why are you an atheist?

Question

I'm an atheist Cutie...

Answer 1

Reality is a great place to live.

Answer 2

Because I believe that religion was created by man and for one of two reasons (maybe both). Firstly, to explain the unexplainable and therefore stopping the "wise" men of the time from looking stupid. Secondly, as a tool of oppression; those in power could do whatever the hell they wanted if they did it under the pretence of it being "god's will". It was a way to control the common folk and an excuse to wage war on other nations.
I am happy to keep my mind open to all possibilities, even the possibility of a god existing, but I can't and won't believe it without some kind of evidence. Furthermore, I can't believe that a divine being would create this wonderful planet and all life on it, then sit by and watch one species pollute, destroy and kill all the others.

P.S. I think DuckPhup should have best answer.

Answer 3

For me, the #1 reason for me is not actually "lack of evidence" (though that's certainly in the top 5), but rather "lack of need for theism". I simply don't find the whole notion of deity to be a realistic or useful model. I don't need deity to explain the physical world or people's behavior, or be a source of moral code, get me through rough times, etc. I don't find myself thinking about "God" on a given day any more than I think about Zeus, Osiris, Krishna, or any other deity.

This is certainly not to say I never tried. In the past I was a very devout believer in deity. So I understand where theists are coming from. That belief was based on a number of things (the need for personal identity, interpretations of the bliss I'd get from meditation, the joy of ceremony, certain assumptions about metaphysics and life purpose, etc.) But people change as they experience more in life. I certainly don't have all the same friends, live in the same conditions, listen to the same exact music etc. than I did when I was 16! I found that a lot of the things I was getting out of religion could be obtained through other means.

Answer 4

Well Jemma

Atheism is not a religion; it is my awareness that after years of working with holy books (restoration bookbinder) all religions seem somewhat redundant and antiquated to me.

I are not defending a faith, but simply acknowledging the facts that science has unearthed, and accepting the theories as better arguments for the gaps within our knowledge than the ancient scripts propose.

I would not attack anybody who has a declared faith, if they were willing to leave me to my own thoughts in peace - but they don’t. Many atheists feel like me I suppose, and are very active in the religious blogs.

And we do have business here - not to defend science, which many theists will try to pull into lame theological debate - but to express our intrest in the scriptures. We may not belive, but its a stand point that has occured from a lot of research, and we like to discuss the concepts.

So having read a few bibles, Torahs and Korans, I enjoy discussion on a subject I seem to be more informed about than the 'righteous'.

I simply believe in one less god than a religious person does, so if they can justify the reasons that they do not believe in another god, then it should be simple to see why I do not believe in their god. You see however, when someone talks about witnessing, thier ultimate goal is not to win arguments, but to win souls.

The goal is to see God-haters fall in love with Jesus. But they do not understand, that I do not hate god at all, I simply do not believe in him. How can I fall in love with something that I do not believe exists?

When witnessing, they often say things that indicate - they believe I am running from God – That interpretation 'I won’t even face the fact that there is a God I am answerable to' when the 'truth' is - That I can not find a single fact to convince me that there is a god I should answer too, and can find many facts that support his invention.

Thus they assume that ‘I don’t even want to think about God.’ and again they are wrong, I will quite happily think about the concept of a god, it is why I spend time here chatting, however, if I am going to suddenly convert, it would not be to Evangelism, they simply do not have the open minds that I like to converse with.

I am an atheist, worth 200 conversion points... When it gets down to the bottom line, I believe in one less god than you do.

Answer 5

If you are a reasonably intelligent adult, and you read the Bible with an open mind, without fear, or preconceived notions, --you will quickly become an atheist.
The childish statements begin on page one and continue throughout the book.
I'm not surprised by people becoming atheists, but I'm completely amazed that any intelligent adult can become a Christian after reading the O.T.

Answer 6

I'm not an atheist. I'm agnostic. However, I was forced to go to sunday school until I left home at 17 when I graduated. Having been forced to go to sunday school I read quite abit of the bible (some at the church but most on my own).

Having read alot of the bible I came to the conclusion that its nothing more than man made crap. As an atheist I'm sure you came to the same conclusion.

Answer 7

I grew up in Religious family I am 55 years old.I worshiped
God All my life and respected all the religions.We lost our
son 6months ago to cancer.our sons was only 28 years old
and got married in may 2006,he was looking for his married
life after finishing his university.our son had a good job and
they bought house last year.our son and his wife were happy
because their marriage was love marriage,they wanted to start family immigiately .

God did not gave them that chance.Our
son was perfect and popular with his friends for his helpfull
behaviour.I worshipped most God and goddess,Allah,Jesus
Like a nutter day and night.If God can not help any body in
desperate situation he is not God.my God died with my son
We never asked for any thing of God before,what ever he gave us we thanked him for that.For me now God does not
exists,If he Does exists i can not call a cruel being a God.
I know there are so many people who have lost their loved one they are still close to god.My concisous does not allow
me to accept him as a God in my view he is the cruelest being in the universe, who seprate specially young people and do
not give them chance to enjoy.I am not against death i know
no one can live for ever at least he should be fare and give
every one a chance to enjoy their life.if i die i do not have any regrets because i lived my life.I think God should give more
chance to young people and childrens to enjoy their life.

Answer 8

Well what is the point in putting all faith regarding my future in some kind of apparently All-powerful, all-knowing spritual deity, when if i want do do something i should just believe in myself and my own determination? What is the point in devoting my life to someone who may not exist? Why should i let my life be controlled by someone other than myself? Why should i seek shelter from everyday life in a church when i can just console my family and friends, and myself?

Answer 9

I'm not an athiest.

Isn't it awfully dualistic on these boards, where people assume there are two types of people responding, the Christians and the Athiests...

It's like a friggin' football game.

I am a Buddhist because I understand the Truth - that only through freedom from material desires, compassion for our fellow people, and through development and perfection of the mind will anyone ever attain happiness.

Oh - by the way, compassion entails not judging other for their beliefs. I don't think that shrieking, "You're going to hell!!" at someone is very compassionate. It is also not a very good way to get them to listen to, or agree with, anything that you are trying to communicate.

Answer 10

I'm not convinced by agnosticism or theism.

As there is no evidence in the supernatural, I don't think it is sensible to believe in it. And since I've stopped living by the rules of ancient religions, my quality of life has improved.

Answer 11

Because once you think about it in a logical mindset...at least to me it didn't add up, so I stopped believing...also, a personal experience helped me lose my faith, and seeing how some Christians react to some things, and how some have that "holier-than-thou" attitude (like how some people posted, which if they are a believer, why even answer this question, other to 'gloat' or whatever?) And I've been a lot happier ever since...thanks for asking! ^_^