What was the final blow that turned you into an atheist?

[OldGit]

I don't think your goal should be to convert the Christians...

I agree.  It very rarely works, and if you did ever undermine a person's faith, you might be responsible for some very negative spin-offs.  Bear in mind that many people rely on religion to plaster over some nasty personal problems.

If you know that a person is wavering and wants convincing, that might be different.

When I do attack religious belief, my own personal #1 tactic is ridicule.  Far better than civilised argument.

Meanwhile, sit tight, be firm and don't provoke lasting trouble.

[Crow]

For me there was never a defining moment or a "final blow" I guess it was more a process of study combined with my refusal to label my beliefs until I had at least read the religious texts and adsorb as much historical information we know about those periods of time.

I had never been religious in the first place to begin with even though I went to a church of England primary school and my parents use to be of the faith. It was at this school I started to question the teachings of the bible at around the age of eight when I realized that people believed the stories to be fact, prior to that age they had always been nothing more than stories about morals and no different from fairy tales (rather bad ones at that). This was when I started to question religion and none of my teachers, relatives, or friends parents could give me answers that actually fulfilled why they believed what they did or why I should believe it. That is my defining point of questioning religion.

It was only when I got to the age of 18 that I decided it was time to start looking at what I believed as I had never really formed a true opinion on the area. The first thing I encountered emotionally was anger (and disgust) verging towards hatred whilst reading the three monotheistic books, which was then well and truly pushed into hatred when i started looking at history but always kept a neutral head and open-minded view, even though it was really getting me wound up. When looking at what had been done to cultures that had an opposing belief system and had therefore been destroyed and painted with a large brushstroke of barbarianism, when intellectually and technically they were more advance as a society it fully hit how religion was the ultimate tool of governments and went back to the books to look at what was being said in comparison to the historical evidence. During that re-read I came to the full conclusion that even if that god did exist it was just as flawed as the people that worshiped him and not worthy of worship. The other main conclusion I arrived at is the god depicted in the books is not a god at all but an imaginary judge that is created by the masses that is different to every person and can justify/condemn every action, whilst also evolve with society and fit into various roles that is required for different people.

[Crow]

Oh forgot to mention.

Even though initially I felt hatred towards religion that quickly evaporated when I took my head out of the books and started to mull over what I had adsorbed and became totally accepting of the differences in human nature. Also when reading the texts relating to Taoism and Buddhism, even though I don't fully agree with them the teachings are positive and is proof that not all religions are negative. I would highly recommend reading the "Tao Te Ching" (Stephen Addiss and Stanley Lombardo translation) looking at it from its original philosophical stand point before it was adapted into a religion, there is a reason that Lao Tze is considered the Chinese version of Plato.

[GAYtheist]

Born an Atheist, Raised a Catholic, made myself an Atheist again...yay me.

Seriously though, I was a Wiccan/Pagan for about 12 years, and I left Catholicism due to the point that I saw it as a bunch of BS and borrowed fuckery from Paganism. When I left Paganism, it was because I realized that I never believed any of it to begin with, and was like...hey, I don't need this shit. And here I am.

[Christopher]

I was 13 (now 21) when I got away from Catholicism pretty much because everything in the world I could see and understand. Except God. So what's the point of devoting time and energy into something that you are just supposed to believe in? Over the years I've had plenty of Christian friends tell me that I am wrong and that I'm going to hell (to which I reply 'good heaven sounds boring anyway'). If anyone has ever tried to convert you then you're probably aware of how illogical and obnoxious it is. That's just my logic, and it doesn't really work against Christians.

[curiosityandthecat]

*ahem*

What was the final blow that turned you into an atheist?

Birth.

*ba dum*  

[hollyda]

Interesting topic.

For me, it was a series of steps, not one huge blow. My relationship with OCD had a lot to do with it. Really, though, I was sitting in my astronomy class one day and realized how incredibly large and complex the universe is. I went from that class to my Religion 101 class, and for the first time I shifted from agnostic to atheist. It was brief, but I remember it distinctly enough to reflect upon that moment when I consider the first moment I stopped being uncertain and realized there is no safety net.

Of course, since leaving Christianity altogether, I have been a much happier person. Focusing on making this life a good one, meaningful and well-lived, has given me all kinds of new direction. :yay:

[Maria]

Welcome to HAF

I'm a new girl too. I only joined 3 days ago and I'm glad I did. Hope you will be too.
I became an atheist at a young age, maybe 12. During a Religious Education class in school one day it suddenly dawned on me how absurd the bible really is. Ironically, I began to enjoy RE afterwards. I hated it when I was a believer!
In school we were allowed to ask questions, even encouraged. One boy stood up and asked "Why are we all punished because Adam and Eve ate a piece of fruit but rewarded for murdering the son of god?" I think that was the moment for me. Our teacher gave us some glib answers but I don't think any of us were impressed. I don't think the teacher was either. She certainly didn't like the question!
If I was you I wouldn't initiate any conversations about religion with your friends. If they insist on it, however, that's different. Most Christians I debate with invariably ask these 2 questions.

How was the universe created?

From where do we get our morality?

They claim that 'nothing can come from nothing' but they will immediately contradict themselves if you simply ask them "so where did your god come from?" I point out the obvious fact that even if they could establish that some kind of intelligent entity made the universe, why does it have to be Yahweh? I usually object to the loaded word 'creation/creator.'

They also claim moral laws must have a law-giver. 'Law' is another loaded word and Christians use it a lot. They also have an annoying habit of conflating two very different categories of 'law' - prescriptive (man made) laws and descriptive (physical) laws. Human morality comes from humans via human interaction, trial and error, over time. It's very simple. Nobody wants to be raped, murdered or robbed so we make laws against rape, murder and robbery. If we didn't, anarchy would prevail, something that is obviously undesirable. We don't need any sky daddy to tell us that.
You can point to the appalling 'morality' in the bible. If morals do come from 'God' then we don't know what they are. No two Christians have exactly the same set of morals, not even members of the same congregation. Christians may be split 50/50 on the death penalty, for example. Which side is right? At least half the world's Christians are Catholics who can sin for a week then wipe the slate clean at confession, then start another week of sinning.
There's a lot more problems with the Divine Command Theory but I've already babbled on long enough, and this isn't the thread to go into great detail. There are a lot of bright people here, much brighter than I am. We'll both learn a lot here.
Welcome again.

[DeterminedJuliet]

In my final year of university I did a seminar course on the Holocaust. After an entire semester of researching the absolute evils that human beings can do to each other for no good reason, I just couldn't fathom the existence of of any kind of intelligent higher power. That was the real turning point for me.

[Twentythree]

I think it depends on what your motive is. Ammunition seems to allude to a need to be combative. There is no use or joy in that. Instead take an evolutionary standpoint on it and realize that everyone evolved from the same gene pool. In that gene pool and in some degrees in all of us is the capacity in our brains to form strong irrational beliefs. That is why religion and superstition are so prevalent, but all are so different. So you can say that genes created the capacity for our biology to form beliefs. From there culture and experience take over and the way that our biology responds will determine our beliefs, whether it be voodoo, Catholicism, Wicken, Judaism, agnostic, secular or atheist. These fundamental beliefs that drive us are all facilitated by the same biology. Once you are in that mindset you will see the futility in overt confrontation. It would be like trying to convince someone who prefers grape jelly that not only is strawberry jelly better but grape jelly doesn’t exist. In their mind not only does grape jelly exist, but it is by far and away their favorite. Conversations about belief should never be persuasive. Now, I fully understand that for the most part people of strong Christian devotion will try to persuade you , so you have to view this behavior as part of their religious experience. Just as Muslims kneel, and Hindus meditate certain Christians as a part of their religion will try to persuade.