Christian not to be a Hindu. I just reject one more God than he does.
2007-03-22 02:58:29 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 4⤊ 1⤋