Did you choose to be an atheist because you wanted to escape morality?

[squidfetish]

I've never been religious as there is no good reason why I should be.  Ergo no pursuit required.

[Whitney]

there is one vote for option 1...unless one of you wants to claim it I think it is safe to assume one of the religious members voted.

[Ecurb Noselrub]

there is one vote for option 1...unless one of you wants to claim it I think it is safe to assume one of the religious members voted.

Not I. The poll is for atheists.

[AnimatedDirt]

there is one vote for option 1...unless one of you wants to claim it I think it is safe to assume one of the religious members voted.

<---didn't vote

[Asmodean]

<--- Didn't even find an appropriate option to vote for

[Sweetdeath]

I was born an atheist , as every human is. My father was the only religious parent, but seeing hateful and judgmental "god" made him made me question everything. When he couldnt fill any of the gaps, I laughed and did more research, and found my anwers through logic and reason, not magic sky fairy.

Also saw how violent and gross religious people became.

[JustinS]

I'm curious to see where people actually fall on this accusation that I've heard from religious people that atheist are atheist so that they can escape morality and be hedonists, etc...

No. Obviously not. Atheism is simply the rejection of a deity and oftentimes the rejection of a religion. Whoever says that atheists are hedonistic is basing their argument on the premise that all moral values are derived spiritually. This is obviously false, because morals are not necessarily rooted in spiritual values. For more information, see Wikipedia.org/wiki/secular humanism

[Sandra Craft]

I'm surprised so many people say that for them atheism wasn't a choice though.  For me, it was definitely a conscious choice.  I remember for about 2 years considering myself agnostic, and in my head that being atheist was like jumping off a cliff in that it was irreversible, and that even though I had a lot of doubts, I didn't want to jump off the cliff, because it was a step that was both very small and very huge.

Interesting -- it never occurred to me that I couldn't change my mind if I got more information, or had an experience that made me believe a personal god was not so improbable.

I wonder if you could do me a favor -- since you know people who hold this "morality is imposed by god" idea, could you ask them if they think our interdependence on and interaction with other people is immaterial in creating morality, or is merely of lesser significance to that they believe imposed by a god?  This apparent dismissal of billions of other beings and their affect on us baffles me.  I'll ask around the religious I know, too.

A lot of Christians I've known have asked me the same question assuming that being immoral would be fulfilling (i.e., Fun!).  Isn't that strange?  I can't imagine being immoral as being fun. 

Thank you!  I've heard this same thing, and in fact we've seen it on this forum, and I never understood that one either.  Not only can I not imagine anything less fun than being cruel or thoughtless (which is what most immorality seems to come down to), I can't imagine anything more difficult.  It's not only pleasanter being nice, it's easier.

there is one vote for option 1...unless one of you wants to claim it I think it is safe to assume one of the religious members voted.

I was thinking one of the world domination guys did it.  They may be immoral, but they're honest.

[no_god_know_peace]

I really have no idea why some people think this way especially when their is nothing moral about faith. I became an atheist to be closer to morality and distant from Bigotry ; "compassion is the true path to knowledge" a wise person once told me and religion lacks in both compassion and knowledge.

[Pharaoh Cat]

Not only can I not imagine anything less fun than being cruel or thoughtless (which is what most immorality seems to come down to), I can't imagine anything more difficult.  It's not only pleasanter being nice, it's easier.

When Christians say "immoral" they aren't typically talking about what you and I would be talking about if we broached that term.  Look at threads where atheists are discussing morality and the focus will be on why or why not to be more helpful, less harmful.  Look at threads (possibly not on this forum) where Christians are talking about morality and the focus will be on sex.

Reasonable people like you and me don't need priests and bibles to tell us to be reasonable toward others.  But absent priests and bibles, we wouldn't give a moment's thought to any moral ramifications arising out of one, two, or more than two consenting adults having sex, whether for love, money, or recreation, aside from health, pregnancy, or fidelity considerations, all of which, taken together, ironically lead to the inevitable conclusion that masturbation is the least objectional form of sexuality ever devised.

I think it is probably true, at least for some of us, that dropping Christianity in favor of atheism enabled the shedding of guilt with regard to sex.  Call it a fringe benefit.

[Crocoduck]

But absent priests and bibles, we wouldn't give a moment's thought to any moral ramifications arising out of one, two, or more than two consenting adults having sex, whether for love, money, or recreation,

And we don't think sex in anything other then the missionary position has any moral ramifications either.

I think it is probably true, at least for some of us, that dropping Christianity in favor of atheism enabled the shedding of guilt with regard to sex.  Call it a fringe benefit.

I had my sex education in a very small, highly legalistic, fundamentalist school. Sex and guilt were so intertwined it made me neurotic every time I got an erection, and back in high school I always seemed to have one.

[MariaEvri]

you can't CHOOSE what to believe

[Sweetdeath]

I didn't vote, Whitney. Those options don't apply to me.

[Sandra Craft]

I think it is probably true, at least for some of us, that dropping Christianity in favor of atheism enabled the shedding of guilt with regard to sex.  Call it a fringe benefit.

One of many.  There must be some non-sexual idea of morals among the religious tho -- it can't all be sexual hysteria and prying.  Can it?

I had my sex education in a very small, highly legalistic, fundamentalist school. Sex and guilt were so intertwined it made me neurotic every time I got an erection, and back in high school I always seemed to have one.

That explains the banana.

you can't CHOOSE what to believe

Some people, particularly conservative Xtians it seems, insist that you can and do, the same way they insist one can choose feelings.  Don't quote me on this, but I suspect that's because it's easier to condemn a choice and name it as a sin worthy of punishment.

[squidfetish]

you can't CHOOSE what to believe

People convert from one religion to another - doesn't that count as choosing what to believe?

I guess it hinges around the definition of 'believe'.  in everyday terms it means to accept as the truth (or similar) based on experience, in religious terms it means to subscribe to a set of beliefs regardless of evidence or rational argument.