Why be atheist?

Question

Please, I'm only curious to know what argument convinced you to become an atheist. Is there anything, in your opinion, beyond what the senses can vaildate or reason can prove?

Answer 1

Reality. Lack of any contrary evidence (i.e. of any supernatural entity, force or anything else.) Yes, beyond my senses, there's the sub-atomic world (quarks, etc.), quantum mechanics and the vast range of radiation, for three (there's likely more).

And there was no "argument" - I, like you, was born atheist, but I remained so due to lack of indoctrination to the contrary.

Answer 2

1. As science improves we've been able to lay to rest specific claims within religious texts, like Genesis in the bible and stories dealing with the beginning of the world. There is simply no evidence aside from anecdotal for the existence of a deity, and the first does not prove anything save the human willingness to belief in supernatural, non-existent things.

Extraordinary claims must be treated in the same fashion whether religious or not: They require great proof. And nobody can provide the evidence.

2. It doesn't make sense to me that the universe would be ruled by a personal god interested in the affairs of one species. We evolved on a planet over millions of year, fed by a star on the outer edge of the Milky Way galaxy among hundreds of billions of stars and galaxies.

Why would a personal god care about us? Some of the claims of religion sound enormously arrogant and self-serving. Just as the earth is not the center of the universe, it does not make sense that god would be a male creator with a human form who is interested in our emotional affairs.

2. Religion has been an extraordinary cause for violence in this world. How many human beings had to die over religious doctrine? Much of religion has opposed the scientific inquiry that gave us modern society. What if the Library of Alexandria hadn't been destroyed? Would humanity have continued to grow through knowledge instead of succumbing to centuries of the Dark Ages? How many lives could have been helped?

3. Human psychology strongly suggests that belief is a psychological and not rational phenomenon. There are over 2,500 deities out there created by different cultures to explain the world, all drawing from unique traditions and perspectives. Not one has more evidence of being real than another. The most popular ones threaten non-believers with hellfire or other forms of violence.

According to these religions only one view can be right. But scientifically speaking, they can all be wrong.

As an atheist, I do not claim that no god exists. We don't know much about the universe to make such a wide-reaching claim. But I think there is enough evidence to say that a god is unlikely, and in the case of religion, downright naive.

Answer 3

The first thing that clued me in was when I discovered that there are so many different religions. And hundreds before I was born.

That coupled with the fact that it was an accident of nature that I happened to be born to a chirstian family, as opposed to hindu or muslim or athiest.

Since then the constant scientific discoveies that categorically disprove many religious claims about the earth and science and nature have solidified my skepticism.

I would prefer to keep an open mind on those things that can not be validated by observation or proof. However the claims of religion are scientific cliams, that they know how the earth was created, how old it is, and how people were created, so I don't think that question is relavant to religion.

Answer 4

In the 70s I took a lot of mushrooms and acid and this taught me the limit of what the senses can validate and reason can prove.

It also made me open up to a lot of other religions and I have studied a few of them seriously. However in the long run, NONE of them made sense to me at a moral or psychological level. They are all self serving organizations taking money from people.

I found out that I was happier without the incredible leap of faith that the Bible requires. I enjoy a rational world. I'm not saying that we fully understand it in any way; but it doesn't need some God judging our puny human behavior. I am able to judge my own behavior and I push myself to be the best human being I can be.

If God exists it doesn't need my fear.

Answer 5

I became Atheist in my searching for religious belonging. I read the Bible, attending services, went to Bible classes, spoke with other Christians, as well as many others of different faiths. I felt that I needed to belong to some sort of religion because that was what I had always been told. It wasn't until I discovered that the foundation of Atheism was truly what I believed, even if it was not the most socially acceptable choice at the time.

Answer 6

There wasnt any argument to convince me. Unlike in christianity there are not atheistic evangelists trying to convert the masses, though maybe that is a good idea. I realized I was forcing myself to believe in things I knew were not true. I examined the evidence and came out of the experience a happy atheist.

Answer 7

Yes. It's called fantasy.

Sometimes we discover that our fantasies are real- for instance we may yet find life under the surface of Mars. Sometimes we make our fantasies real by our own hard work- like manned space flight and talking cars.

But not all fantasies are constructive. For example, cocaine was imagined to be good for your health not all that long ago.

The God of Abraham is Imaginary. The bible is the literary equivalent of the War of the Worlds radio broadcast. Fantasy, presented as reality, and beleived by enough people to make it dangerous.

We need some kind of public service announcement! Attention, everyone: cigarettes cause cancer, sugar really is bad for your teeth, and by the way, God is Imaginary.

Answer 8

The only proof we have of existance is our experiences and our senses.
I did consider myself agnostic, but when saying it is not possible to prove/disprove the existance of a god. I questioned that, I for one don't know if its possible to prove or disprove it so that left me with only one option. If I cannot prove something then I should go back to what I understood before the topic, being that without an notion of a god. IE Atheist.

Answer 9

Questions like "Why would god do this and and why did god let this happen?..." are naive.

Assertions that God owns your will and your soul are silly.

Telling others that they are damned if they don't believe is sadistic.

Reducing the universe to logic is masochistic.

To me it's all nihilistic..

I hit a logical wall trying to believe in the religion I grew up with (Catholicism) and I declared myself an atheist. But I found atheism doesn't work either. Both are incompatible with free-will, in my opinion..

Answer 10

Reality.
Truth.
Logic.
Reason.
Common-sense.
Freedom of choice.
Realisation that god is imaginary.

The more interesting question is why so many supposedly-educated people unconditionally accept that there is an invisible, silent and apparently uncaring entity existing out there, for which there is no valid evidence at all. Weirdly strange behaviour. Of course, we know the answer. History shows us, psychology shows us.
All very childish reasons.