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Why are you an Atheist?

Started by pagan1, January 03, 2008, 06:06:05 AM

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pagan1

Why are you an Atheist?I would like to know how other people came to the conclusion that there is no god.Sometimes on some very superficial level I start to doubt the validity of making any absolute statement,because I am unable to know everything or even see around corners for that matter,but I feel totally and absolutely certain that there is no such thing as god...
How about you?

tacoma_kyle

#1
It was transitional---but basically cause I see no way of it making any sense.

So many religions, so many 'answers' (not the ' '), so much conflict, so little verifiable claims that couldn't be explained by the physical world.

What does science give us? Some answers--but surely not all. It says when something is not proven and when it is/isnt, under what circumstances.


Religion flourishes on bullshit no less than flys do.
Me, my projects and random pictures, haha.

http://s116.photobucket.com/albums/o22/tacoma_kyle/

"Tom you gotta come out of the closet, oh my gawd!" lol

tomday

#2
Quote from: "pagan1"Why are you an Atheist?I would like to know how other people came to the conclusion that there is no god.Sometimes on some very superficial level I start to doubt the validity of making any absolute statement,because I am unable to know everything or even see around corners for that matter,but I feel totally and absolutely certain that there is no such thing as god...
How about you?

Like all other human beings, I came into this world knowing nothing about anything; as I grew and started to understand what was going on around me, I never did suddenly 'believe' in a god, or fairies, or leprechauns or any other such supernatural entity.  Literally speaking, I was an atheist at birth just as are all children who do not believe in anything other than the comfort and sustainance of their mothers' breasts!
Sure, as I grew I would have had suspicions that what I was hearing about god and co. might be based on reality because grown-ups said so, but I  just went along with it as I did the Santa and tooth fairy thing to ensure that I did not lose out on freebies.  At no time did I start to believe in god because I was lucky enough not to have family pressures that might have convinced me to do so.  I do know that as a 4 year old, I refused to take part in the nativity play because (so I am told) I thought that it was silly!

I think that it is somewhat naive to assume that someone has had to cease to be a theist to become an atheist - it might appear that way in the US bible belt, but it is not the case in countries like the UK where the vast majority of the population is uninterested in religion (even if they do get counted as 'Church of England' by default in demographic surveys)

In answer to your question, I have never ceased to be an atheist because I have never been taken in by religious nonsense to believe in any all-powerful deity, I also have never become a believer in fairies, goblins, leprechauns etc.

I have therefore never made any transition out of theism into a state of atheism  where I will remain until, maybe, the day that senility takes over and I am persuaded to go along to the local church day centre for the old and infirm and find myself enjoying the company of religious old ladies!.

Mister Joy

#3
I've never believed in God and was raised as an atheist. I consider myself lucky, therefore, because I've never had to break out of the 'bubble', so to speak, and I've always been able to view it objectively from the outside. I considered trying out Christianity once because it seemed appealing but then I realised that this would merely be conscious, wilful self-delusion (went half way there - felt very unpleasant and difficult to describe) to alter my own way of thinking.

Will

#4
Why am I an atheist? Groupthink and I don't get along well at all, basically.
I want bad people to look forward to and celebrate the day I die, because if they don't, I'm not living up to my potential.

MommaSquid

#5
As a child, being raised in the Roman Catholic faith, I had doubts and questions that simply would not be silenced by answers from the faithful.

As I searched for my own answers, I realized I was an atheist.

rlrose328

#6
I'm an atheist because there is no god.  I have no evidence that such a being exists and those who DO believe are, for the most part, terrible people who rely on their faith as a crutch for their own inability to deal with the world.  

I tried to believe for years.  Now I'm left with an ultra religious mother who just last week said, "The word 'atheist' is so awful... can't you just call yourself 'agnostic' instead?"  No, I can't.

I always asked questions of the religious leaders and got "you must have faith" as the answer.  That wasn't good enough for me, so I read the bible over and over, read other religious texts (much to my mother's dismay) and I researched mythologies, all of which bore tremendous resemblance to Christianity.  I determined that god was created by man to deal with a life he didn't understand back before there was science to answer the questions.  Now, we have science... and I don't need god to help me survive.  I have myself.

I'm an atheist because... I just am.
**Kerri**
The Rogue Atheist Scrapbooker
Come visit me on Facebook!


jcm

#7
I am an atheist because I don’t live in a universe where planet earth was created before the sun.
For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring. -cs

tacoma_kyle

#8
Heh, Kerri, my mom basically says somethin similar. She says say 'I am not religious.' I say, uhhh no.

Heh.
Me, my projects and random pictures, haha.

http://s116.photobucket.com/albums/o22/tacoma_kyle/

"Tom you gotta come out of the closet, oh my gawd!" lol

Tricky_Niki

#9
I am an athiest mostly because it's the only thing that ever made sense to me.

I was raised divided between Southern Baptist Dad, Roman Catholic Mom and Crazy Pentecostal Grandparents. Maybe it was the different teachings between the 3 that got me thinking, but it was my summer of punishment at the age of 13 where I had to read the entire bible that really made me realise it was all a load of crap.
Freethought and Toasters have never killed anyone.
Everything you need to know about life can be learned from Toasters.

pagan1

#10
tomday,you make an excellent point!So why aren't most children just left alone to come to their own conclusions?What is the advantage in turning an innocent child into some unquestioning born again soldier of god?what is it about human beings that makes some of them want to dream up such convoluted fantasies anyway?

rlrose328,this and other posts you have made make me realise just how strong an atheist needs to be,because religion is like some not so secret society,that uses not so secret handshakes etc. to validate each others existance.do you think it is possible for Atheism and rational thinking to ever over come religion?after all we have known that the earth spins around the sun for quite a while now...

SteveS

#11
I'll probably just echo the previously posted sentiments, but I was raised without religion - not specifically as an atheist, and every time a religious explanation for something was given to me I found myself doubting it.  As I aged, I didn't think about it too much, but I was sure that religion was either false or simply unjustified.  When the Jehovah's Witnesses knocked on my door, I realized I was an atheist.  I first said I was agnostic, but the more I thought about, and the more I learned about atheism, I realized there was no longer any sense dancing around the issue and just declared myself an atheist.  I don't believe in any gods - therefore I am an atheist.

Whitney

#12
I'm an atheist because once I figured out why the Christian god wasn't real the same reasons not to believe in it more or less apply to all other god concepts....there simply is no evidence on which to base a belief in any certain type of god or even a general idea of god.

I have to honestly say that some sort of deist god being could potentially exist...but I don't expect one to exist nor would it matter to humanity since it would be non-involved.   At one point I wondered if the universe itself might be god...then I decided that "god" wouldn't be an appropriate description since it would simply be a means of personifying all that exists.  I guess it all depends on what we understand the word god to mean....and it tends to get defined differently depending on who you ask and the context.

Gibson

#13
I was "saved" (after a life-altering event) when I was 15 (parents were/are non-practicing Catholics), went to protestant churches until I was 19.  At that point, I got confirmed, etc, in the Catholic church because my fiance wanted us to be Catholic.  That was probably the beginning of my faith difficulties.  After 12 years of struggling to be good enough to merit God's love, I finally just crawled out of Plato's cave several months ago (after a different life-altering event).  I'm happier in general, but it is difficult because my husband is still devout Catholic.  Right now, we're agreeing to disagree, but I know he thinks I'll move out of this "phase."  (In the past, there were many brief periods of doubt and reading about other religions, etc, for a few days.  Then I'd feel too guilty and come back to religion.)  Soon, he'll have to face that this is not a phase.  Aside from all the changes I've made, it's been three or more months.

So, I'm an atheist because I finally let go of the shackles that were holding my mind a prisoner.  It was gradual because there was so much fear and guilt ingrained in me from Christianity, but those emotions fade more every day that I think for myself.
Anyone who can worship a trinity and insist that his religion is a monotheism can believe anything ... just give him time to rationalize it.
-- Robert A Heinlein, from Job: A Comedy of Justice

flo1989

#14
I am an atheist because of several things.

1. I was brought up with complete free will of if/what religion I wanted, and after looking at them all I got awed when I was still younger but then realised that that is how religion works, by awing and deceiving people of their free will.

2. Einstein was/still is my idol

3. I read several things from physics all the way to philosophy and I asked myself little questions in philosophy. eg. what makes certain people tick, or  was it really god that gave us food on the table?, and ofcourse the favorite, if there is a god why does he cause so much grief.


In summary, I guess it's because it makes sense and can explain things to me that could never be explained correctly through religion, eg. the Earth came out of the Sun
Oh and because I see it as pure mind control and propaganda^^