Atheists, what religion were your parents? If they were religious, then what made you become an..............

Question

atheist? Did they push their religion on you while growing up?


I'm an atheist too, so I won't get offended by any answers, as long as they are not answers bashing atheists. If anyone does not like my questions, then find another question to answer. If you don't have anything nice to say, then don't say anything at all.

Answer 1

My mother is still a Presbyterian, and my father is still Episcopalian. They took me to church at an early age, and they were Sunday school teachers at the time. Both of them came to realize that I did not belong there. I asked too many questions, and I didn't like going. They really didn't care as long as I was a good kid in their eyes. I became a weak atheist around the age of eleven. At some point, that turned into strong atheism. They still don't care, since they both continue to view me as a good person.

Answer 2

my mother is ethicist (thinks that a divine being would judge based on actions, not where u spend sundays), and i have no idea what my dad is, i've never asked. My step-mom is a believer, and i belive my step-father is too.

i beacem atheist around...2-2.5 years ago, after roughly the same amount of time searching for the "right" religion for me. i had become dissatisified w/ christianity (the religion that i had just hopped into, since i lived in the "bible belt"), due to various questions running through my head that no one could answer. i didn't find any religion that really hit me as right. i found some that were closer than others (buddhism and other ehticist eastern religions (tao, confunsionism, etc) especially), but none that were really...me. so decide that for now, until i find what i'm looking for, i'm going to be agnostic. when i did research, i found that you can be an "atheistic agnostic", and thats what i became.

Answer 3

My parents are both Christian and I was Christened. My parents do not go to church and never really discussed god or anything.
I don't call my self an Atheist as such. I don't really feel the need to put my self in a religious category at all. I don't believe in what the bible is trying to sell, I just live peacefully, keep myself happy and make sure I don't harm/hurt anyone on my journey.
After reading up on Buddhism recently I am very intrigued in that way of life.

Answer 4

My parents were Roman Catholic. I attended parochial schools with REAL nuns with yard sticks! I have to say I value my education greatly. I learned much more about liberal arts than the kids in public schools. I was very devout and was probably more religious than my parents. (I wanted to be a nun!)

I became an atheist in my 40s after realizing that I didnt believe any of the miracles really happened. I was forcing myself to accept things I knew were not true. I feel very good about being an atheist.

Answer 5

I was raised Jewish by an alcoholic Roman Catholic mother & a Reformed Jewish father. Dad (& my Jewish upbringing,) died when I was 9. At that point I became mom's punching bag & I personally believed that there could be no god. Although I did go back to spirituality 10 years later, I had developed the intelligence to recognize that most (if not all) organized religions were little more that superstitions designed to control the sheeple.

Answer 6

My father was a non-practicing Catholic. My mother was raised Catholic and went through Catholic schools. She suffered from physical and (especially) emotional abuse at the hands of nuns. She's still spiritual but she made no effort to bring us up as Catholics (except for the baptism part). My father has since become spiritual.

I am grateful for not being indoctrinated at an early age. I spent quite a bit of time and energy exploring the options out there. After a process of multiple eliminations atheism is what's left. I'm happy with my conclusion.

Answer 7

I was raised as Roman C
Mom sent me to 2 different religious schools
I studied several religions as I grew and then, when on my own, I was able to study Judaism, Muslim, Muslim Mohammedanism, Buddhism, Shintoism, Zen/Buddhism, Hinduism, and several others under a loose deism.

They all professed a belief in a higher being, all except a Buddhist/Shinto/zen which professed a spiritual oneness with nature. Close to what I felt, but not the cigar winner.

I believe in mankind. I know that we take care of our own, even when our own is loosely defined. There is a solidarity in knowing that we as a species will prevail because it is part of our environmental training, what caused our particular strand of mutations to evolve over the other apes.

And when we reach the stars, we will evolve again. We are the original free-wheeling, out-of-control, virus. And, the Universe is ours to inhabit

Answer 8

My mother is kinda new world religious, my father claims to be hardcore christian yet doesn't go to church. My dads side of the family is heavily christian which gives me hell every time i come over.
Probably what made me atheist the most was the hypocrisy of it. You can live a good life, help people, whatever, yet when the time comes, if you don't believe jesus was your savior, or god, then your going to hell.

Answer 9

My parents were Southern Baptist. I was forced to go to church as a child and Hellfire and Damnation was almost always on the menu. As a result I only gave my soul to God to avoid Hellfire not out of some misguided notion of love. Now as an adult I have options and moreover I read and do research. Finally, I know the REAL truth.

Answer 10

My parents are both Christians. My mother is a Southern Baptist, and I'm not sure about my father, because he never goes to church, but he talks about religion sometimes, so I know his beliefs. Neither one of them pushed their beliefs on me. My choice to become an atheist was mine and mine, alone. (Interestingly, my brother turned out the same way.)