Question to atheists, did you belong to any religion before you became an atheist?

Question

what made you decide to leave your former religion?

Answer 1

no

Answer 2

I was a Catholic and previously a fundamentalist. What really made me stop and think was reading the gospels, the apostolic fathers, Acts, Hebrews and Revelations. In my prior research, I studied the group dynamics of engineering teams to improve management practices. I am an economist at the moment.

In any case, I realized that the very dynamics described in the New Testament and the apostolic fathers can be seen in other groups. Briefly, I was able to read the gospels as an outsider, as a scientist looking at an account and not a believer. Looked at objectively, it is easy to posit a sequence of ordinary events that set Christianity into motion. No resurrection, no descent of the Holy Spirit, no apostolic succession by the Spirit...no Way.

That does not mean Christianity has nothing to add to the world dialogue, it is just that it is far less than Christians believe. Jesus, like Buddha, Mohammed, Confucius, Plato, Salon or Nietsche need an answer. Their followers make strong assertions and many of those assertions are close to true or contingently true.

The sad part is that Christianity is a hollow religion. It adds to the world, but probably not a lot more than it detracts.

Answer 3

Despite claims to the contrary the answer is obviously yes. You have to be exposed to something before you can dismiss its existence. You cannot say you do not beleive in God if you don't even know that a god exists.. They were mostly members of a religion, regradless of whether they were good members or not, they were 'forced by their parents or not, etc etc. At some point, they made a conscious decision not to beleive and reject religion altogether. And yes, Atheism is a relgion... a religion of non-belief... Religion is a belief system about a deity whether you believe in one or consciously tell yourself continously, almost like a mantra, that you don't. I also find it amusing, that most atheists find it necessaary to ridicule religion as if there is a need to continuosly reinforce their religion of non-belief. We will all die and the answer will be revealed then, if they are right then the are right though they won't know about it either way. But if they are wrong, then there is (pardon the pun) hell to pay...

Answer 4

I was baptised a catholic and went to catholic school. In about year 6 I remember being sent out for asking "inappropriate" questions in religion - such as "well, if the world was created in 6 days, where did all the fossils come from?" and "Where did Cain and Abel get their wives from? If they'd married their sisters, isn't that a sin?" In year 7/8 we looked at evolution and biology and that was it for me. On top of that was my absolute disgust that the vatican was full of riches while people even the the same country were living in poverty, the fact that women were not regarded as equals and that the catholics thought that no contraception was a good idea in an overpopulated world. Also, what the heck would an unmarried priest know about the trials and tribulations facing a family and how dare he presume to give advice. The whole "god" thing just seemed to far fetched and ridiculous for anyone who even scratched the surface.

Answer 5

For me leaving my former religion occured because i had religion shoved down my throat my whole life, and didn't get much of an opportunity to decide for myself because my parents raised me in a cult until i was 7. When i was 9 I began to notice the loopholes in the bible, and the contradictions, and the impossibilities, and the commen sense lacking in the bible, and did historical research, plus i compiled my own experiences with the historical research and within a couple of months i renounced my christianity dropped out of youth group, which i was very involved in, stopped participating in church activities, and began debating with the pastor over how the bible could state that god was all knowing and all loving and omnipitant, but yet although he loved us, and knew all, he still created the garden of eden, and adam and eve, gave them free will, knowing exactly what they would do (because remember the bible says god is all knowing) So that means that the LOVING god created adam and even and the garden of eden with the tree of knowledge available, knowing that they would fall to temptation and sin, and he created hell, knowing that the people he created would use the free will he gave them, to commit sins which he defined, and decided to punish according to those standards. Yeah lets just say i wasn't your typical kid. So i renounced christianity and became an athiest, but then i became agnostic, and now i am a spiritualist, which means i don't believe in religion. I have found my own understandings, ideas and truths, which actually do work for me. I think the primary factor is that we should all have our own understanding our consciousness and existance. We need this understanding to facilitate our exsitance, and to connect with our spirits. We need this understanding so that we can be at peace when we die. We need this understanding because things are as they are, and we as mortal men can only do our best do define them. I also believe that Science is a technical definition or explination of magic, or supernatural or metaphysical, however you call it. I also believe that a large peice of the answer is held in Quantum physics and mechanics. Find your own answers! Good luck!

Answer 6

Yes, I was a Christian in a Protestant Church. It was reading the Bible being disturbed by the nature of God found there and having lots of questions that started the process. I started learning about the historical background and authorship of the Bible. It also didn't jibe with any reality that I had observed in my world. From there I studied other religions and found their wild claims no more or less supportable. I do find ideas of value in most religions that are helpful and applicable to my life. I just believe they are human ideas. I actually joined a Unitarian Universalist church after I stopped believing because I missed the community and opportunity to do community service projects with like minded people. Their church is wonderfully welcoming to all and didn't mind that I openly identified as a non theist. I don't go now because we moved and there is none here.

Answer 7

Until I was 12, I was sent off to Sunday School and some sort of church. At 12, I realised just how silly it all was and opted never to go again. Thereafter, interest in religion increased as I needed the confidence to be able to 'come out'. I still am interested in religion but only as a window into human nature. Fascinating. Stupid but fascinating.
Calling in on these pages just reinforces just how stupid it all is and it never ceases to amaze me how the deluded cling to their beliefs even though logic and common-sense would dictate otherwise.
Doesn't that just show how foolish they all are?

Answer 8

I was an atheist for my entire childhood, brought up in a home where there was no attempt to indoctrinate me into any religious system. After high school I became involved in neopaganism, mainly because the idea of using mythology as a medium for expressing love of nature sounded very satisfying. Years of association with pagans taught me that superstitious nonsense is superstitious nonsense no matter how you dress it up, and now I'm just trying to learn as much as I can about how the universe operates without using silly metaphors or obscurantist poetry to pretty up the lessons.

Answer 9

As I personally believe that children shouldn't be classified as part of a religion simply because their parents are - I'm gonna say no, I didn't belong to a religion, I was simply a child following his parents. When I started thinking for myself I realised how ridiculous it was.

My mother still seems to classify me as a member of the Church of England... she even filled out my religion on a consensus as C of E despite my wishes.

Answer 10

I'll be honest with you. In my childhood i was very much a Christian. I came from a half-Christian family, i went to a Christian school, i had Christian friends, i prayed to God, i attended Church, and i generally believed whole heartedly in my religion.

I'm not sure of the reason i lost my Christianity. I really am not sure. Maybe i slowly began to feel unsatisfied with Christianity, but i honestly cannot remember. It just seemed to 'happen' sometime in my early teens.

And now i'm a spiritual atheist exploring the path of Buddhism. =)

Answer 11

My parents tried to raise me with religion. First Catholic, since my dad was Catholic, then for some reason Baptist. The belief in God and the idea that the Bible was something holy never stuck with me, but I went to Sunday School, did my time saying prayers and was even Saved. But I never really believed in any of it. I was going through the motions for my parent's sake.
Eventually, I came to understand that religion and faith is something that one has to find for themselves. However, if they feel comfortable in not having faith, and just believing in their own capabilities and that of mankind, that that was even better.
I do not feel lost or alone without a presence of a higher being. I feel confident in myself.

So, you can say that logic and self confidence made me leave religion.