ATHEISTS -- -- is atheism something you chose?

Question

I'm not trying to prove a point or make you embarrassed or anything like that, I'm just wondering if you considered it a "choice" or a "necessity".

UGH! So many people gave such wonderful answers... I don't know if I can choose!

Answer 1

I don't feel the need to label myself athiest in order to define who I am, what I do, or what I stand for.
Nor do I feel the need to impose my beliefs on others


So I guess it's a choice.

Answer 2

Providing only 'choice' and 'necessity' forces a fair degree of shoehorning. I reckon the best atheists are those who become atheists via a process of rational assessment of the issue, resulting in the *conclusion* that atheism is the only rational position.

The ones who just 'choose' to become theists include the sort of pillocks who later switch back to religion, and use their supposed former atheism to claim a sort of 'been there, done that - then saw the light' street cred. In fact, they never were atheists - they were just ignorant.

Noted apologist and highly-credentialed moron Alister McGrath is a fine example of this tacky phenomenon. There are many more.

As a third-generation atheist, I've never been even slightly religious. I did, however, flirt with it to the extent when a child of spending time with religious friends, attending a few junior church workshops with them, and reading the Bible. I found all of these massively underwhelming and obvious wish-fulfilment nonsense. The only revelation I experienced was learning the shocking fact that people really are that gullible and/or unthinking.

I don't call that choice, except in the weak sense of 'choosing' not to run into a busy street. It was a conclusion, based on data.

CD

Answer 3

Why on earth would an Atheist be embarrassed by a question like that?
I didn't see it as a choice. I have always been an Atheist. My parents weren't overly religious, but I just didn't feel the need. As I got older (maybe wiser), I found that there was just too much evidence against the existence of God. I don't think it is a neccessity either. People will believe what they want, no way around it.

I know some people who have become an Atheist after being religious and vice versa. So in those cases it would be a choice.

Answer 4

99% of the time, I don't consider my beliefs choices. They simply *are* what I believe.

Atheism, to me, is not so much a belief as it is the natural human state. I was born an atheist, and had a ridiculous religion imposed upon me at an impressionable age. When I became old enough to think for myself, internally I discarded the religion. When I became old enough to express my beliefs without fear of being ridiculed, hurt or ostracized, I verbalized my feelings to the people around me. So far, I haven't found any compelling reason to adopt any religion. I'm quite content to admit there are things about life and the universe I simply don't understand or have an answer for,

If I am drawn into a religious discussion, I will explain my reasons for not believing in a god, but as I've gotten older, I've learned that most of these discussions end in discord, so unless I am directly asked, I tend to keep my beliefs to myself.

Answer 5

Strangely, I would say mine was neither a choice nor a necessity but rather an observation, like noticing the sky is blue today. I was a very devout Christian at the time, but I am also a scientist. My area of research is extremely rare events and it was my observations regarding Cauchy distributions in dynamic systems that really made me lose faith. God ceased being necessary to explain anything. A god may exist and in fact I really hope one does. It would be a pleasant thought really that there exists a caring creator. However, I also wish that Santa existed too and I miss the Easter Bunny. I do miss my imaginary friend, but since my imaginary friend has left, I have been able to help humanity quite a bit more.

Answer 6

It really wasn't a choice. After all the reading and research I did, it just became apparent. Honestly, having "faith" in the existance of something is a concept I cannot grasp. I am a person who wants to see proven facts. If it isn't possible, then I will not beleive in it.

The same holds true for me about the "big bang" theory. I do not believe in that either, as their is no way that we are ever going to be able to prove it. I really don't care how the universe started, as it really doesn't change where we are now.

So, I really didn't choose it. "Choice" implies that there were two viable things to choose from. After studying all that I did, there was really only one "choice".

Answer 7

This is actually a very good question.
Some people become atheists because of bad experiences with religion. Some were never raised in religion, and so see it as completely natural. There are a lot of reasons people decide to not believe in mythical gods.

For me, being raised in a very all-encompassing religion, it was a choice...and a difficult one. The pressure from family and most of my acquaintances at the time was enormous. They all considered me "lost" -- and even now, some 25 years after declaring myself to be atheist, I still get comments from family about how they'll all be together in heaven, but I won't be there.

But the choice was really very simple for me: the evidence that there is no such thing as god was overwhelming, and there is no evidence that there is any such thing as god. In the face of that evidence, I had only two choices: I could be honest with myself and others, and declare that I was atheist; or I could lie to myself and to others just to "fit in," and pretend to believe. Since I'm an honest person, the choice was easy -- although living with it has not always been easy.

I sometimes get a little frustrated here on Answers with those who make declarations of knowledge (which is incorrect) of god's existence, even though they are ignorant of the evidence for or against. To paraphrase an old philosopher, an unexamined life is not worth living :) I have no isse with those who actually study, learn, and educate themselves with regard to the evidence, and then honestly declare that they still believe despite the evidence -- those are honest people who believe out of hope, and who nearly always have nothing but the best of motives. I salute them.
But the people who never bother to learn, the ignorant ones who try to use science to prove god or their mythical texts, and those who believe just because they were raised that way or out of ignorance...I feel genuinely sorry for them. The fit the term given by Richard Dawkins in his popular book: deluded.


Peace.

Answer 8

Partly choice, partly necessity. I was raised Mormon and I started to see problems with its teachings when I was around 12. It took about six years to be convinced it was wrong, and then another six years or so to be mostly convinced that all religions are wrong.
--- added later ---
My original doubting of Mormonism was because I could tell that we were being taught to consider ourselves better than other people and in a racist way. We were taught that people with black skin are black because they made a bad choice before being born into this life. Somehow that just seemed ludicrous to me, and I could tell that it was just a way to justify racism against blacks. Once I realized that Mormons could be so wrong in one area, the rest of my journey to reject Mormonism was mainly just to undo all of the indoctrination, most of which was subconscious.

Note that I had to consciously evaluate all of my beliefs, and the foundations of Christian thought. I went though a phase where I thought Mormonism was clearly wrong, but that the Bible might still be right. But that phase was brief, because many of the some kinds of inconsistencies and bigotry was in the Bible too. So, you might say I was compelled towards atheism by my desire to make sense of internal conflicts. In this sense it was necessity, but ever step of the way it was my choice to try to understand why I believed what I believed.

Answer 9

It was, and it wasn't. I had always questioned my beliefs, but it came to a head in my late teens. Call it a "spiritual crisis." I spent several years researching different faiths, attending a number of churches, and interviewing priests, pastors, rabbis and regular folks. I even read through the bible twice, taking notes the second time. My conclusions were based on a lot of reflection and self-examination. I decided science had the right answers; at least the answers made sense.

Answer 10

I imagine that most atheists arrived at their position through a process of analysis which led them to the conclusion that there is not any reason to believe that God exists.

Follow along with this: 2+(1+1+1) X 3=

What is the result?

Answer 11

There actually is one logical argument that can be put forth in favor of religion:

If you accept religion and your right - you'll be rewarded.

If you accept religion and your wrong - you'll never know.

If you denounce religion and your right - you'll never know.

If you denounce religion and you wrong - you'll be punished.

So from a potential cost/benefit analysis standpoint, it's more logical to hold religious beliefs. There is little reward for atheism.

As such, denouncing the religion that was crammed down my throat as a child was very difficult, but ultimately a choice. I could go through the motions and fake it, but in the end I'd rather be true to myself.

God might exist, if he does though - It's not I that failed Him, it is He that failed me.