Atheists, how did you become such?

Question

I am Atheist. I am curious as to how other Atheists became to believe such. Where you born into an Atheist family? Or did you convert from a religion?

If you converted from a religion:
1) How long did it take?
2) Were you agnostic during part of it?
3) Was there a certain pushing point?
4) How long have you been atheist?

I don't want to hear from smartass Xians on this topic. Thx.

1) 12 years Christian
2) 4 years agnostic
3) commson sense
4) Better part of a decade...feels good

Shut up Peng-You, I am not shopping for a god. I am damned confident in Atheism.

Answer 1

I grew up in a family where my mother believed vaguely in new age spiritualism, my father believed in the salvatory powers of alcohol and my grandmother believed in the Pope, though not quite as much as she believed in Mrs Thatcher or hanging.

This was quite a laissez-faire environment, and it was prettymuch a case of "figure it out kid".
In my early teens, I figured I'd take a shot at being the new Messiah. That, perhaps unsurprisingly, failed. Then the second Omen movie came out and - always one to take whatever inspiration I could find - I thought "hey, I'll try that guy instead!" That turned out to be boring, though trying to be self-consciouly Satanic did at least open me up to a breadth of emotional experience. And finally I started getting into science around age 15 - both factual and fictional. That was an eye-opener, as was talking to a hyper-Christian friend at the time who was going through issues trying to find out if he was gay or not. (He now has four kids, so I'm guessing he's figured it out). Watching the agonies he went through as what he was taught to believe hit what he might have been was enough to convince me that even if "this" God existed, I wanted nothing to do with it. And once you remove one god from the picture, it becomes utter folly to think that any other god is somehow better or more real than them, so the lot have to go. So it took me about three years in all, yeah, there was an agnostic bit between Satanism and science, the pushing point was science and observed human pain, and I'v e been an atheist for about 20 years now. Interesting question; I haven't reflected on all this for a while...thanks.

Answer 2

I deconverted. I was a Christian most of my life, then I left it and became Agnostic because it was clearly bullsh*t. But I still believed in a god. The existence of a god was so drilled into my brain that the possibility of there not being one wasn't even thinkable. While I was an agnostic I was looking for some sort of form of worship. Then I found out about Neo-Paganism. And it was awesome. But I never fit in with any other Pagans or Wiccans I ever met. I didn't believe in their gods. I was taught from the start that the idea of gods were created by humans. I think the Paganism was a stepping stone toward Atheism for me. I'm not sure how long I've been an Atheist, because it really depends on what you would call the turning point.

Answer 3

there is no fixed way for a person to become wiser or more rational.It's a lonely journey and we keep accumulating and discarding impressions and memories as we trudge along.Somewhere down the road,things like faith in God begins to weaken and a kind of suspended animation sets in( which is neither here nor there ) and what prevails is a state of confusion,doubt,fear of being wrong ,reprisals,divine punishments,misfortunes awaiting and so on. It's a torturous path for some and separation from life long beliefs can be very frightening.Gradually,rationality backed by logic begins to take hold and after a point,there is no looking back.When you have arrived,every thing is clear and bright and deep down you know that you were right.You may not have answers to all the questions but you would not accept non or half truth for answers either.And,within you an atheist is borne.

Answer 4

1. Born an atheist. Was indoctrinated at 5 years old, but nothing too heavy. Only on the sundays that I visited my late grandmother. Still atheist up to age 16. Baptized a Baptist Christian. Few months later, atheist again.
2. Agnostic for few years after leaving the church.
3. Discovered the hypocrisy and contradictions in the church and the scriptures.
4. Proud atheist for almost 3 years........

Answer 5

I grew up in a semi-christian household. When I was about 17 I learned what circular logic was. This made me question religion in general. After this I became agnostic for about 5 or so years. The final pushing point was when the tsunami hit Thailand. I began asking myself this: If there is an almightly, all loving, all powerful, all knowing god, why would he allow the atrocities to happen that happen on this planet?

And then came my discovery of all of the astrological references that are strewn about the bible.

I have been atheist for 6+ years, and have no intent on ever converting to any other religion period. Since I made this change in my life, I have opened myself up to a wealth of knowledge and self study. I know more about the world we live in today, not simply by life experience, more so because I realized the amount of literature and knowledge available in today's world.

Answer 6

I have no officially converted into anything, but I grew up Christian, and soon I want to fully convert to atheism.
I am sorry, but I refuse to believe in a god that would allow such bad things to happen in this world, and allow everything that has happened to me.
I don't believe there is an invisible giant in the sky.
shouldn't he peek down to let us know he is really there?
Come on. gosh. I think the only people who believe in god have been brainwashed by their parents.

Answer 7

It was a process, not a revelation. I didn't wake up one morning, say "There is no god," and go get coffee. I came to this place after years of research and reflection. I was raised in the Catholic church, by Catholic parents (with a Jewish grandmother... go figure), and I have to say I don't think I really believed any of it, but I needed to explore all the other faiths to see if any of them made more sense. None did. Some were just downright scary in the depth of their ignorance of the real world.

Answer 8

At age 9, I read the KJV of the Bible. No agony, no halfway stops, it hit me like a shot: I don't believe this stuff, it's absurd (Yes, I talked that way at 9), it's for losers. I told the world that I was an atheist. I do not regret it. I really don't think about it all that much. In my world religion isn't what's on peoples' minds.

Answer 9

I'm an animist. I believe that all natural things around you have a soul. You can listen to the advice of the spirits around you or ignore them, but they are there. Even rocks have a soul within them at their heart, but you have to be still yourself to hear them. There are no gods. All things are connected.

I was brought up as a Methodist and attended regular Sunday school classes as a child. Christianity, as taught, never resounded in my heart and the older I got, the more questions and inconsistencies I found. In my journey toward faith, I read the Bible, the Qur'an, the Noble Eightfold Path and looked at Wicca and other pagan faiths. In the end I just considered what I believed in my heart, looked around at what I'd seen and started referring to myself as an animist.

Answer 10

I was a Christian for 12 years, but as I entered college I studied biology, and opened my mind to logical thinking. I became more of a skeptic, instead of blindly following something that did not make much sense. Also, seeing how religion influences politics and society in the U.S. makes me see the stubbornness and backwardness of it all.