are people born believers or athiests?

Question

or it is something lifestyle impresses upon you?

Answer 1

i was born into a christian family, but i chose to deny the existance of and god.
i got where i am today myself.
but i give credit to a friend that educated me and brought me to salvation.

Answer 2

Born neither, as they don't have the knowledge to be either.
The *question* doesn't exist for the new-born.
As many studies show, most people follow the belief of their own family and surrounding culture. You pick it up with language (There was once an experiment to see if children, not exposed to speech, would inherently speak Hebrew!)

"Everyone is born completely innocent." Yeesang proposes,, but that exactly isn't what Christianity maintains by the doctrine of original sin. Every new-born is doomed, as bearing an inclination to evil: rebelllion against God.
Born "tainted" at the least.

No, it's not what I believe. But I note it.

Answer 3

When people are born they are niether. They reserve the right to choose. Parents are meant to instruct on what is right or wrong in life.
however if a child is born and no one shows them right or wrong they end up doing the wrong, never the right. why?
How can people say that no one would know about God if they weren't taught, people in several different regions around the world come to believe in God not because someone told them but because through the course of life they imagine a superior being in control of things especially things they can't explain.

Answer 4

The people are programed to believe. There are so many different religions telling you to believe. Even our money says to believe. There are politicians and some men of the cloth who don't believe. Because God is a continuous no-show, if some one didn't tell you that there is a God, you wouldn't know what the word meant.

Answer 5

Neither: they are born agnostics, which literally means that they know nothing about theological issues. Children may seek to learn something about such, from conversations with friends or others, or (like mine) simply ignore the whole business as a waste of time. Which is really quite a sensible approach.

Answer 6

I say that we are all born atheists, because atheism simply means "not believing in god", and nobody believes in god unless they have been taught to, just like nobody believes in anything else (except that which is instinctual, like nursing) unless they are taught to.

The reason people become positive atheists (state that there is no god, which is subtly different than the natural stance of negative atheism/absence of belief in a god) or theists has to do with what we learn, be it from our family and friends, or from textbooks.

Answer 7

Its impossible to be born believers or atheist because you don't even realize that your alive until one day you just notice it, this is truth. Babies never hear of God until the age of understanding thats when they can decide to believe or not, most children believe anything at a young age anyway.

Answer 8

I was born & raised a Christian.....I became an Atheist after I graduated from college.

It wasn't something that happend overnight....I wrestled with it for almost 10 years.

Answer 9

Atheists. No I'm not being biggotted or trying to start a fight, it's just a matter of logic. How is a baby going to have belief God/Gods? It won't have a belief in God/Gods anymore than it does in the existence of anti-matter or atoms.

And that is the definition of being an atheist "no belief in the existance of God/Gods.

Answer 10

no.. same with people that think babies are born gay or straight.. or whatever. when you're an infant you don't know any better.. how can you be capable of making such a decision at such and early stage in life. its just something you learn as you grow up... depending on your influences.