For atheists who converted from christianity, how hard was it at first?

Question

I have just made the decision to not believe in god and was wondering from other people who have been there, how hard the choice was for them and how they felt over the first couple of weeks.

J.P. - I did not just flip the switch, I have been struggling with this for the last 2 years. I only came to this decision in the last couple days and wanted to know what other people's experiences were.

Answer 1

The decision to accept reality and the facts, and just give up on the entire "god" idea, and that you will live forever in heaven, wasn't really that difficult.

Not allowing myself to slip back into that archaic type of thinking has proven to be difficult.

How much easier, my sister's have it, when it came to accepting my mom's and brother's deaths. (They both died less than a year ago, and only a few weeks apart). They both seem to think they will see them again.

But, why kid myself, just to make it easier? It won't do me any good, and to me it, kind of diminishes their memories. Which I would rather cherish now, then forget about it, and invent a make believe future.

The only thing this "non-belief" has truly taught me, is to appreciate your loved one's now, appreciate your life, you only live once, and you must cherish every moment.

Live like you are dying, and life will be that much more wonderful!

Answer 2

People who have faith or who want to have faith will ask you why you don't believe, and you will be tempted to offer an answer. But the real question is why do they believe. Not believing is simply that. We don't believe it. We don't believe in Jehova or the resurrection of Christ or the creation story or for that matter in reincarnation or ghosts or flying spaghetti monsters or Ganesh or a pantheon or any of the myths and legends that men have built to justify their exhistance.

So you have not made a decision to be an atheist. You have come to the realization that you have for some time BEEN an atheist.

Atheists don't disbelieve because God slighted us. That would be like not believing in Santa because we didn't get a pony. We don't disbelieve because a nun was mean to us. We don't disbelieve because the bible has conflicting lineages from Christ to David.

Growing up in a Christian home, we want to believe that our parents knew the answers and shared the truth with us. But the fact is, they only shared what they "believed" to be the truth. It's not an insult to them if we can't share that belief.

We can argue minutia and grand ideas til we are red in the face, but the bottom line is that we are atheists because the concept that rings true for them does not ring true for us. It's not a moral issue. It's not a question of wanting there to be a purpose or an afterlife. We can want that just as much as the Jew or the Muslim or the Wiccan or the Christian. That doesn't mean we can believe it though.

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Answer 3

It was hard at first because I had belonged to a church and missed the sense of ready community. It was also hard with people and family who had misperceptions and objections. I also needed to work out different ways of dealing with crises, problems, and mortality. For me I found nonreligious meditation was as nurturing as prayer. I developed a world outlook over time that is more rich and meaningful to me than the religion that I don't believe through reading philosophy and other works. I developed an ethical basis that works and provides the needed guidance in decision making and dealing with life choices. Different people will have different spiritual needs and miss different aspects of religion. I still consider myself a spiritual person in a different way. It was an interesting journey going through this that I think enriched my life and made me a better person although it wasn't always as easy as just going with the belief system I was raised with. In the end though being honest with myself and not trying to adhere to something I don't believe in and disagree with was absolutely the best decision. I am much more emotionally healthy and open to life. Although it may have been a bit hard at first I am much better and happier being honest with myself. There is something damaging I think for some people in trying to hold on in their mind to something that they just don't believe. At any rate I am a happy (most of the time) and well adjusted person who is enjoying a great (most of the time) life. Into each person's life some rain must fall but I am not a miserable, unjoyous, horrible, immoral person as some theists seem to think atheists are.

It wasn't like though there has been the possibility of just deciding to believe again. For me its like once I found out Santa wasn't real, I may have wanted to go back to the belief (as when my mom died) but it wasn't possible. All the very valid things I learned about the Bible and Christianity make it impossible for me to embrace it unconditionally and I can't be like some of the cultural Christians I know who either don't read the Bible or just say they think a lot of it is garbage but they believe this part over here so they are still okay with it overall. Best wishes to you.

Answer 4

It's not a choice, and if you think it is, you are mistaken. I never made a decision to not believe in God. I just found that, one day, I didn't believe. It was gradual (years). When I was a kid I went to church all the time and believed it entirely. As a teenager I stopped going to church and really never thought about religion. As an adult, I started thinking about what I believed and found that my beliefs had changed, and in fact that I didn't beleive in God at all. It wasn't traumatic, and it was never a choice.

Answer 5

I used to be raised in a Christian loved ones and I used to be closely concerned in my church. I used to be an altar boy for nine years, after which I labored as a Sacristan for five years whilst I used to be being actively groomed for the priesthood. Towards the tip of that interval I got here to discover that I did not rather consider any of it to any extent further. I used to be, and am, nonetheless very interested within the discipline so I regularly attempt to learn new matters approximately faith and its historical past. I'm very so much excited about how matters got here to be this manner. A few years in the past I used to be on a recreation exhibit. I gained it in huge side because of sweeping the entire faith inquiries to the factor in which even my devout mother used to be inspired. I might placed my TrueChristian credentials up in opposition to any one's. Also, you look to be unaware of the Pew survey a couple of years in the past that honestly discovered that atheists knew extra approximately faith than believers did. Look it up. See, that is the crisis with simply strolling round assuming you are proper. Do somewhat study and it turns into visible simply how fallacious you're.

Answer 6

It was four agonizing and terrifying years.

However, I don't believe you can just flip the switch like that. You believe what you believe based on the sum of your experiences. It is highly unlikely you had an experience so overwhelming that in one instance you would reject all forms of deity.

So I'm afraid I have to wonder what your ulterior motive is for a question like this.

Answer 7

Hey, I think I am in the same boat you are in! I have began to study and the more I seem to learn the less I believe. I guess I would consider myself agnostic now. But it wasn't easy but it makes so much sense. Once I began studying the culture, the history of it all it all falls apart. I actually feel a lot better than I did as a Christian, I just miss some of my Christian friends. Oh well.

Answer 8

Scared as hell until I processed everything. I went through what theists call a crisis of faith until I could accept the truth and make peace with it. I kept coming up with reasons to believe and then shooting them down for a while. After the crisis though I found more inner peace than I had ever found trying to reconcile superstition with reality.

Answer 9

Not really hard, it happen gradually, by the time I completed 3/4 of the bible, I had almost wanted to kick myself in the butt asking myself why did I believe in this in the first place.

Answer 10

Not very, you feel lonely at first when you realize there's no God watching over but that's about it. Although, I was never sure of God's existence, it just took me awhile to finally accept the fact that there is no God.