Greetings

[Kahmoe]

Hello everyone,

I've lurked around here on rare occasion, and just finally decided to get around to making an account.  Jumping to the basics, I'm a 26-year-old male, college graduate, and I've been working as a Systems Administrator for about two years now.  And, the most pertinent thing around here: I'm an atheist.  Going by your definitions on the board here, I would guess I'm in between a weak and strong atheist, or a 6 on Richard Dawkins' Belief Scale: "I cannot know for certain but I think God is very improbable and I live my life under the assumption that he is not there."

I live in a small town (pop. 10k) in the midwest.  Virtually everyone here is a Christian of some type.  The only non-Christians are a very, very small number of apatheists, agnostics, and weak atheists.  This can be a little difficult at times, as I generally feel like I have to 'play along' with the Christians.  It's very frustrating...this country is very tolerant of almost all religions, as long as you beleive in something...but if you don't, you're a heathen.    My mother is a pretty devout, 'born again' Christian (thanks to a messy divorce with an abusive prior husband) who is dating a pastor at a contemporary church, and just recently returned from a short goodwill trip to Hati.  That should give you an idea of what I have to deal with (and no, I am not the pathetic geek living in the basement, haha).  My younger brother, still in college, is also an atheist...he mostly decided it recently on his own, but I am pretty sure I was some sort of enabling factor in his decision.  Our mother is aware of both our beliefs, but she still thinks she can 'convert' us back.  Fortunately, she generally ignores it most of the time, but when the topic comes up, it can create uncomfortable situations.

Over the years, I've come to realize some key things that I think people build their faith on (Christianity, but I am sure it is applicable to others).  The scriptures, the popularity, and fear(or other psychological factor). Once I became old enough to think for myself, I slowly started to chip away at these things one-by-one, until there was nothing left.  The only thing that bugs me at all still is the 'psychological factor' a desire for acceptance (as mentioned above)...which I guess is why I'm here.  I'll go into a little detail now as to how I came to these conclusions and what I did that made me overcome them and see the real light.

I started out as most Christians...born and raised that way, Lutheran specifically.  Up untill 7th or 8th grade, I attended church and Sunday school virtually every week, took First Communion, and 'graduated' from Catechism.  Up until that point I never really questioned my faith at all. I had some science understanding, but attributed it all to God's doing.  High School really opened my eyes to the science aspect, and made me question the accuracy of the Bible.  Scientific method, evolution, the origin/composition of matter, the Big Bang, etc...all of this slowly led me to the conclusion that most of the Bible was an exaggeration of natural events.  And so the first 'pillar' of faith was shattered for me.

But I still held on to the belief that, while the Bible was innacurate, nothing disproved that God influenced all these things explained by science (which is really a failing of the creationists to capitialize on...debating sound scientific theory is silly, when they could embrace their faith and science both).  This was mostly bolstered by the fact that over a billion people believed in the same God that I did.  How can a billion people be wrong?  Well, as the old saying goes, those who do not study history are doomed to repeat it.

In college, I was required to take a sequence of world history (focusing on western civilization) as a general education requirement.  This is probably the biggest single reason for me becoming an Atheist.  History in high school did not get nearly as in depth as this, and somehow managed to ignore most of the thousand-year stranglehold of Catholicism on Europe.  I had already assumed that virtually all religions sprung up as a way to explain the unexplained...weather, the sun and stars, natural disasters, etc.  What history really showed was why Christianity spread and remained dominant.  It spread through the Roman Empire, because it was a much 'easier' way into a pleasant afterlife than paganism. And it of course eventually became the dominant religion.  Christianity outlasted the Roman Empire, and the Papacy remained the dominant power in Europe for quite some time.  They retained this power through some very un-Christian-like means...a massive Papal army, and if I remember right, a genocide or two rivaling the Holocaust.  They had power, and wanted to keep it.  And to help keep it, they made sure Christianity stayed a very dominant religion.  And with this, the 'second pillar' of my faith was fallen.

With that, I began to ponder why so many people still believed in God.  And the answer was a simple matter of psychology.  They had a psychological need for something to make all their worries and problems go away.  God would make it all better, they just had to pray to him and go to church...and the placebo effect can easily take it from there.  And for people without many worries, they still had the fear.  Fear of death.  Of not existing.  And if that wasn't enough, there was the fear of Hell (which I think was probably escalated in importance by the Papacy in their 'darker' times trying to stay in power).  So upon realizing all this, the final 'pillar' was broken.

And here I am.  I cannot believe in God, just like I cannot believe that the sun won't rise tomorrow.  There is no debate left for me, it's very simple.

So I guess that's pretty much it for me.  Sorry if that got kind of long-winded, I just wanted to get it out of my system.  I don't get preachy to believers, because I don't think that's my place.  It gives a lot of people hope and psychological well-being, even if it is misguided...I've seen this personally in my mother...she became a much happier person after 'renweing her faith' and I don't want to take that away from her.   I also think churches in general do a lot of good, and I believe they promote good moral values overall.

With that, I bid you all a good evening and I'll see you around.

[curiosityandthecat]

I think our generation (I'm 27) has a higher chance of leaning toward atheism for basically the same reason you did. It's encouraging. People are becoming less afraid to admit it. "Shouting it from the mountain top" if you will.

Welcome!

[rlrose328]

Hey Kahmoe... LOVED your intro... best I've seen.  I feel like I know you now.    :cool:   well, that's another story.

Welcome to our little neighborhood and I'm glad you came.  

[Tom62]

Welcome on this forum and thanks for the great introduction!

[quizlixx]

Welcome to the forums, from your extensive intro, i feel as if i already know you. I think you will make a wonderful addition to the forums.  

[PipeBox]

Welcome to forums, thanks for the background.

[SallyMutant]

What a wonderful intro. Glad you were not torn and conflicted by a childhood in a really strict  denomination. And I agree with your conclusion that sane Christians do good. You sound like a comfy Atheist.
I llke this bit:
while the Bible was innacurate, nothing disproved that God influenced all these things explained by science (which is really a failing of the creationists to capitialize on...
If God folks are so keen on "God can do everything,"  why aren't they OK with their God directing evolution?
Cheers!