To Atheists....?

Question

This is a question for which there is no "correct" answer. It is not a challenge, and I don't think anyone here is going to try and keep track of your responses, but in the interest of mutual understanding, I want to ask one question of you:

What event or experience in your life drove you to (and continues to animate your devotion to) atheism?

Though there is no "right" answer, I'm going to go out on a limb and say there is what I'd consider to be a "wrong" one: if you respond that it was purely a matter of rational inference, I shall declare you a liar, a coward, or perhaps just too suspicious to answer honestly. I'm talking about the existential or "human" element which made your atheism more than just an abstract idea...what is it that made it personal... what is it that continues to make it a thing worthy of your emotional investment?

KC, Sassy, CC, Emily L, the great gazoo, vinslave, your answers were superior to some of your peers.

Freakin' Jesus, when it comes to committing oneself to a particular view of the universe, I can't help but think a certain level of *personal* investment is made. Whether one believes there is a God and that this God's existence is relevant to our lives will greatly determine many of life's most important choices.

{fiyerae}rox.my.wo, I'm afraid you assume too much. I'm a philosophy major and am on track to earn my PhD in the future. You may believe that theists must by necessity be anti-intellectual, but you could only go on thinking that by limiting your own exposure to theists in universities across the country (http://www.veritas.org). As for abstract concepts, to think that atheism does has no interest in such things is gravely mistaken. There are many atheistic philosophers who would disagree with you on that score. The purpose of my question was not to exclude the possibili

[continued]

The purpose of my question was not to exclude the possibility that there is in fact a logic to atheism, but to ignore that atheists also have a human side which probably plays a huge part in motivating them toward atheism is what I'm encouraging you to avoid. My humble advice is not to be threatened or revolted by this sort of question in the future; it was not intended to make you upset.

eevilcheese, your pun was just terrible. That deserved a "down" vote ;)

Answer 1

I've simply never had a reason to believe. There was no "horrible occurance that eventually led to my downfall", or something equally dramatic. I live one of the most carefree lives out of all the people I know. I have no family drama, I've only had one close relative die in my life so far (and that was my great grandfather), I have never have had any reason to be "angry with God". I just...didn't understand. Religion felt weird for me, foreign. How would you feel if you went to a Wiccan gathering (assuming your're not Wiccan)? Wouldn't you feel out of place? Wouldn't the people of these beliefs seem odd to you?

I don't "feel God" or "feel Jesus" like Christians claim I should. I went to church and felt nothing significant. I stood up and sang, and then sat down and listened to a preacher talk for about an hour. It all felt a little surreal, that all these people believed in a thing that can't be seen, touched, heard, proved or in any way, shape, or form, *felt*. They literally believed in what they did simply because the Bible and their families told them to. This baffles me quite a bit.

It took a while for me to identify myself as an atheist as well. After my experiences with church as a kid, I didn't believe in God...not directly, however. I didn't recognize that I didn't believe in God at the time; I just wasn't concerned with Him. Eventually, I'd discovered the term for my beliefs...and that's it. :)

Answer 2

No single event, just the gradual realization that Christianity has it all wrong, and that if there is a God, it could not have written, or inspired the writing of, something as contradictory and error-ridden as the Bible. I also learned the history of Christianity, how it began as Gnosticism, and how the Gnostics in turn derived their teachings from much more ancient mystery religions dating back to ancient Egypt. There simply isn't anything about Christianity that makes it any more special than any of the myriad other religions and myths that have existed throughout history. As such, I abandoned it as just another belief system among many.

Science played a big part, too, because the "God did it" notion of how the universe works simply isn't necessary to explain anything. The universe seems to get along just fine without the interference of any supposed invisible deity waving a magic wand. Primitive people, lacking science, need gods to explain why the planets move across the sky, where the lightning comes from, or how a baby grows in the womb; people with more knowledge should abandon such ideas. It sickens me to see children being taught that the Earth is only a few thousand years old, that all of humanity began with two people in a garden with a talking snake, that there was a flood that covered the whole world, and other such nonsense, especially in light of how far American children are behind Japan, China, and other countries when it comes to science. It's as if people value superstition over knowledge, blind belief over critical thinking skills. How is this helping children at all?

Answer 3

Sorry, but if being rational, in your mind, throw these answers out the window, who is the coward and the liar? Are you really trying to suppress the use of logic as a reason not to believe? Are you afraid that the overwhelming response to this question will be knowledge? Would you rather live the lie? Because that's ridiculous. Not everybody needs to have some heartfelt story of how they lost their faith. Not everyone had it to begin with. Some people figure it out early and by being RATIONAL, but apparently rational thought is a bad thing. Not a good enough reason to reject something as reality. Darn, because it was rational thought that told me that flying cows didn't exist either. I guess I'll have to rethink that one. And about being too suspicious to answer honestly: Seriously, if I were suspicious, wouldn't I call myself Agnostic? I'm not just suspicious. I know that god doesn't exist.

Atheism is not an abstract idea. If anything, religion is. You are the ones who fabricated gods. It's your job to prove that they exist. What sounds more abstract now, I wonder? And Atheism is not an emotional investment. It's an intellectual one. All I have to do is keep thinking for myself and not have a book think for me to invest in it. Its things like this, questions like the ones here, that reassure me on my stance. And it's people like you, who reject intelligence as a reason for being atheist, that strengthen my attachment to my Atheism.

In response to your note, my intelligence and my 'human side' generally tend to be the same thing. Isn't deductive reasoning what separates humans from animals?
But to be fair, I will check out that website and possibly (but not probably) change my perspective. I thank you for your critique, either way.

Also, I didn't mean to say that Atheists have no interest in abstract ideas. I meant to say that Atheism is not an abstract idea. I, personally, like my share of abstract questions and even abstract art.

Answer 4

Other than the "rational inference" you claim to be a lie, I will say that around the same time I started 7th grade life science, which was the main reason for my atheism, I also started learning about Greek Mythology in my social studies class. It fascinated me how the Ancient Greeks truley believed in their gods, and I looked upon the numerous current religions of the world and found it silly that all these religions could claim the same unquestionable and unarguable truth. That their religion is the TRUTH and all others are wrong and are damned for it.

This is just a brief explanation of my journey through atheism and why I hold just as strong to it today as I did when I was 12.

Answer 5

There was no singular incident that crystallized my atheism, so go ahead and call me a liar and coward. I was born in an atheist household, though I didn't know that when I was growing up. God, Jesus, or the Devil were never mentioned or talked about. There were no religious icons, so how would I know that I was an atheist if I didn't know what a christian or religious person was? For there being no wrong answer, you sure come down hard on what you figure is a wrong answer.

Answer 6

There was no single event or experience that drove me to atheism. It was a culmination of things:

1) No evidence to support the existence of any gods
2) Many religions, many gods, all claiming mutual exclusivity
3) Bad behavior enacted by those claiming to follow their god
4) Attempted indoctrination of religious beliefs into law that all, even nonbelievers or other believers will have to obey
5) Intolerance for other beliefs or nonbeliefs
6) Alleged punishment for sins people are allegedly born with
etc.

There are many others. I could go on for hours. However, when you add them all up, I pretty much can reason out that there is no god here.

Answer 7

Atheism is not something for which there is an "emotional" investment. I know it's difficult to understand that for people who believe in God, because they can't comprehend life without religion or belief in and love for a deity, so they compare what WE think and feel with that.
I'm sorry if you feel that our feeling that it is simply a matter of rational thought makes us "cowards", but that's the truth. As I grew up, I just began to feel that believing in and bowing down and worshiping gods was nonsensical. I could understand uneducated, superstitious ancients believing in gods, but I could not understand how in this day and age people still believe in the existence of mystical, magical, invisible, supernatural beings. It made no more sense to me to believe in gods than it does for you to believe in the tooth fairy.
That's it. It's that simple. If you're looking for us to give you a sob story about some horrible thing that happened to us to make us lose our "faith"...sorry, but that's not my story. And if you want to "declare" me a liar, coward, or suspicious, then fine. I really don't give a rat's butt. (No offense.) It's really not fair to say that "there is no 'right' answer" and then tell us what we can and can't say.

Answer 8

So, in your mind, rational thought is a lie?

Atheism is not a matter of "devotion"

My reasons for not believing in God are twofold. First, the complete lack of evidence for the existence of any god. If any god were real, it would leave some sort of evidence, but there isn't anything conclusive.
Second, the dishonest and downright evil actions committed in the names of various gods. The Crusades, the Inquisition, witch trials, rampant denial of science. Osama Bin Laden and his Muslim fanatics murdering thousands on 9/11. Jerry Falwell's disgraceful appearance on television blaming his political enemies for that same attack. The sickening cult of Fred Phelps, celebrating death and destruction and homophobic hatred. No god worthy of the name would allow these things to happen in its name. Yet these things still happen.

And here's something you should think about yourself. One of the things that drove me further away from God was my experiences with arrogant, hateful, willfully ignorant christians on the Internet (and occasionally in real life). The worst of these REJOICE at the thought of anyone who doesn't share their beliefs being tortured for all eternity. Your sick brethren convince me that, even in the astoundingly unlikely event that there is a god, it can't be anything like the one they follow, or it wouldn't be worthy of worship.

Answer 9

A realization that this "human" element is what causes belief in what may not even exist. And after experiencing religious beliefs of my own, which I later realized were ridiculous, I came to the conclusion that in order to believe something exists, I must be presented with proof. Otherwise everything is completely subjective.

That said, I do not say there is no god(s), but I see no adequate reason of asserting there is one. And until there is, I will keep my disbelief.

Answer 10

Experiences with intolerant religious people. A friend rejected me when she found out that I believed in evolution, because she said that the bible told her she would go to hell if she associated with me. Since then I have done research on Christianity and other religions and discovered their intolerance and dogmatism. I strongly dislike the idea of a religion that is blindly faithful to whatever holy books or prophets that they follow.
Another "human" reason, as you put it, is that I don't agree with how most religions think of women, as something worthy of little respect. I feel very strongly about this. The Bible and other religious texts contain tons of misogyny, and think this shows all too clearly the writers' prejudice against women.
I've never pretended that my reasons for becoming an atheist were completely detached and impersonal. I am atheistic for "rational" reasons as well, of course, but what makes me care so much about it is based on personal experience.