Hi! I'm new here and I've always had the question, how did other atheist became atheist? I mean, what event(s) in your life made you turn from religion to atheism; for me, was the confirmations, back when I was 15, I realized I didn’t need what the church was offering to me, I found everything it had to offer elsewhere, friends, answers, support, and such, but the most significant thing I remember, was one of the counselors, he was a recovered alcoholic, and his story was that through god and all that he found himself again and recovered and well you know the drill, but at the same time, I met this other dude, that also came back from a very severe addiction, and got his life back by cycling, he started racing and left the bottle, so I thought, "well this Sunday thing is bs, I don’t need this, I have everything I need in my sports, family, friends, school, I don’t need this", that plus the fact that the whole god idea never really made sense to me turned into an atheist. So what made you guys see the truth?
BTW sorry for my bad english.
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Not to bad on the English , Welcome to the forums. All I can really say is at a very young age things just didn't ad up. I was always an inquisitive type, a doubting Thomas if you will.
I was 10 years old when i started to question all the relgious catholic ideals that I was raised with. It starteds to escalate until I finally realized that there is no way anything the bible says is real, but I do believe there is a force that created the universe, it's just that we are too dumb as a species to comprehend what that force is and how it works. Agnostic, atheist, call it what you will.
I converted to Atheism when I started playing video games. I'd observe the gods in the games I played, and realized that their stories sounded no more irrational than the stories I had believed. Eventually, I labeled every religion a fairy tale, and since then, I've been much more content with life.
Since i was born i had questions about all the "right things to do because God said so" that my grandmother was telling me. The similarities about old belifes like the Romans (many gods, each with its role) and the modern religion that is basically the same but we use the therm of "saints" to call them and the Dacian Empire's belifes from over 2000 years ago (they had Zalmoxis as the supreme God and 3 other little gods that are pretty much like God, Jesus, The Holy Spirit, Virgin Mary etc.). The old (false) and new (so true) religion beliefs are pretty much the same, we just changed the name. The fact that if i didn't follow the rules nothing happened and that if i was going to be a good christian i was going to hell anyway...then i discovered the atheist communities and read enough to clear my mind completly. I was an atheist since childhood but didn't bothered with the subject :)
because of every muslim i know telling me that non muslims are our enemies and must be killed
i then decided i will not listen to rubbish and later on started searching for the truth and turned
I am 61 now and I became an Atheist many many years ago. Like many Atheists the truth slowly dawned on me that religion just didnt stack up and the evolutionary viewpoint, even with its holes, made more sense. I believe one of the fundemental differences between Atheists and religious people is that we seem to come to Atheism slowly, by thinking thing through. Many religious people appear to get their faith in a flash moment, ususally during a crisis in their lives.
I was raised in a middle class protestant home and was force fed religion from an early age. I began getting more squeamish and uncomfortable in church for quite awhile before I had the courage to acknowledge what my thinking brain had been telling me for a long time. "The people who are consistently telling me that they know what god wants are beginning to sound increasingly ridiculous. They don't have any more of a clue than I do. " That was the beginning for me to go down a different path toward finding my own personal truths. It wasn't until reading a few books by authors like Bart Ehrman, Sam Harris, Seth Andrews and Christopher Hitchens, that I began to identify myself as an atheist.
I was in Sunday school at the age of seven and they tried to get me to believe the whole Easter story and how it was about Jesus coming back to life after being dead for three days. I asked for proof and was introduced to circular logic. I was told that it was written in the bible so it was true. Having read the bible i asked for something more solid and was introduced to the word faith. I was told that all i had to do was to believe and it would be true. I refused and was removed from the Sunday school class and put in the main chapel off to the side of the adult group. I believe they did this so they could keep an eye on me in case i sprouted horns and a tail. I was joined by other zombie rejector's and soon found myself in a small group. After a few months we were gathered up by the minister and given a lecture on the "joys" of service. After this lecture the minister handed out paint brushes and told us we were going to paint the church. I asked if the other children who accepted their dogma were going to "volunteer" as well. I was informed that hey were going on a field trip and that my group was going to do ALL the work. I threw the paint brush at his feet and walked out never to return to any kind of organized religion.
I grew up in a generally secular house. I am a 5th generation atheist, the newest bible my family owned and actually used is from the Great Depression (more specifically, 1933). However, it was up to us to decide on our own what we believed, we were never encouraged to be atheist specifically. I started asking about religion at the age of 5, after hearing "God is everywhere" and wondering why I had never seen him.
Wow a 5th generation atheist is actually quite an amazing thing. I think you come from a provileged place in regards to the evolution of your family as far as religion goes.
It was my great or great great grandfather who was denied a position in the FBI because he was openly atheist.
I was raised Catholic, with the full Catholic experience; schooling, altar boy, junior Knights, etc. My rejection of Catholicism and god was not a point in time, rather it was the resultant of various thoughts, observations, literature and experiences. I am an engineer and the influence of my scientific type of thinking is a contributor of unknown quantity in the evolution of my belief/disbelief.
Anyway, at some point I saw all the suffering, injustice and unfairness in the world and I concluded that if there was an omnipotent deity watching over the world, the world needed a more competent god. The god of the Catholic church is not that god.
As I aged I realized that all the Biblical miracles, both Old and New Testament, were merely minor parlor tricks, identical in nature and magnitude as those perform by the pagan pantheons. For example, I cite the Exodus plagues. If my god was the one god, the creator of the universe, would it be too much to expect something like a finger snap "Poofing" the Egyptians and ceding the wealthiest country to the Chosen people instead a bunch of minor tricks, and an arduous trek to a much less desirable location?
Anyway, about a decade ago I realized that I could accept something like the Greek or Roman gods. These gods were never portrayed as omnipotent, and were really depicted as nothing more than regular people with extraordinary powers. But by then, it was too late to become a deist.
I wouldn't want the Greek/Roman gods anyway; they were terrible people that were selfish, cruel, and uncaring. In fact, they seemed to embody the worst of people with power. Killing people because of very minor offenses, multiple instances of rape, a less than beautiful afterlife. Why those ancient people worshiped such deities I will never understand. Fear, I guess.
Sarah, I was trying to make an entirely different point.
As you point out, the Greek/Roman gods were flawed, whimsical, mercurial and unreliable deities. But that is all they were presented as, and they delivered as promised. In contrast, the monotheistic religions propose an omniscient and omnipotent god that demonstrates his limitless powers only in minor and inconsequential manners.
Thus the older gods were less disappointing because the expectations from them were negligible. Whereas if I were to accept that an all powerful and caring deity was watching over us, I would expect something like a world without evil, at least.
Come to think of it I was not so strong in my stance of atheism until I encountered Shock of God on these forums.
He isn't the worst one I have encountered. At least he hasn't said we are all going to hell or that we are sinners for not believing.
That's only because he doesn't believe in Hell. I was just kidding anyways ;) Thank Shock of God's god that when they designed this site they created this hub area only people who consider themselves atheist when making their profile can see. It gives us a chance to get away from the pistachios and pecans.
I wonder what he would think if he found out there is a whole other area to the site he can't see and also that I actually use his profile name here when referring to him. I have enough other names for him to go on like this for quite a while. I am only about a quarter of the way through the list of name that rhyme with shock. I really did not think he would last so long. He sure is adamant.
I am glad however, that you got to see how he was for yourself and stuck around long enough to see that we were not just a bunch of hate filled jerks like your first impression of us was. I like you, tried to help him at first. I think he's a troll because his own logic contradicts itself depending on what is said to him in different areas. Nobody is that nuts. To a degree I feel bad for him. But he is killing these forums and i cant wait til he is gone. Since his arrival a lot of the good poster have all but vanished.
It makes me sad to hear that people have left because of him. You would think that atheists could feel safe in an atheist forum.
I had my official 'turn away', when I saw that the only thing that my father could do was evil. Not magical evil, bad actions and ill-intents. The only thing that kept him devoted to his faith, was violence and hostility. On many accounts, he would loosely say, ' It's my right to my faith, and my right to protect it. ' Of course, by the time I fully left I was well-armed enough to deal with him. I must say that as of late, things have been getting a bit like a flame-war between my family and extended family. All of them want to help me 'return' to their faith. In their struggle to work together, I see even more so the non-need of religion. I've made it fairly clear that I love my family, and am still a friend. However, I have made it starkly known that I deny and disrespect their Catholic beliefs.
I always find it annoying how these people want to help us return to faith as if we need to or want help. I get that to some they think they are doing us a favor but really it still annoying.
I cannot ever remember believing in any deity, at least no more than any other fictional character. However I did not identify myself as an Atheist (note the capital A) until 9/11. That was the moment my non belief, and my opposition to all forms of religion, irrationality and prejudice became important to me. Better late than never, I hope.
I am interested to know what about 9/11 made you an Atheist, Did it have anything to do with the fact that there were all those religious gathering areas throughout the buildings? Just Curious to know. I remember that day very clearly it was beautiful out and conditions were just getting right for me to go to work when the first tower was hit I went to check weather and be sure humidity was right but when I turned on the TV that's what I saw and I told my mom we were under attack I just knew it and then the second plane hit. I told her again and she said it was not funny and came to see to which she responded "Oh my God"
The whole day after that was very surreal down going to work and finding out a few of my brotherhood brothers were on the building at the time and we would never see them again. I remember riding to work a very silent ride looking at the sky it was a beautiful day wondering if we were going to war after getting to getting to work I went in side and the footage was on the news now with the pentagon and the plane in the field we just sat there and watch the footage over and over again for hours wondering what was going to happen next, who did it and what were we going to do about it, ultimately we did not work that day.
9/11 wouldn't have done it for me, I was still in kindergarten. Although, I remember that the teacher was watching the news, and quickly turned it off when an image of the tower collapsing came on. Oopsie *facesmack*
I started questioning religious ideas after a lifetime of looking for the 'good' in a variety of belief systems and finding only hypocrisy. Only after reading my son's 'Small Gods' by Terry Pratchett and finding it hilariously funny, did I realise that, I already had a belief system which was honest and true and, I needed no priest in robes, guy in the sky or promised mythical place to go to when I die.
My belief is this... This time on earth is my only chance to never knowingly act or say anything that could cause injury or harm to another human being. I have one shot at this and at the end I will only have me to answer to if I f***k it up.
Interesting hypocrisy was a big red flag when I was a kid telling me that religion was BS. I might pick up this book Small Gods and give it a read need to go to the library soon anyways.
Couldn't agree more.
Newbie here...SO appreciate this space! Thanks to all!
I've never had a god. Jewish family (not religious, more a cultural thing), was sent to catholic school (to get a better education, and apart from the religion stuff, probably did). I recall as early as the 2nd grade, debating the nuns about their beliefs. This produced bad grades in deportment but certainly helped me understand better who I was and what I thought. Nothing made me 'turn'...I've always been here. That being said, I must admit a recent change from silence about it. I've started to 'come out', so to speak. Further out as atheist and out as anti-theist. It's the anti-theist part that most theists seem to find radical. It is a bit uncomfortable at times. I don't go on the attack, so to speak, but shy away from speaking my mind far less these days. Scary and exhilarating at the same time. There is a sense of freedom to it. This site and hearing your voices helps a lot...thank you for that.
I am completely new to the AR, and the forum, and I have always found this question to be of interest. I am 68 years old, and have been an atheist since the day of my baptism at age 14. Perhaps if I had been baptized as an infant it may have been much later that I started to question my indoctrination as a Methodist. In any case, in that I was 14 years old I was required to attend religious studies that failed to address questions I ask. (well how could they) To shorten this story, this is how it turned out. I was told to pray and that the answers would come to me. I did, and I remember clearly, as the drops of water were hitting my forehead, I had this thought," This is all a show, a spectacle" That was the moment I became an atheist, and I have been comfortable with that decision for the last fifty some years. My approach is changing in that I am moving from the realm of being a passive atheist to that of a militant atheist.
Im 17 and recently turned athiest about 3 months ago, but i really knew inside that there wasn't a God for a while. What kept me attached was the fear of death. I would think "please forgive all my sins god amen" over and over again because i felt if i died and had a sin unforgiven, i would go to hell. As a kid, i did it so much it was almost a reflex, and as a strong athiest, it still sometimes crosses in my head on accidental instinct. I kept praying because i wanted to believe there was a heaven. MY turning point was when I was listening to Ricky Gervais on the subject and he said "the truth doesn;t hurt". I knew that praying was lieing to myself, and i got past my irrationalities and accepted that death is the true end, and honestly, when i accepted that, life made a lot more sense. I get a lot more sleep now
Ultimately it was the silence and the absence that convinced me that there was nothing there. I made sense of it later.
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