Atheists: Do you choose not to believe?

Question

Or does it come naturally?

I have no 'spiritual' component. No desire for a higher power, or for answers. I don't 'doubt' anything - I plainly do not believe.

What about you? Could you decide to be a person of faith if you wanted to?

Answer 1

No, it comes naturally.

After looking, listening and learning, I know I don't believe, it just ... happens.

Just like I don't like certain foods, I can pretend to like them, I can eat them, but I cant force myself to like something.

The brain does not work like that.

Answer 2

I didn't choose. I don't know exactly what a 'spiritual' component is but perhaps that also means I don't have it. I'm also not certain what a desire for a higher power is. I can of course dissect the phrase and derive a meaning to the words but what does that desire feel like? Again I suppose since I don't know what it is I don't have it.

I have a deep almost boundless desire for answers but I want real answers. I can endure ambiguity if the alternative is making up an answer.

I doubt many things. I think that a healthy amount of doubt and skepticism leads you away from religious explanations and a lack of doubt leads you to religion.

While I could pretend to follow a religion and have faith in it I would be pretending. And even though I can come up with better arguments in favor of the existence of a deity than any I have ever read here or heard from most theists I can still come up with better arguments against.

I can in fact come up with an argument as to why atheism is a better path even if there IS a god.

Answer 3

I am not a religionist of any kind, but I am a spiritual person, I have faith but not a belief in any god, so by definition I am not an atheist.

By understanding the world around you, you can have faith in the world, the knowledge that the sun will come up without a god, that the Earth will continue to turn and that life can continue to be lived is not a faith that is exclusive for those that have religion.

I know that I have spirit, it something we all have, it is what gives us the ability to battle against the odds, and often to be those odds, a natural force within us that makes us strive, not a religious phenomenon but a passion within us to protect ourselves and those we love.

I seek answers all day and every day, I seek to learn how my world works, how it really came to be, what will happen to it in years to come, what is our role as human beings within this world, are there others on other worlds, by I do not need a religion or a god to help me find those answers, I can do this myself, I as all people have evolved intellect and with it the power of learning.

I am a child of the Earth, and the Earth gives me life, and I have faith the the Earth will continue to help me to live, until my life is done.

No religion, no gods, just clear vision and keen hearing, all you need in life

Answer 4

I am not an atheist, but I think it comes naturally. You will see people of faith often offering up Pascal's Wager . . . but the problem is you can't bet on something like that with a clear conscience. It is very difficult for someone to "believe" something that they think is false. I do know some atheists who practise a sort of religion, but it tends to focus more on social action, humanitarianism, and so on, without any theology behind it. There are lots of people and whether theist or atheist, I think being honest with yourself about these things is commendable.

Although I would classify myself as a theist . . . I get the feeling that many theists arguments . . . well their degree of aggression and their degree of need for *others* to believe and agree with them . . . that is precisely because they themselves don't really believe but really want to. if you are secure in your beliefs whatever they are, why push them on others who aren't interested?

Answer 5

I know it's in me to be delusional. There have been points in my life where I've deliberately ignored contradictory evidence (she really loves me, she didn't mean to cheat on me, it'll still work out) in order to hold onto a cherished belief.

So I can imagine a situation where I could be tempted with a sufficiently worthy prize to convince myself that I believed in something I didn't. I suspect this sort of phenomenon is why Pascal's Wager still works for some people.

Answer 6

I am an atheist and I am also a believer, but the things that I believe in are different from that of your typical religious zealot. I believe in evolution, my fellow man, that man is basically good, and that all religions are the bane of civilization.

My list could go on, but I think that I have made my point.

Answer 7

It's natural.

Not believing in god isn't really a choice - I can't just "convert" and start believing anytime I want, just because I want to. It's the inevitable conclusion from available information. My mind just doesn't work on the premises of "Just believe in god and don't question it, because he exists." I have to actually dig deeper into understanding our natual world, and when you do, you'll realize that the idea of god is worthless and it has no part in anything.

Former atheist praising Jesus: what were you smoking when you wrote that??

Answer 8

I wouldn't say it was a choice, as in "Will I believe or not believe?" It happened when I became mature enough to question what I had been told, and to apply logic to those questions. I suppose it could be said that I then chose to follow logic rather than everything I had believed up until that point. So maybe a little of both.

Answer 9

People are born with no beliefs. Religion, Science, Math, Reading, and Writing are not traits because the 23 chromosomes your parents passed to you are purely biological. People then choose to learn and follow these things or they have been taught it ever since infancy. I will stay a person of reality. Anyone who wants to argue my point and say it is free will... well thats false, because there is none at birth.

Answer 10

Well, I don't think deep down I ever believed and admit that now, but for years after I left christianity I kept trying other beliefs before finally admitting what I truly felt. So I did try, it did not feel natural; atheism does.

Answer 11

It's not a choice.
Once you have a certain level of understanding of the natural world, and an understanding of what motivates people- it all falls into place naturally.

I could choose to practice a religion. Or follow the laws written down by some bronze age goat herder. But I cannot choose to 'believe'. My brain just doesn't work that way.