What "converted" you to atheism???

[periwinklefish]

I am curious to understand why people are atheists, or change their minds to atheism instead of, or after believing in religion.  I'm looking for trends.  If you have time, could you please answer the following questions:

Do you know tour IQ?  ... not procured from internet tests, please!

Do you have a college degree?  If so, what in?  And if not, why?

What were you like as a child, adolescent, adult? examples: Argumentative, tenacious, inquisitive, passive, other?

For those who were religious and at some point became an atheist, what caused this change in thinking for you?

For those of you who were born into nonreligious families, when did you/what caused you to own these beliefs for yourself?

At what age did you start questioning the existence of "god" ?

How did those you spoke to about it react when you told them your concerns?

At what age did you identify as an atheist?

Where did you grow up? Where do you live now, and at what age did you move to your present location?

At what age did you start and how often did you go to church?

Of your caretakers, how many were: nonreligious, mildly religious, deeply religious?

In your opinion, what causes religious people to question religion?

Have you ever been successful in causing a believer to change their thinking?  And if so, how?

[Tom62]

What is your IQ?
No idea

Do you have a college degree?
No

What were you like as a child, adolescent, adult? Argumentative, tenacious, inquisitive, passive?
Passive and introvert

For those who were religious and at some point became an atheist.... what was it that tipped the scales?
I don't know that any more. Perhaps history class.

For those of you who were born into nonreligious families, what caused you to eventually own these ideas for yourself?

At what age did you start questioning the existence of "god" ?
12 or 13

How did those you spoke to about it react when you told them your concerns?
Never had any concerns, worked it all out by myself. The reactions from the people, whom I told that I'm atheist  were either mild interest or indifference.

At what age did you identify as an atheist?
17

[TheJackel]

At what age did you start questioning the existence of "god" ?

Religious Brainwashing: How it's done

or when you see such dishonest nonsense like Sarfati's claims to a young Earth:

Genesis VS Science Part 2: Early Earth's Atmosphere

And we will just skip the whole nonsense of Earth being created before the Heavens ect..

[Cecilie]

Being confirmed made me an atheist. Single most boring experience of my life, but it wasn't all for nothing, I got a lot of money. It's all gone now...

[Tank]

What is your IQ? (if you know it... not procured from internet tests, please!)
140 'ish

Do you have a college degree?
Yes, but I'm in the UK so it's not called a college degree.

What were you like as a child, adolescent, adult?  Argumentative, tenacious, inquisitive, passive?
Incurably curious about nature.


For those who were religious and at some point became an atheist.... what was it that tipped the scales?  
See below, but I never 'got' God or religion, it was just something other people did that was best ignored.

For those of you who were born into nonreligious families, what caused you to eventually own these ideas for yourself?
I was brought up in a neutral household. Dad an atheist Mum a Church of England protestant. Went to church with my Mum and got confirmed a) to keep my mum quiet and b) the girls in the confirmation class outnumbered the boys 4:1. Did I mention my interest in biology  :hmm:

How did those you spoke to about it react when you told them your concerns?
Never needed to discuss it really. My Dad basically agreed that it was a load of rubbish and my Mum ignored 'difficult' questions.

At what age did you identify as an atheist?
As in actively taking it on as world view? 46 after reading The God Delusion. But in the UK being an atheist simply isn't an issue. People who go around discussing God are generally considered slightly soft in the head but mostly harmless.

[Recusant]

Hello and welcome to HAF, periwinklefish.

Q) What is your IQ? (if you know it... not procured from internet tests, please!)
A) No idea.  I tested in the 98th percentile many many moons ago, but that was a lot of indulging and years ago, as I said.

Q) Do you have a college degree?
A) No.  I'm better educated than most who do have degrees that I know, but autodidacts are worthless in this society.

Q) What were you like as a child, adolescent, adult? Argumentative, tenacious, inquisitive, passive?
A) As a child, introverted, though certainly not passive.  I had a lot of run-ins with bullies-- fought and lost until I got big enough to kick a couple of their asses. As an adolescent, I was a geek and a nerd, though those terms hadn't yet really come into vogue back then.  (The bullies still liked to try me, but when they did, they generally regretted it.) I got good grades but hated school.  Got a job and left home as soon as I could.  Never went back to school and never regretted it. Much. As an adult, just a working class man with too much going on upstairs for my own good.

Q) For those who were religious and at some point became an atheist.... what was it that tipped the scales?
A) The patent absurdity of religious dogma, and the often despicable behavior of church authorities. (I went to a parochial school for the first 8 grades.)

Q) For those of you who were born into nonreligious families, what caused you to eventually own these ideas for yourself?
A) N/A

Q) At what age did you start questioning the existence of "god" ?
A) About the age of 9, maybe a little earlier.

Q) How did those you spoke to about it react when you told them your concerns?
A) I knew better than to blab about it.

Q) At what age did you identify as an atheist?
A) I was a staunch atheist by the age of 11.

[periwinklefish]

Thanks for the replies..

[Asmodean]

What is your IQ? (if you know it... not procured from internet tests, please!)

132-148 depending on the test (Mostly the linguistic part, as I have taken tests in English and Norwegian and a test for the gifted which was said to more accurately determine IQ over 140. Got below 140 on that one.)

Do you have a college degree?

Yes.

What were you like as a child, adolescent, adult?  Argumentative, tenacious, inquisitive, passive?

Inquisitive..? Yes, certainly. I was a bit of a book worm and very quick to learn. I also had a problem with my legal superiors who I considered to be my intellectual inferiors, or rather, they had a problem with me.

For those who were religious and at some point became an atheist.... what was it that tipped the scales?

N/A

For those of you who were born into nonreligious families, what caused you to eventually own these ideas for yourself?

N/A (No direct family influence)

At what age did you start questioning the existence of "god" ?

First rejected as fairy tale at about seven. Conscious atheist from about the age of twelve.

How did those you spoke to about it react when you told them your concerns?

Lost a friend to being an atheist, and I think I'm better off for it. Other than that, very little reaction.

At what age did you identify as an atheist?

As stated, about 12.

[TheJackel]

Thanks for the replies!  This really helps me.  I'll explain the reasons for my questions at another time as it's 3 am, here:)

BTW. I didn't specifically convert to Atheism.. I'm a realist/materialist. Atheism is a very small part of my current stance on the world around us. But I would imagine that you are formulating some kind of theistic argument. But I could be wrong because your nick is common in evolutionary biology

[The Magic Pudding]

I don't remember believing in god or Santa Clause.
A curious ten year olds knowledge of history made religions seem... wrong.

[Kylyssa]

What is your IQ? (if you know it... not procured from internet tests, please!)

165 on the Stanford-Binet.  160.04 as determined by my SAT score without taking into account the age at which I took the test.  I found no age adjusted tables for SAT to IQ conversion.

Do you have a college degree?

No.

What were you like as a child, adolescent, adult?  Argumentative, tenacious, inquisitive, passive?

Inquisitive.  Autistic.  

For those who were religious and at some point became an atheist.... what was it that tipped the scales?

Not applicable.

For those of you who were born into nonreligious families, what caused you to eventually own these ideas for yourself?

The question is lacking.  I examined the idea of religion as a part of anthropology.  It takes no effort to "own" the idea that myths and make-believe are myths and make-believe.  I would guess I "owned" the idea for myself at age four years and seven months when I read Stranger in a Strange Land and had to ask my mother if people actually believed in God or if belief in God was a fictional element of the story.  

At what age did you start questioning the existence of "god" ?

Not applicable.

How did those you spoke to about it react when you told them your concerns?

Not applicable.

At what age did you identify as an atheist?

When I first learned the term's definition, age four years and seven months.  However, it wasn't of much importance to me because I was unaware of its importance to the culture I live in.

[periwinklefish]

Thanks for all the replies so far.  I am not compiling information to form a theistic argument.  This is purely for my own curiosity and interest in the reasons why some people take a religious path and others not.  The IQ question seems invasive, however, I wonder about these statistics.  Personality types, I think, could also be a factor.  And I'm interested in demographics.  Are your parents religious, and would you consider them fundamental'?  I know there are some good books on this subject.  Anyone care to recommend any?  I would like to do a little discovering on my own, first, before I read them.

[Ultima22689]

What is your IQ? (if you know it... not procured from internet tests, please!) Here, just to be fair... mine is 130. I'm sure most of you are smarter than me:)

158

Do you have a college degree? If so, what in? And if not, why? I majored in biomedical sciences, have a BS in nursing, and an associates in psychology and art.

I do not but i'm currently pursuing a degree.

What were you like as a child, adolescent, adult? Argumentative, tenacious, inquisitive, passive, other? I was introverted and passive/easily disciplined but at times inquisitive, tenacious.

Hyper, curious, extrovert and arrogant.

For those who were religious and at some point became an atheist.... what was it that tipped the scales? Me.. it was one concept in my anthropology class: man needed and created religions.... all of them. Since that time, I still have a hard time understanding why this fact doesn't "do it" for everyone else.....

For those of you who were born into nonreligious families, what caused you to eventually own these ideas for yourself?

I come from a religious family, it was hearing the story itself from my grandparents when I was about 4

At what age did you start questioning the existence of "god" ?

Four years old.

How did those you spoke to about it react when you told them your concerns?

They prayed I would realize the "truth".

At what age did you identify as an atheist?

About 14

Where did you grow up? Where do you live now, and at what age did you move to your present location?

Chicago Illinois, still living here.

At what age did you start and how often did you go to church?

At four when I visited my grandparents, seldomly, twas quite rare as my parents were fairly secular despite being christians.

Of your caretakers, how many were: nonreligious, mildly religious, deeply religious?

All of them, mildly religious with the exception of my grandparents who were deeply religious.

What do you think the single most important thing is, in being successful in getting the religious to think rationally?

I'm not quite sure, perhaps having a complete scientific theory for the origin of the universe, they always poke holes in the big bang, CERN better find the higgs boson ASAP.

Have you been successful in causing a believer to change their thinking? And if so, how?

I have convinced several people over the years that fundamentalism is stupid and to think rationally however i've never convinced anyone that theism is BS nor have I really tried, I don't mind people being theist, it's their choice and as long as they are rational and by extension respect the legitmacy of science there is no harm in theism.

[Thumpalumpacus]

My deconversion from Christianity was brought about by the conjunction of outside events, the application of reason to my thoughts, and a hard-nosed skepticism my dad (probably unwittingly) instilled in me.

All the rest of your question I prefer not to answer.

[Will]

What is your IQ? I've not had a test since high school, but I think it was somewhere between 125 and 135. It could be higher or lower now.

Do you have a college degree?  If so, what in?  And if not, why? Yes, Psyh, fun.

What were you like as a child, adolescent, adult? Hungry, confused, horny, curious. That's for child, adolescent and adult.

what was it that tipped the scales? An argument with my freshman biology AP teacher was the turning point in my life.

At what age did you start questioning the existence of "god"? Freshman year of high school.

How did those you spoke to about it react when you told them your concerns? I didn't speak about it with anyone. For years.

At what age did you identify as an atheist? 14, I guess.

Where did you grow up? Where do you live now, and at what age did you move to your present location? United States.

At what age did you start and how often did you go to church? I went to church from a couple of months old until I was a teenager and stopped.

Of your caretakers, how many were: nonreligious, mildly religious, deeply religious? All of them were and remain quite religious.

What do you think the single most important thing is, in being successful in getting the religious to think rationally? Apply their logic directly to something nonreligious.

Have you been successful in causing a believer to change their thinking?  And if so, how? Unintentionally. I'm not an atheist preacher or missionary, it's not my responsibility to deconvert people. That said, I've been a part in people's perception shifts.