Agree/Disagree? Many Atheists became Atheists because of their advanced knowledge of religion.?

Question

Personally, I was born atheist and nobody was ever able to convince me that god[s] exist, but most atheists I know were at one time relgious, even some learned theologians, seminarians etc...

Donald, I am not refering to those who remained faithful< i am refering to apostates who became apostate after careful consideration and long study of any given relgion...

Answer 1

Request:
Please correct your question to ...
"Agree/Disagree? Many Atheists became Atheists because of their advanced knowledge of Christianity?"

I am a hindu. There are no atheists among hindus - so I would beg to differ. I'm sure there are other religions like this - who too will agree with my viewpoint.

Hinduism is one of the more scientific religions. We do not force people to follow one path - but to read, understand, think and follow their own. We did not condemn any mind like Galileo for a scientific discovery. Nor do we believe that God created a man and took his rib to create a woman. (Galileo had proved that the Earth is round and was put in the dungeons by the theologians ... only to issue an apology a century after his death.) That is why I requested you to use the change the wordings.

Anything against science is bound to be rejected by an advanced human mind. Any attempt to put all humans under one common unmbrella of thought is bound to be rejected by a person who values his independance. We have no such problems in Hinduism.

Answer 2

Disagree. I remember being an atheist in High school (and into the first two years of college) and having genuine interest in religious questions. It seemed at the time that the universe was Godless and so I built my own framework of mind around that idea and not because I had a personal vendetta against faith. I have since found the truth to be in Christ after studying the Bible very carefully and weighing it against my secular scientific education. I found that the two support rather than contradict each other. However, I still wonder if their are any current atheists who are like I was: Inquisitive but not spiteful with regards to religion. Maybe their are but I haven't met any as of yet. Maybe someday I will but only God knows :)

Answer 3

I've noticed several reasons why people are atheists:

1) they haven't had any experience of God (ignorance)
2) they are pretty sure they are the smartest thing in the universe (pride)
3) God doesn't do what they want Him to so they assume He doesn't exist (stupidity).

I was all three. As a little kid, I thought of myself as religious, but then my grandmother told me if I prayed really hard for something I'd get it. So, I prayed and God failed my test.

I was an atheist until, in my mid teens, I had an experience of something much greater than myself. Wow! Finally, it occurred to me that whatever and whoever God is, He's not MY tool. More likely, I'm His.

As for the notion that "many Atheists become Atheists because of their advanced knowledge of religion" -- I expect this is probably true. Thinking you know a lot about God is a sure way to confuse yourself.

OP says "I was born atheist and nobody was ever able to convince me that god(s) exist". That's good because belief in God is not a function of the mind. The mind is not up to the task. Luckily, the soul can understand something about its relationship to God once it stops listening to the mind. This means, first, you have to get past your own ignorance, pride and stupidity. Especially pride.

In my experience, most people who call themselves atheists are "atheists of convenience". If you believe in God, your next job is to wonder what He wants from you, right? Many, many people are not interested in what God wants. That's not real atheism, of course.

If you consider yourself a real atheist, one who really has not seen any evidence of a God, I offer you the following challenge:

For the next two weeks, just before you go to bed, say this, "Please, God, if you exist, let me know. Thank you." Then keep an open mind. The easiest way is probably to stay busy with other things and let the process work, if it's going to.

At the end, if you still have no sense of God, then you can legitimately call yourself an atheist and I, at least, will respect that.

Answer 4

I was once an athiest. As an intelligent student I was unable to perceive anything spiritual.

People who are religious are generally into ritual practices, not spirituality.

People who are spiritually aware are generally not religious.

It is the difference of the letter of the law versus the intent of the law, a very critical difference.

The term "theist" means believes in God, the prefix "a" means "not", one who does not believe in god.

Athiests are spiritually deaf, dumb, and blind - no wonder they don't perceive god. I used to be that way.

Athiests may be said to be stuck in their heads and not their hearts, and as such are cutoff by their very state of existence, it is really a rather miserable condition as I recall.

Athiests being stuck in their heads, may have a very advanced knowledge of religion, but spirituality is about the experience ( once again a matter of feeling not the intellect).

No one can convince anyone of anything. It is the personal experience that brings change, you must deeply desire change to bring it about.

If you want to discover the secrets of reality you must push the limits of your perception and experience, to break out of the box you have successfully enclosed and trapped yourself in.

No one can experience for you, you must do it.

If you stay in the comfort of your neatly defined little world, you will never experience what is outside the box.

Logic and reason have limits, reality exceeds the boundaries of your reason. Let go and push the limits of your reality, really push and you will see the world is truly much different than you have conceived.

Regardless - have a good and happy life.

Reg

Answer 5

Agree.
Some become Atheist because of events that take place during life. Some are just more curious about life and science. Some belong to a church, but then are drove away by hypocrites. Christianity has that tendency to shoot it's self in the foot. :)

Answer 6

Yes, I was a religion major as I wanted to become a clergy member (protestant). But the more I studied religion, the less religious I became. I think that is fairly common. I still know much more about the bible than almost all of my Xtian friends. It frustrates them! :) Overall, I wish there were some omnipotent being that loved us all as the Xtians contend, but it just isn't true. I'm ok with reality!

Answer 7

I couldn't say about most of them. I was raised in a religious household, went to parochial school and Sunday school, so there were a lot of influences pushing me to be religious. But for as long as I remember, I had questions about religion that no one could answer adequately. The only answer that made sense to me was that there wasn't a God in the first place.

Answer 8

In the circles that I travel in I'm know as a theologian and very well educated person concerning Christianity, religion and so on.
Therefore I can not agree that the more learned a person is concerning religion the more they will lean towards atheism.

Answer 9

I was born Atheist (like all people) and then baptized Catholic, but they and other Christians couldn't answer any of my questions without something that sounded like mythology. Having answers such as "It just is." "Because God said so." Doesn't cut it in this modern era anymore. We need proof (that's not subjective) so that we don't make descisions that may hinder us. It's hard to say what exactly right and wrong is due to our already illdefined morals, however we can all agree that pain is bad. Our bodies tell us this. NO ONE can deny this fact.

I totally agree with you.

Remember Atheists don't turn religious, but the religious turn Atheist.

Answer 10

I don't know that I would say most. I learned a lot more about it after I became an atheist. But I certainly know several examples where that was the case.