# Why did you become an Atheist?



## mestizo1991

I grew up going to a Pentecostal church but I have this weird feeling that if I had grown Catholic or Lutheran for example I would still probably be religious. I don't know why but I just feel that I would. What were the reasons you guys became atheists?


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## The Silent 1

Christianity never really made sense to me. Growing up, I would ask questions all the time like "Why would god torture people forever for not believing in him?" "Why did god punish all humanity just because Adam and Eve ate the fruit?" "Why did god have to resurrect Jesus, just to forgive humanity?" "Why did god order such horrible acts?" And many more questions, and I just never got a satisfactory answer. And whenever I would think of these questions myself, my fear of hell fire, prevented me from going very far. Worse yet, everyone around me was religious so I was never exposed to other ways of thinking. As I grew older, was exposed to other types of people and decided to let go of my fears of hell in order to seriously research I realized very quickly that I didn't believe any of this and that it made little sense.


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## loquaciousintrovert

No way, there are TONS of Catholics turned atheists. Which doesn't surprise me at all.


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## anthrotex

I grew up Presbyterian, which is a step away from Lutheranism and two steps away from Catholicism, and I'm no longer religious. I think it has to do with the individual and their experiences, not their particular sect.


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## Lmatic3030

Reading about other religions made me stop believing in religion. 

I started to ask myself what makes all the crazy stories in the Bible about people living 600+ years, parting seas, etc. more believable than the stories from Greek mythology, Hinduism, or any other religion?

That was the beginning of me letting go of that stuff


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## tyleote

My family is Presbyterian. I started to become less comfortable around the other kids in the children's classes that were held during the adult services.. separate. I started attending the adult services with my parents and would listen intently the whole time...They were different... they were more direct than the children's classes with what the religion was really about. It made things very confusing because I couldn't figure out why everyone seemed to be genuine believers in god but not santa or vampires. It always seemed SO important to my parents and teachers that we all believe... I always aimed to please. I figured the kid classes was where we all pretended to believe in god and we come out telling our parents we believe in god and eventually we attend adult services where we just listen to some guy talk and make sure our kids are believing in santa and god for some crazy reason.

Then it hit me attending them. All these people really believe this. It scared me to suddenly think every adult and peer I knew ACTUALLY believed in something I never felt a connection to. Now I don't think I ever fully bought into the idea of a divine creator, but was believing anyway for some time just from fear. How could so many people be wrong? How can so much money be spent on something if it's not actually true? It took several years to decide it actually was imaginary, it was a terrifying decision. God is scary. I thank myself I'm no longer scared


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## anthrotex

In classes to become a priest, people are actually TAUGHT that the Bible is just a book of symbolism. They just don't tell the congregation that because it doesn't make any money. Aesop's Fables isn't the #1 bestseller.


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## heroin

I just... grew up and thought it was finally time to stop believing in fairy tales.


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## Aeroflot

There were two forces at work that I recognize as being the reasons for my shift to concrete atheism:

1) I grew up mainly with my parents who were not religious. There was some exposure to church during kindergarten, and a little bit here and there in other circumstances. But pretty much there was a lack of religious upbringing from them.

2) When with my grandmother, she'd forced religion on me. Around age seven she forced me to memorize the Lord's Prayer, which since then I've only read a few other times for curiousity's sake, and the words are still ingrained in my head. That's how much she tried to force it on me. But, you know what, even though she'd forced it on me, the religion itself wasn't the culprit -- it was the environment. The church she attended held services in Russian, which cut me off from everybody, and since I was shy, I was already quite distant from everybody else. I mean, there were a lot of things going on that just kept me away from _them_.


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## GaaraAgain

loquaciousintrovert said:


> No way, there are TONS of Catholics turned atheists. Which doesn't surprise me at all.


^That would be me. Grew up Catholic and went to Catholic school, wanted to be a nun when I was a kid (weirdo lol) started questioning when I was 11 or so, then got confirmed at 12 and was good until 16.

When I was 16, the Rational Response Squad came along on youtube with their "deny the Holy Spirit" challenge to win the copy of The God Who Wasn't There and so I just started watching all their videos on atheist logic and stuff, and it all made sense to me, especially since some of the videos covered concerns I had had even as a child. I came to the conclusion that God as defined by the world's religions does not exist and that I personally don't believe in the existence of any God(s).


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## nbtac41

The Silent 1 said:


> Christianity never really made sense to me. Growing up, I would ask questions all the time like "Why would god torture people forever for not believing in him?" "Why did god punish all humanity just because Adam and Eve ate the fruit?" "Why did god have to resurrect Jesus, just to forgive humanity?" "Why did god order such horrible acts?" And many more questions, and I just never got a satisfactory answer. And whenever I would think of these questions myself, my fear of hell fire, prevented me from going very far. Worse yet, everyone around me was religious so I was never exposed to other ways of thinking. As I grew older, was exposed to other types of people and decided to let go of my fears of hell in order to seriously research I realized very quickly that I didn't believe any of this and that it made little sense.


there is no'hell'. the bible repeatedly says that 'those who were evil will be destroyed in sheol (english equivalent is hell or grave). john 3:16, for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believed in Him should not perish but have eternal life.
i don't believe God will torture those evildoers endless torments.in the first place,humans are created mortal, and mortals are subjected to death. the bible speaks of 'eternal punishment' but not 'eternal punishing' .these words have different meanings.
remember that only God has immortality..(1 Timothy 6:16);(1 Corinthians 15;53-54)


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## sherbert

In a nutshell: it doesn't make any sense. I know there are more articulate arguments, but that's pretty much it for me.


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## Glacial

I used to be a devout christian. A few years ago, I really went through a time of searching myself and looking within and also thinking about how I view the world. Somehow, christianity, or any religion, just didn't seem to fit. I felt christianity was a burden that was actually making me less of a "good" person and actually caused me depression. Also, I began realize that I cannot turn a blind eye to the scientific facts (i.e. it's just not plausible to believe in an ark or parting the red sea and many of the other stories in the bible). Now, I just consider myself a humanitarian--I can be a good moral and ethical person without the fear of "hell" or "torment" for an eternity. I used to actually torture myself with the idea of a "hell" and it was not healthy. 

On a side note, I used to be a Lutheran and attended every sunday for years throughout my youth and teen life. Every sunday was the same routine--we recited the exact creeds and prayers word-for-word, the sermons all sounded alike and the people seemed more worried about what clothing they had on the the content of the sermon. So, I am not so sure that you would have been compelled to stay in the church had you been a Lutheran or something similar.


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## The Silent 1

nbtac41 said:


> there is no'hell'. the bible repeatedly says that 'those who were evil will be destroyed in sheol (english equivalent is hell or grave). john 3:16, for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believed in Him should not perish but have eternal life.
> i don't believe God will torture those evildoers endless torments.in the first place,humans are created mortal, and mortals are subjected to death. the bible speaks of 'eternal punishment' but not 'eternal punishing' .these words have different meanings.
> remember that only God has immortality..(1 Timothy 6:16);(1 Corinthians 15;53-54)


In the new testament, "hell" is translated from other words, not just "sheol".

*And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever. Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. The sea gaveup the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

* "Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt." 
Daniel 12:2
"But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after the killing of the body, has power to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him." 
Luke 12:5 

"But the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who had performed the miraculous signs on his behalf. With these signs he had deluded those who had received the mark of the beast and worshiped his image. The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur."

Revelation 19:20

But even if hell, was not preached in the Bible, it certainly wouldn't excuse some of god's other acts.


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## Pialicious88

virgin births and talking snakes that's all im going to say


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## bsd3355

NO SCIENTIFIC PROOF... hundreds of different religions and secs, etc, people act narcissistic and feel like they are "special" beyond other living organisms


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## Crystalline

Theology class was the last straw for me, I'd been doubting my faith for a long time before that (former Catholic here). The blatant sexism in my culture's religion and its seeming obsession with sin and sexuality struck me as ridiculous. It could not answer any life questions for me, and my religion's God seemed an inherently cruel, sadistic and narcissistic diety whose existence made no sense.

My loathing for Filipino-style Catholicism, I admit, made it easy. The brainwashing and indoctrination Filipinos receive in school and everyday life is nothing short of disgusting, considering how it was used as a weapon of colonialization by the Spaniards. There exist Filipinos who are descended from illegitimate children born of rape from Spanish friars. 400+ years and many of the clergy haven't gotten much better at keeping it in their pants.


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## Dark Alchemist

Former catholic here.

I pretty much just realized one day I no longer believed. I was once totally absorbed in the stories I was told and feared god, but I slowly realized the stories made no sense.
Even though I became atheist pretty young it took me several years to accept it and be open about it.


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## Slytherclaw

I guess I always have been, never really "became" an atheist... I never bought into Christianity or any other religion. Then when I was 12 I figured out there was a word for it.


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## estse

Yeah, I didn't know people "became" atheists by choice.


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## Sourdog

Idk actually......


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## UltraShy

bwidger85 said:


> NO SCIENTIFIC PROOF... *hundreds of different religions* and secs, etc, people act narcissistic and feel like they are "special" beyond other living organisms


By one count I saw x-tianity has some 18,000 different denominations alone. In other words, 18,000 different book reports that disagree with each other were turned in after reading the same book. Yeah, that sure sounds like a reliable book one should base their entire life upon.

Well, I do feel a tad more special than the dead cow I had as beef jerky earlier today. And while I find my pet rats amusing, I will still hold myself up above rodents.

As for proof, that's not needed. You just gotta have some faith I'm told.


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## UltraShy

The Silent 1 said:


> Growing up, I would ask questions all the time like "Why would god torture people forever for not believing in him?"


The mean god even screws with folks who fully believe in him. Not how after getting hit by a train or having their home blow away in a tornado, so many say "thank god we were saved." God, who controls everything, just tried to off them and they're thinking him for his failure at attempted murder?


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## The Silent 1

UltraShy said:


> The mean god even screws with folks who fully believe in him. Not how after getting hit by a train or having their home blow away in a tornado, so many say "thank god we were saved." God, who controls everything, just tried to off them and they're thinking him for his failure at attempted murder?


Exactly. They thank god when things go good and when things go bad they thank god it wasn't worse. Theres an excellent youtube video on this.


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## Luka92

I was always an atheist. I was introduced to the concept of religion as a kid, but I couldn't relate to it.


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## Bethy

Because the cult I grew up in made me hate all religion. lol


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## huh

Because worshiping Satan is fun.


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## jpb

I became an atheist because I took Christianity more seriously than most. Ironically, I began educating myself in an attempt to "defend the faith" from atheists and other scum of the earth. Of course, the more I learned, the less I could believe. I kept tackling the hardest objections to faith, and I could never find satisfying answers.

Unfortunately, it wasn't until my first semester of Christian college that I was ready to admit my disbelief. I walked out of my first day of Theology class, refused to go to the mandatory chapel, and initiated my transfer to public university, where I made up for lost time with lots of sex, drugs, and general godlessness.


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## Glacial

jpb said:


> I became an atheist because I took Christianity more seriously than most. Ironically, I began educating myself in an attempt to "defend the faith" from atheists and other scum of the earth. Of course, the more I learned, the less I could believe. I kept tackling the hardest objections to faith, and I could never find satisfying answers.


This was the case for me, almost exactly. There were many of times most Christians I would surround myself with thought I took it too seriously. I actually took the Bible and what it said and truly tried to live my life by its dictates. I studied it to a great deal. By the time I was about 21 or so, the less I could believe. It just wasn't plausible. Now, I keep reminding myself that one does not need religion to be a "good" or ethical person.


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## millenniumman75

anthrotex said:


> In classes to become a priest, people are actually TAUGHT that the Bible is just a book of symbolism. They just don't tell the congregation that because it doesn't make any money. Aesop's Fables isn't the #1 bestseller.


The Bible is more than that. There are life lessons in there.


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## millenniumman75

UltraShy said:


> The mean god even screws with folks who fully believe in him. Not how after getting hit by a train or having their home blow away in a tornado, so many say "thank god we were saved." God, who controls everything, just tried to off them and they're thinking him for his failure at attempted murder?


How do you know it was God? When He messes with us, it isn't to do us in, it is to strengthen our character and faith.


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## anthrotex

millenniumman75 said:


> The Bible is more than that. There are life lessons in there.


There are also life lessons in Aesop's Fables and Nursery Rhymes.


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## anthrotex

huh said:


> Because worshiping Satan is fun.


Wouldn't that be a Satanist, not an Atheist?


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## huh

anthrotex said:


> Wouldn't that be a Satanist, not an Atheist?


Perhaps, but I'm too busy planning world domination and sacrificing small kittens to look it up right now.


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## anthrotex

hahaha Let me know if you need help. ....Not with the kitten part.


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## Crystalline

Not to go OT, but ironically I find the commandments of LaVeyan Satanism make more sense than many other religions. Though I'm too opinionated to obey the first commandment


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## jpb

First the kittens, then the world?


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## jpb

millenniumman75 said:


> How do you know it was God? When He messes with us, it isn't to do us in, it is to strengthen our character and faith.


Right, until he actually does us in. Isn't this an atheist support forum?


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## Josie

I became an atheist as soon as I realized it was an option. I only ever took my parents' word for it, but I never had any sort of religious experience, and it barely ever made sense to me. I believed because I didn't realize that not believing was even possible, until I met an atheist and things started falling into place. _So *that's* why it always felt like I was talking to myself!_


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## GenoWhirl

Well I'm not really full on atheist per se since I have other views and opinions that differ from their's but I believe in a lot of the same things as them so I consider myself more of a "free thinker" but for me I never got the stories that were told to me as a child mainly because they were always portrayed with an aura of fact. Like Noah's Ark is a story that just sticks out to me for reasons I don't have to explain. Have you ever tried to convice a wild animal to follow your orders or attempt to even go near one in general? I rest my case. Keep in mind that this is coming from a guy who was baptized Catholic as a baby and raised as such.


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## Cornerstone

because i felt like i was lying to myself


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## Sameer

I can't just think that there is something ( GOD) always watching from the sky or anywhere while here bad things always happens.



heroin said:


> I just... grew up and thought it was finally time to stop believing in fairy tales.


Well said....


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## Joe

Its too impossible for me to believe, although it makes me wonder if I did believe would I try harder to get over sa.


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## Nathan Talli

My father had like 25 books on different religions, so I read them all. Nobody in my family went to church even though they were raised Catholic, so I was able to mature into an adult without the pressure of feeling like I couldn't ask questions. I know a lot about religion, but I think that has only increased my agnosticism.


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## massive headwound harry

I was sick of living in both the real world and the religious world. I think I made the right choice...


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## imt

I started having plenty of doubts during my mid teens, but it wasn't until seeing the quote below that I considered myself atheist.

It sums up all of my doubts and objections about the god concept (especially Christianity) in only a few sentences, and confirmed what I've been thinking at the time.



> "Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able?
> Then he is not omnipotent.
> Is he able, but not willing?
> Then he is malevolent.
> Is he both able and willing?
> Then whence cometh evil?
> Is he neither able nor willing?
> Then why call him God?" - Epicurus


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## MrBakura91

Well I was brought up pretty Christian. I went to Christian schools for most of Middle School and Highschool. I believed it pretty literally in elementary but really tried to get serious about it in my 1st 3 years of Highschool. But the 1st time I saw a crack in my faith was after I came home from a family trip to Seatle and I realized that according to the Bible the Hindu/Indian side of my family and some of my friends would go to hell for not believing. I started looking online at critical sources I was previously to afraid to read and eventually was an atheist for the last couple years of Highschool. I felt depressed because I was finishing up at my time at Christian private school and was one of like 4 other atheists. I eventually for a Summer tried to gain some value from other religions I had discovered but it wasn't helping and at this point I was having terrible anxiety and feelings of worthlessness (This was before I started Therapy) After some time of therapy I really got my mind together. So yeah from then to present day I am an atheist. I'm alot happier now, I'm in a good Secular openminded College and Ive been trying to learn more and more each day about things like the Science I wasn't taught at my old school and the real history of how books like the Bible/Quran/Book of Mormon actually came about.


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## jpb

I like the Epicurus quote. I also like this one, from the far more reputable Urban Dictionary:

Christianity: The belief that a cosmic Jewish zombie who was his own father can make you live forever if you symbolically eat his flesh and telepathically tell him you accept him as your master, so he can remove an evil force from your soul that is present in humanity because a rib-woman was convinced by a talking snake to eat from a magical tree.


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## factmonger

I was born into Nichiren Buddhism, but never really started examining how I felt about until my late teens. Buddhism is an atheistic religion and the particular sect I practice puts a major emphasis on the potential to change things starting from yourself. All the materials are there for you to succeed and help encourage others from day one. 

No omnipotent, all-knowing forces needed.


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## Kon

> Why did you become an Atheist?


For the same reason I stopped believing in Santa Claus. I grew up.


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## Sage Sagan

jpb said:


> Unfortunately, it wasn't until my first semester of Christian college that I was ready to admit my disbelief. I walked out of my first day of Theology class, refused to go to the mandatory chapel, and initiated my transfer to public university, where I made up for lost time with lots of sex, drugs, and general godlessness.


Good man.


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## Hippo

I didn't want to lose my faith, but it dried up and eventually I had to admit that it was no longer there.


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## Raulz0r

I think I've became one when I've kinda started realizing praying for something good to happen, won't really make it happen, I try and keep mostly a low profile though, I will not try and shove towards everyone else an "I'm an atheist and you are stupid" kind of attitude, I keep quiet and if anyone asks I'll admit it, I still have a small cross around my neck, but I only keep that as a token because I received it from my mom, which unfortunately she isn't anymore alive.


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## Sage Sagan

Reason made me do it-- I swear!


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## sanspants08

jpb said:


> I like the Epicurus quote. I also like this one, from the far more reputable Urban Dictionary:
> 
> Christianity: The belief that a cosmic Jewish zombie who was his own father can make you live forever if you symbolically eat his flesh and telepathically tell him you accept him as your master, so he can remove an evil force from your soul that is present in humanity because a rib-woman was convinced by a talking snake to eat from a magical tree.


LOL, Oh my, that was awesome. *Highfive*

I'm agnostic, but my belief is not in any one entity. I believe everyone, and everything, is somehow interconnected in ways we cannot understand. I don't believe in God because of the amount of suffering in the world, as stated above.


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## MrBakura91

Learning more about how the Protestant Bible was put together ("Why were some things left out of the NT canon"? "Why doesn't my Bible have the 10 or so extra Catholic books"? "Why did the Jewish OT Messiah not fit with the NT Jesus"? "Why do the Synoptic gospels have disagreements about Jesus"? "Salvation, is it Faith Works or a combo of both"?) Really put the nail in the coffin for me. Then came me learning more about real science and not "Creation science". I became gradually more skeptical of spiritual claims(in the past I thought my dreams predicted how my day would go) conspiracy theory claims(in the past I bought into ideas from people like Jesse Ventura and Alex Jones) and UFO claims (although I was never fully convinced in the past my uncle does believe the whole "Ancient aliens built the pyramids!" thing)


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## Retronia

Well...
Which is actually funny, because I went to a christian junior school, later high school lol.
The school thought me that God doesnt exist.
Even thought I still find myself kind of talkin/praying to him...

But mostly because if there would be a "God" then our lives wouldnt be so ****ed up...


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## KelsKels

Well Im not an atheist.. but I was raised in an extremely strict christian household. I was never allowed to celebrate Halloween because it was the devils holiday. Now I dont believe in Christianity. I find Christians are the biggest hypocrites, they preach equality and will piss on a gay. They hold themselves as holier than thou to anyone who doesnt live up to the 10 commandments, and they themselves sin without a second thought. The people turned me off of it the most. But it also just doesnt make sense. If I go to hell for having sex with my boyfriend and cussing, then the majority of all teens and young adults will burn in firey pits forever. Also, the ONLY ticket to heaven is through believing in god. if you dont believe, you dont make the cut. Which means Ghandi is in hell as we speak. How could I believe in that nonsense? I will never believe in the giant narcissist in the sky the way Christians do.

Sorry.. I get a little heated


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## KelsKels

millenniumman75 said:


> How do you know it was God? When He messes with us, it isn't to do us in, it is to strengthen our character and faith.


I'm sorry to argue.. but doesn't this thread say not up for debate?


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## BatMantis

Basically, the bible/koran/etc goes against basic science: There was no global flood, humans evolved, the earth is billions of years old, and bats are not birds. You would think a divinely inspired book would get at least a few basic facts about the universe right. I've actually been saying for years that a real god-book would have stuff like in this video -- http://dwindlinginunbelief.blogspot.com/2008/06/creation-story-god-should-have-written.html

Also, I've always been interested in other mythologies. There are hundreds out there that each claim a monopoly on truth, and each trying to explain natural events. These days we know lightning isn't Zeus having a bad day, so what's one less god? We know now why natural disasters happen, saying 'god did it' is just a cop out. (EG the Muslim guy that said earthquakes were caused by immodest woman, looool.)

The last is that I find the bible, and the koran, and the book of mormon, and most other religious doctrines, to be horribly immoral, sexist, bigoted, and contradictory. In some cases I find it utterly dangerous, eg there are people out that think women should have no pain meds durring birth because of Genesis 3:16 ("Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee."), and let's not forget all the holy wars and oppression created.


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## amene

BatMantis said:


> Basically, the bible/koran/etc goes against basic science: There was no global flood, humans evolved, the earth is billions of years old, and bats are not birds. You would think a divinely inspired book would get at least a few basic facts about the universe right. I've actually been saying for years that a real god-book would have stuff like in this video -- http://dwindlinginunbelief.blogspot.com/2008/06/creation-story-god-should-have-written.html
> 
> Also, I've always been interested in other mythologies. There are hundreds out there that each claim a monopoly on truth, and each trying to explain natural events. These days we know lightning isn't Zeus having a bad day, so what's one less god? We know now why natural disasters happen, saying 'god did it' is just a cop out. (EG the Muslim guy that said earthquakes were caused by immodest woman, looool.)
> 
> The last is that I find the bible, and the koran, and the book of mormon, and most other religious doctrines, to be horribly immoral, sexist, bigoted, and contradictory. In some cases I find it utterly dangerous, eg there are people out that think women should have no pain meds durring birth because of Genesis 3:16 ("Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee."), and let's not forget all the holy wars and oppression created.


Damn you summed it up. I agree with you 100%


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## amene

Created by man
You know nothing about it unless it is *taught* to you
Too much hypocrisy 
No evidence
Etc etc


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## depar

It became obvious to me all religions are man-made lies.


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## Jnmcda0

For me, becoming an atheist wasn't something that I just chose to do one day. It was a long process of introspection and weighing the claims of religion versus what we know about our universe.


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## M Gunner

As a kid I went to Lutheran schools and I always had nagging thoughts in my head about if it's true or not and it made me furious people would place so much faith in something that seemed to not care or even exist and as I got older I grew more cynical about it and by age 8 I had already practiced my 'reasoning and free thinking' skills and I had no faith what so ever. Family still gets mad at me when I refuse to pray at the dinner table for special events, but they're slowly letting up because I have not bugged in over a decade. I don't force my views on anyone else as it's not my business to do so and people still are shocked when I say I'm Atheist, and sometimes I'm even questioned. My response is always "Don't question me" or "It's not your business".


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## One Man Wolfpack

I was born an atheist and nothing has happened in the last 18 years to change that.


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## persona non grata

I'm an atheist because despite my religious education I couldn't find any logical reasons to believe in a god. If one created me, I suppose it's his fault as he either didn't leave any compelling evidence of his existence, or he didn't make me smart enough to see it. I definitely tried my best to find a reason to believe in him, when I was losing my faith I read a bunch of Christian apologetics. I've never read much by atheist writers because I wanted to be convinced of Christianity. The arguments for the Christian faith seemed so weak that I couldn't hang on to the religion.

It's really a shame, I feel bad about being a 'fraud' in my family (I have some very Catholic relatives on the verge of death that I'd rather not upset by 'coming out') but it is how it is. I don't believe it, and it's not a choice. If I'm right, I'm right. If I'm wrong, your god should have made me smarter.


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## regimes

kept getting judged/condemned and i never really felt apart of the group or in on the secret so i just shied away from it
and then started questioning it and realized i didn't believe in it at all and found there were way too many things supporting religion being manmade than it actually existing.


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## rawrguy

Because there is no real evidence that supports any religion.


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## estse

God instructed me to not believe, so (s)he can move on to oblivion. I do (s)his bidding.


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## ryobi

Most of the christians I know in life...are judgemental and aren't compassionate

Although, I consider myself an agnostic, rather than an atheist


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## hoddesdon

I became an atheist because of SA. The world seemed to become darker. Also because of the bad things that created it. Something along the lines of: if God exists why did that happen. This is a trick post: I am not an atheist now (but it does answer the question).


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## Addler

For me, it was a combination of things. I "believed" in the Christian God b/c I lived in the Deep South and that was the standard belief system, and I was terrified of God's wrath.

However, my own feelings were more animist-leaning, and Christianity isn't into that. I was also in Latin for three years in high school, and we learned a lot about the Roman religion. I realized that those people sincerely believed in myths that we now just consider literature or superstition, and I realized that the same is true of every religion. 

I also never felt any kind of call or love or belonging with/from any religion. So now, being honest, I don't believe in gods or any mythological system, but animism still has a place in my thinking/feeling. And I don't feel bound or threatened by higher powers anymore, which is nice.


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## jg43i9jghy0t4555

b/c people would mock God in our religious (first)school and not be struck down.

and then, because I realized, just like how people think the country they happen to be born in must be the righteous way to live and the righteous.. ruler of the world or whatever.. religion is exactly the same and there just can't be, idk, more than 10? schools of thought or sciences (schools of what life means) that are also saying every other one is wrong.

and now, because I understand the whole framework of nationalism emerged from society which emerged from nature. And we are still just pieces of rocks that fell from a comet a very long time ago, no more righteous to exist on this planet than then. sadface.jpg


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## Saekon

Religion has never been an important subject in my family or where I grew up. It was just like, "There are people out there that believe in a God or gods." And the general response to that was just "Oh ok." It was practically never brought up by anyone until I started going to a religious school - there was never any reason to bring it up - where ironically from what I can tell nearly everyone in my year group are atheists anyway, and even then it's only brought up by the teachers. 

So I guess to sum it up, I never became an atheist. I never believed in the first place.


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## Squiggledibble1

I was Catholic until the age of about 10, when I found out my best friend wasn't baptised. I loved my friend and he was the nicest person in the world, and cried thinking about how he was going to burn in hell for eternity. That's when I realized how the whole thing was a sham. I figured even if that specific God did exist, I'd rather stand beside a beloved friend in life and burn for eternity in hell than submit to a sadistic closed-minded *******.


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## moveon

The idea of there being a god always seemed pretty retarded to me even as a kid.
My parents never discussed religion with me. We never ate pork in the house but i didn't realize that because they didn't prohibit me from eating pork. I guess they're some sort of agnostic muslims if that makes any sense.


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## DrakeN

I've always been one.


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## fetisha

cause religion scares me


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## Ohhai

Far too many intelligent people being shut down because they don't believe, which showed me how closed minded religion truly is, with no scientific basis for it.


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## Kyrsta

I have never believe, even when I was younger. When I did go to church, which wasn't to often, I would only go to play on the playground. When I got to college, science just reenforced my view.


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## Blackwolf

I didn't become an atheist... i was always an atheist.


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## rawrguy

I never believed in the bull**** we call religion.


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## HarryStanluv25

Wow, a place for support for my social problems AND atheism? I've hit the jackpot. Anyway, I was your typical kid going to church when I was little with my mom and sister (my dad never went with us, I don't think he's ever really believed). I believed then only because everyone else did. As I got older and things started turning for the worse in my life I began to question the existence of god. I stopped believing somewhere around the age of 14 or so. I have only begun looking further into my beliefs and religion as a whole the past 5 years now. It is difficult for me because my half-brother believes full-hardheartedly and he's the kind of person who thinks only his views are right. So I need support elsewhere. It's tough being an atheist, you get shot down for everything you say, do, or believe in. *sigh*


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## occupybarrels

Both of my parents were Seventh Day Adventist so I was born into the cult. We attended services every Saturday and I also attended a SDA school from K-8.
When choosing a HS I told them flatly I was not going anywhere near another SDA school.
Went to a public school and never looked back.

The first few years away from church were spent cursing god and saying really awful things about religion to anyone that broached the subject with me.
I felt cheated of a normal childhood and lashed out at anything associated with god/religion.
Once I came to terms with the fact that my parents were brainwashed and were only doing what they thought was best for me, I was able to let go of the hatred and move on.
The more I read, the more I was baffled by the blind allegiance. How on earth do people believe this stuff? I cringed when people spoke of god and the bible in absolutes. 

I'm 41 and I'm at peace with myself and my existence. Do good and you'll be good.

My dad is still heavily involved in the church. 
My mom walked away from everything and is agnostic/atheist. Occasionally my dad will still try to convince her to change her ways because heyzeus is coming any second now. Her response, "good, I'll organize the mob and hand out pitch forks". Yes she's still angry.


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## ausnick

I had agnostic parents who for some reason made the mistake of sending me to a DEEPLY religious primary school... I became very religious during these years, about around the age of 11 I changed schools and slowly developed my own critical thinking abilities.

I stopped believing in God around the same time I stopped believing in Santa... and haven't looked back.


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## ShyGuy86

I don't think I ever _became _an atheist. I just never changed the default non-theist position I had when I was born. Besides, isn't everyone born an atheist?


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## artsavesmysoul

Formerly I used to be Catholic.
But one day I just stopped believing,religion just didn't make any sense to me.It was hard to come out and tell people but when I finally told my mom she got mad at me thinking that I ''worship the devil'' and she still continues to ignore that I dont believe in ''God'' anymore.


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## Rossy

Never been part of any religion but I just hate the fact that religion is the cause of all thats wrong with the world.


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## Little Ham

I grew up Catholic and fully believed in God until I went to college and became a history major. When I found out that the Catholic church sold indulgences, I thought, "This is all bull-s***!" I honestly felt like I was brainwashed for 18 years.


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## anotherusername

My mother is very religious, and wished I could share it, but I never felt any relief from the whole idea of faith. Growing up in secular society, receiving secular education and being into science, I became even more distant from that.

More than that, I'm disgusted with the current state of Christian Orthodox Church in Russia. Top of it is rotten with corruption, merged with the government, the whole institution is involved in all sorts of shady businesses, etc. I can't seriously consider being part of that.

Although, if we put institutions aside, I should say that I deeply sympathize any religion itself. If this concept makes someone's life easier, brings moral ground and virtue where it wasn't present, saves someone - I can only applause that. And I have nothing against ordinary people involved in both sides of it. I like kind, well-wishing priests, and I like smiling, nice crowds on their holidays, and so on. Oh, well, I like good people general.

Of course, from scientific and logical standpoint, the whole mythology part is something amusing and funny to me. But I respect the moral and aspiration to be better many religions give to people.

I guess my point can be interpreted like this: to me, religion is like a medication which I'm immune to, but approve, as it still actually helps some other people.


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## Haydsmom2007

It wasn't really a decision. I just realized I didn't believe in god.


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## Gigantopithecus

Similar to many here, as a kid it always confused the hell out of me and nothing I was being told ever made sense. The only excuses given to me for the questions I asked were things like "You just have to believe!" .... Um, believe in what, exactly? First of all, "Just accept Jesus Christ as your lord and savior, and that he's the son of God, and you'll be granted an eternity of peace!" made absolutely _zero _sense to me as a child and it just never sat well with the way I saw the world.

I met a like-minded individual in 8th grade and we just kind of developed our 'true' views based on all this information we finally had access to and were interested in. Finally having someone around who wasn't so religious was refreshing and probably helped me in more ways than I realize because we weren't afraid to discuss certain topics that many religious people get butt hurt over.

We goofed around as young teenagers in an alleyway attempting to provoke whatever 'Satan' is supposed to be. We were always told, "Never summon demons because they _*will*_ come and then you can't ever get rid of them!!" Needless to say, our little experiments shot that fear-inducing belief into the abyss.

I probably have always been an atheist/agnostic, but as a kid it's hard to express your thoughts or gain proper info. on things like that to see different viewpoints.

Regardless, I am content with how I see things at this point. I respect people's right to believe whatever they want, as long as they keep it to themselves.


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## Toppington

I never went to church, but I'd say I was a christian kid. Only about 3 months ago did I bother to question my blind faith in the religion. Going to copy and paste from the spiritual board here:

I don't really know what to believe in anymore. I really don't like the idea of christianity after the media and church tyrants that insist on impaling any thought of treating gays as equals. I'm not even gay, I just can't accept that someone born with something which is clearly not a choice is condemned to hell for all eternity. It makes no sense. 

If the christian god is supposed to be so loving, caring and careful. Creating each and every person in his image, why do disorders and mental health problems exist? Why does such an all-powerful and loving god do nothing for those that perish in third-world countries? I just can't believe I blindly followed it all these years. 

I honestly consider myself neutral at the moment, but if I had to be labeled, I'm sure I'd be athiest. I think it's sad how the media and the idiots in charge of the churches are what drove me away.


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## Meta14

I never got straight answers when it came to religion from my parents. As I got older, I simply realized I don't really believe in god. I learned more about religion, and decided it was absurd. Now I'm an atheist.


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## Watercoulour

I never really went to church. My parents were too lazy and unmotivated to take me and they felt organized religion was starting to get sketchy. I used to believe in god, as everyone else did and I learned from them. Eventually as I grew up, the entire concept seemed silly. I asked many of my religious friends questions that they could not answer. Of course, we were in elementary school. Up until 8th grade I believed in reincarnation, I felt like we had souls and they went SOMEWHERE. But now, even that seems like a stretch.

I believe we dont have souls, everything is science. Were made up of millions of cells that just work together and when we die, these cells die and since they don't work anymore, our bodies shut down. Like were a machine. I dont believe in god now. 

But anyways, I just never grew up on religion and science just made sense.


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## SweatingBullets

I went to church and Sunday school as a child. As soon as I was old enough to protest, I did. More because it was just boring to me then. Not sure I ever believed. When I was little I just kinda went along with what the grown-ups said. Capable of logical thought, I moved away from all of that.


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## Akane

I did not become. I was taught no religion at home or anywhere I went. My mom was taught no religion. I'm not sure my dad was taught any religion. My grandparents never brought up religion. I am possibly 3rd generation atheist although I claim agnostic because not knowing does not make something impossible. The only religion I know is what I have looked up out of curiosity.


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## Epic1

*Education* made me an atheist.

Not formal education per se, but the more I learned about science (including soft science like psychology) and the more I learned about religion, the more it all became clear.

Reading Richard Dawkins helped combine it all into a neat little package and seal the deal. Before that I was more of an agnostic in terms of thinking there _could_ be a god, although not in any organized religion sense, because who knows for sure? Admittedly it was partly due to my own fear of being ostracized by others for not believing. I saw how atheists were treated and thought of, but if you at least said there could be a god, people seemed to give you a break.

Dawkins' degrees of atheism/agnosticism helped me solidify my stance; his analogy of not being 100% certain that fairies do not live in his garden, but he can reasonably be confident that he is close to 100% certain there aren't, is a good one when thinking of a creator as well.

Is there evidence _proving_ there are no fairies in his garden? No, but there is overwhelming evidence showing why there wouldn't be fairies in the garden. And even evidence showing why someone may _believe_ there are fairies in the garden even when there isn't.

Anyways, it's all about educating yourself. Without limit.


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## lionlioncatcat

Like a lot of other people here. I was very happy that I was brought up with the attitude that whatever i chose to beleive in was absolutely fine.

At the time I didnt give much thought to it. But out of instinct more than anything I chose to not commit to something that may or may not exist

However as i grew older, went through education. And developed an active interst in religion. My indifference grew to discust and disbelief. I find the whole notion of religion so incredibly backward, alien and weird. That I cant help but try to see what makes it tick.

I am a strong athiest, but I have a big interest in religion. The people it affects, and the attrocities it causes.


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## roylee1970

Rossy said:


> Never been part of any religion but I just hate the fact that religion is the cause of all thats wrong with the world.


I'm not an atheist. I can understand this statement wholeheartedly. Organized religion sure seems to have a way to send people in the complete opposite direction than it is supposedly intended to do. What a shame too. Christians are supposed to love their brothers and all they seem to do is sit around and criticize them. We had the holy wars which seem so ungodly to me and so many other things. The example I see organized religion sending is give me your money and do as I say not as I do. It does not change my belief in Jesus but it surely leaves me no place to go and share these beliefs with others of a like mind. Honestly I'm ashamed of the way it drives people away.


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## Patriot

I became an atheist because it was the most rational and logical world view imo.


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## Frunktubulus

It's just how god made me.


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## river1

I grew up with self-proclaimed Christians, ones that liked to call themselves Christians but not follow the religion, traditional Native American beliefs and traditions, people who believed in evolution and people who didn't really care at all.

I really don't consider myself an atheist.. or like to label my beliefs because I honestly put little thought into it at all. If I was around more of my native family I would definitely want to learn more about Native beliefs because it seems a lot more natural and spiritual ..considering when these beliefs were created.


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## ThatLonerChick

I grew up Catholic.
I was always an astronomy nerd though.. ever since I was like 5 the stars and night sky inspired the hell out of me. I was asking my parents all these questions about it... all i got was
god god god god god god god god 
I was dragged to church every week just to listen to him preach about eternal damnation, rewards after death, and all the people I should hate or love... 
but then I realized.. just by looking at the night sky... if there really were a heaven or hell after death... then life, would have a pretty pathetic meaning.


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## ryobi

Lmatic3030 said:


> Reading about other religions made me stop believing in religion.
> 
> I started to ask myself what makes all the crazy stories in the Bible about people living 600+ years, parting seas, etc. more that more believable than the stories from Greek mythology, Hinduism, or any other religion?
> 
> That was the beginning of me letting go of that stuff


The same for me


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## Smoothie

I was raised as Catholic and even had my first communion and the classes all saturday for 2 years(as far I remember).
My mother is very catholic but doesn't go to church much,and she raised me as catholic,but I always doubted a bit of God,Heaven and Hell,it didn't made sense to me but I believed until I was 10 years old,I had this sort of agnostic phase and then settle as atheist,but I still want to discover more about spiritual subjects and see if I believe in it or not.


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## jessckuh

The Silent 1 said:


> Christianity never really made sense to me. Growing up, I would ask questions all the time like "Why would god torture people forever for not believing in him?" "Why did god punish all humanity just because Adam and Eve ate the fruit?" "Why did god have to resurrect Jesus, just to forgive humanity?" "Why did god order such horrible acts?" And many more questions, and I just never got a satisfactory answer. And whenever I would think of these questions myself, my fear of hell fire, prevented me from going very far. Worse yet, everyone around me was religious so I was never exposed to other ways of thinking. As I grew older, was exposed to other types of people and decided to let go of my fears of hell in order to seriously research I realized very quickly that I didn't believe any of this and that it made little sense.


I'm not a atheist but being raised in a Christian family and being around Christian people all the time can leave you close minded. I had to do a lot of UNlearning as I grew up too. I still believe in Christ, God and the like but now it's a decision soley based on MY feelings and belief. It's extremely important for us to study and research for ourselves when we get older so we can come to our own understanding and thinking in life.


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## tanyall

Life experience, science and common sense showed me the truth. I was 8 when i stopped believing in magic, Santa ,Easter bunny and deities


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## Apophis

Well, you can only go through so many dark times and unanswered prayers before it becomes apparent that if there are gods, they are no gods of mine.


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## arnie

Because _Apophis is a false god_ and the Goa'uld are nothing more than parasites


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## Apophis

What makes Humanity any different?


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## Stanley Joe

Went to catholic school as a kid. But my family was never really religious. In my late teens i realized that i didnt believe in anything.


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## lazy

i found church sundays to be annoying and praying at home to be a chore.

and prayers never gave me the high i was looking for. no positive feedback whatsoever. Whatevs.


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## cafune

Honestly, I don't really remember how/why I became an atheist. I don't remember it being an active decision to give up my belief in god. It just sort of... happened. It was a gradual process. I went from Hinduism to agnosticism to atheism over the span of ~3 months. And strangely enough, I went through an extremely religious patch before I went through that.

Basically, I couldn't imagine a world in which god existed, scientifically. I didn't understand how he/she could be everywhere at any given time... I couldn't come to terms with that. And I had a lot of questions that no one seemed to be able to answer sufficiently. There were so many holes/inconsistencies that I could pick at when my family defended religion. It didn't make sense. Not only that but life also became more difficult and I grew angry at that fact. I expected that my faith/trust in god should make it so that I didn't have to suffer. But that wasn't true. My decision to turn to atheism was because of the accumulation of all the above. I couldn't have remained a Hindu.


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## mapthesoul

I was a Christian when I was little however as I had grown older, I guess I just grew out of it. It didn't make sense nor did it seem even logical. It all seemed like some silly little story meant to entertain young children, like Santa Claus or the Easter bunny. During my early teenage years was when I began to realize all of this.


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## MTBDude

I was, for the most part, raised Atheist. My parents agreed to keep religion out of my upbringing, but I could always tell what way my Dad wanted me to go. He is a pretty staunch Atheist. I am glad I have gone this route.


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## slyestfox

The acts of god always seemed very hypocritical and juvenile to me. "Believe in me or be banished for all eternity", someone needs more self esteem, or how in the story of moses he killed hundreds of people, then forced the survivors to walk in the desert until that entire generation died off, all because he was jealous of a fake god made of gold. What happened to thou shalt not kill? And isn't one of the commandments you can't be jealous of what someone else has? I grew up catholic, I used to think god was the best thing ever, until I realized how imperfect he really is, and how there is no proof that he actually exists. I then realized when I started reading the bible to regain my faith in him that most of those stories sounded like myths and dramatizations of what probably really happened, for example, Mary probably got pregnant by some other guy while she was married to Joseph or something like that and said it was "god's child" to get out of the trouble she was in.

And just out of curiosity, does god even have a name? Because there are many gods, so why would his name be god, that's like me telling people to call me "human" or "homosapien". Is he too embarassed of his name to tell us, the whole idea of god just stinks of foolishness.


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## michaelgroves

I started becoming an athiest primarily after hearing about the hundreds of abused childen in the catholic church. How can a person who is representing and preaching gods word do something so horrible to a child. A book filled with lies and deception if you ask me.


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## pita

I didn't "become" an atheist. I just am.


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## SeekerFinder

well i became an atheist when my mother was concived.
we are all born atheist.
seriously though
i just decided that the comfort the bible offers was not worth the loss of meaningful relationships with family members that i loved that were considered outcasts for one reason or the other by the religious majority in my family.


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## Nata

I was christened a Roman Catholic. My parents are not very religious, although my mother did say things like (whenever someone died) ;"God loves you and so does baby Jesus" and "They are looking down now from the clouds in Heaven". I don't know why but I never bought it. Maybe because fairies and music and all those things were never opened to me so when suddenly my mothers started to talk about god I didn't understand.
Later though I gained reason for not believing in god or the Bible.


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## Neutrino

I never was. I never believed in God. Going to the church was just a boring place my parents made me go to every Sunday. I guess I became an atheist when I was born because that's just how I rolled.


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## Slimeball

I was brought up by non-religious parents. I wasn't really very conscious of religion when I was a child to be honest. Still the same. Thank the lord haha


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## wildgrl

Why don't I believe in a higher power or deity? I think it's because I "think". And depending on which religious you've come from... "thinking" isn't really encouraged unless it's to support or rationalize scriptures.

I had religion forced upon me between the ages of 11 and 13 by a ultra-catholic foster family. I went from basically no religion into a home that included daily prayer, 3x a week church, and catholic middle school. They were going to "save me". (ba hahaha) About a year oe so later... they decided to "save" someone else instead.

I honestly have nothing against religion. I support people who are religious - by their OWN choice. It's as long as they recognize that people that don't make the same choice aren't bad or ignorant people either.

_"Religion can be counted on to easily explain the things that science has yet to figure out". - Hawkings_


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## UKPhobe

Short answer.

Because I've seen no evidence whatsoever that god exists, in fact Jodie Foster in the film Contact I thought summed it up for me when she said: 

"So what's more likely? That an all-powerful, mysterious God created the Universe, and decided not to give any proof of his existence? Or, that He simply doesn't exist at all, and that we created Him, so that we wouldn't have to feel so small and alone?"

Also I got fed up of some religious fanatics trying to brainwash me or give me a superior, arrogant attitude for being an "unbeliever".


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## CoolSauce

I didn't see the bible stories that were told to me as a kid any different from fairy tales. It was later that I realized that people could take it pretty serious.. so I've been an atheist for as long as I know


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## InnerPeace25

I dont have anything to believe in nor do I believe in anything bigger than me.


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## mud

It was a slow process, but suffice to say that religion just doesn't add up, so doubts creep in and eventually I realised that its nonsense


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## hrnmhmm

Grew up surrounded by Catholics and attended a Catholic school. Thankfully, my mother was somewhat open minded (and negligent). As a result I was something of a bubble-head growing up, completely oblivious to everything around me, so religion never really 'took'. These days people are moving further away from indoctrinating cultures, and individuals are tending to realize the irrationality of these belief systems naturally with increasing exposure to information networking. ;s


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## kindasorta

I was born an atheist (as we all are) and was spared religious indoctrination. Unlike most (mainly americans) I didn't need to break out of a religious upbringing. I was encouraged in the activities of critical thinking from the get go and that's how I've come to evolve as a free thinking individual without pressure from the outside.
I do live in a country where the majority and mainstream is atheist and that has made things much less tumbling for me. I'd like to think I would've ended up an atheist eventually if I was brought up Christian in the US for example tho.


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## tommo1234

I became atheist because I'm not as stupid as I look << or sound 

I trust science..it proves why and how things got here and how they work...

There is 0 evidence of God's existence...humans have been around for over 100 thousand years and not once has a single human ever found the smallest bit of evidence that supports it's existence.

fact > fiction.


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## Starstuff13

no evidence. which religion is the right religion? i was raised christian but i never liked church. 3rd grade was my introduction into astronomy, which had a big impact on me. i was an insomniac pretty early on in life so all i would do is think about the universe and concepts that were way beyond me. all night, every night. i think most people that have an interest in science in general usually end up not being religious.


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## Robotboy49

My concluetion: I don't think god exsists- If he does he's a total d*ck


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## The Sleeping Dragon

When I was in my early teens I just felt that christianity didn't 'work'. Never felt somebody was listening. So my search to the 'real' religion began. I learned about all the religions in the world and soon realised that it depends on where you are born what religion you are following. Religions are nothing but ancient memes. 

There are so many dead religions. This means we humans are capable of making up gods. Since we can't possible be objective because of this we must assume that all religions are false.


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## Brad

I don't think I ever truely believed in Christianity, but just followed it and went to church because my parents did and was brought up to believe it was true. I realized that I didn't take it seriously when I was going through confirmation classes, and the stuff that my pastor was telling me/teaching made me realize how crazy and far out some stuff in the bible is. I was around 13 then, and from then on it was just self educating and using rational thinking.. It's pretty obvious to anyone using common sense that there is absolutely nothing to back Christianity or any religion other than a 2,000 year old book written by multiple humans and revised multiple times, if that wasn't enough to question the credibility of it, i'm not even mentioning the hundreds of barbaric and contradicting things in the bible, you could probably just pick things out in the bible and almost everything in it could be discredited just because one passage can say the complete opposite of another, that and there are claims in it that are factually false, but people in that time period believed it and took it seriously due to lack of education.


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## The Sleeping Dragon

I had no choise in the matter. I've brought up with christianity. I never 'felt' anything unusual, some lord who would watch over me. Praying was useless. Church was mind numbing boring. So I read about other religions hoping to find the right one. But at the end I realised religions are just ancient memes and that none can be true. Humans can't be objective about religion because we invented it. Just look at all the gods that already are forgotten. Why are the gods of the current religions any different.


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## vlad soma

I was raised catholic and believed in god up into my early 20's. Ive been an atheist for about 10 years. 
I dont think there is one thing that makes anyone believe or not believe. Its a slow process that involves a lot of thinking. The first step was starting to think for myself instead of just believing what I was told. Then I started to doubt(which i was taught was a sin). I doubted more and more until it became clear. The similarities in religions, human psychology, history etc convinced me that god is a man made concept designed by primitive people to explain everything. I dont think we have the capability to figure it out or even understand how it all began.


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## avoidobot3000

I hated church because they wouldn't let me play my Game Boy during mass.


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## mark84

avoidobot3000 said:


> I hated church because they wouldn't let me play my Game Boy during mass.


 

I became an atheist because it's blatently obvious the chances of any kind of religious being are slim to zero, I don't believe in the tooth fairy, Santa, God or the Loch Ness Monster.


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## Cassabell

i cant believe in it, i just cant. the bible sounds like a story, almost like lord of the rings, but not as good!


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## JustThisGuy

^ Haha. Yeah. 

I just couldn't think that way. It's so silly to think of the macro and micro of scientific discovery. While science doesn't have all the answers (yet), it's shown us a pattern of causality. We're just not going to make a discovery one day where we're going to see a big, glowy bearded guy waving back at us going, "You found me!"


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## Col

I didn't really "become" atheist or agnostic. I just wasn't raised with a religion.


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## anhedonic

Reason


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## minimized

I can think of a couple of reasons - Michelle Duggar and Rick Santorum.


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## Felren

I guess I just woke up intellectually.

When you're younger and part of a generally healthy family, you trust that what your parents try to teach you. I wasn't in a strictly religious household as we only attended church about six of the sixteenish years my family held together. However it was still general assumption that the christian god portrayed in the bible existed.

It wasn't really until my last year of college I started thinking much differently. Until then I still prayed before sleep out of ritual more than anything faith based. 

It wasn't until my weakest moment that I totally denounced the god I was told to believe in. At that point I realized I was here alone, and that thinking I had something higher above me to fall back on only left me more vulnerable when I actually needed it most.

I believe that some people with faith in a religion can make them a better person and maybe it can lead them in a happier life. I tried that and in the end it didn't work that way for me.

So here I am without the feeling that I have to please someone above me with my actions. I can run on my own morals and beliefs. Even though most of my morals and beliefs coincide with christian religions, the parts where I differ I believe shows that I am an individual person opposed to a mindless drone who relies on someone else's ideas to live on.


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## Meta14

No one really "decides" to be atheist. It's just a realization. A person doesn't choose to be atheist anymore than someone choose to be gay.


----------



## HarryStanluv25

JustThisGuy said:


> ^ Haha. Yeah.
> 
> I just couldn't think that way. It's so silly to think of the macro and micro of scientific discovery. While science doesn't have all the answers (yet), it's shown us a pattern of causality. We're just not going to make a discovery one day where we're going to see a big, glowy bearded guy waving back at us going, "You found me!"


Hhahaha. THERE you are god! Wow, you sure tricked our minds all these years didn't you?? :yes


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## Owl-99

Well it makes a lot more sense than believing in an invisible God . I grew up without religion, and religious people in general are judgemental hypocrites.


----------



## Dissonance

Because it's fun to poke holes in the logic of other's beliefs.


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## The Sleeping Dragon

Dissonance said:


> Because it's fun to poke holes in the logic of other's beliefs.


Noah: "But does animals would go extinct."
God: "Meh."

:teeth hilarious


----------



## Droidsteel

KelsKels said:


> I'm sorry to argue.. but doesn't this thread say not up for debate?


I think he was more explaining something, not contradicting another poster. Also thats pretty tame compared to all the 'hurr durr religion is bull****' comments that keep popping up in the spiritual support section.


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## squidd

I like everyone else was born an athiest, I was too young to object to baptism when I was a baby.


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## theJdogg

I didn't really have a reason for becoming an atheist. I was huge into religion, going to church and all that every week. I lived close to my church, and one nice fall day day, when walking by the church to get a cup of coffee and a pastry from a nearby shop, I realized there is no god, and more importantly that I am ok with being nothing more than a rotting corpse in the ground. It's what we do. It was a very Paul on the road type experience for me and very life changing. Life suddenly became richer and more real. I appreciated every day a little more. From that point on, I was an atheist. Now, I can site facts and sound smart, but that's my real reason.


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## theJdogg

squidd said:


> I like everyone else was born an athiest, I was too young to object to baptism when I was a baby.


or when a doctor took a scalpel to my foreskin.


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## winner6519

*Why did you turn Athiest?*

Reply: I know how you feel. I was raised Catholic but lost all faith due to my unfortunate circumstances throughout my life. I have had agreat deal of "Hell" and "Misfortune" in this life. I feel God could have been much kinder to me in many ways. Therefore, my attitude is, that I owe nothing to God because he gave me nothing. I am not an Athiest, but I practice no Religion! Good Luck!


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## squidd

theJdogg said:


> or when a doctor took a scalpel to my foreskin.


ouch


----------



## andy1984

i guess i was conditioned to believe in logic/reason/whatever much more effectively than god and the logic/etc. would not allow me to believe in god.

or god decided i shouldn't believe in him.

or unknown forces conspired for it to just happen that way.

oh yeah, i'm not an agnostic, not atheist. oops.


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## JSinger

My parents never forced me into a religion, and I chose what seemed most logical to me. I think the world should be more like this. Being born into religion isn't a bad thing, people should just be given a chance, at a less vulnerable age.


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## Watercoulour

My parents were too lazy to bring me to church and they were too busy. They are also liberal democrats and they tend to clump together christians and republicans - which they are not fond of. When I thought about it, science just seemed way more concrete with facts than christianity. Some parts of religion just sound absurd.


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## jay l

I realized there is no evidence of a God...especially a kind hearted, just God.


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## j a m

I was raised without religion. Now at best I think that if there is a god, then god is the universe, of which we are all little parts.


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## mountain5

My family wasn't very religious but they got me into a church at one point, I guess they thought it would help sort out my problems. I ended up being very religious as a teenager, and I missed out on a lot of life.

Anyway, I eventually realized:
1) Most Christians really don't believe in the Christian god or the Bible, they just kind of go with whatever beliefs and opinions they feel most comfortable with
2) Even orthodox Christian churches have major differences of opinion, they might as well be considered totally different religions
3) There's no reason to believe (one interpretation of) the Christian god is more real than any other god
4) I started reading things that pretty much shot down my ideas about Christianity (the Documentary Hypothesis, etc)

I don't really spend time anymore thinking about religion or atheism or an afterlife. If I hang around people who are openly religious it's just kind of awkward and uncomfortable, but that's the only time it comes up for me.


----------



## Selbbin

I hate being labelled for having my own opinion about truth.


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## squidlette

I don't think I did become one so much as just decided to accept that I didn't really believe in anything no matter how hard I tried to. I was just unable to convince myself (or be convinced by others), though I gave it a more than fair chance.


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## The Sleeping Dragon

bethoconnor said:


> Do we KNOW enough to say we're atheists? I prefer to think of myself as an agnostic.


It's not about what we don't know. It's about what do we know. We know that our own senses are limited and that there is much more than we can see. We know we humans are capable of making up gods. Just look active religions there are today. Now look at our history to see even more gods. And than we haven't even talked about gods that are forgotten by time. It's clear that humans have made up the concept of god because certain elements of the world were/are unknown and that gap of knowledge needs to. After all the fear of the unknown is embedded in humanity. It's a part of us. We know this by the science of psychology.

So all in all I can perfectly explain the god phenomenon. I don't see a reason why there should be a god in the first place.

I could make one up. Let's say there is a god who created the universe in such a way that it evolve on itself and that he just watches without ever lifting a finger. We would see the earth cool and life form and slowly evolution would take us to this day where there are humans with technology. That god would make sense? Would it? No it wouldn't. I made it up. I'm flawed in my own observations because our senses are to limiting. That's where science comes in. With it we can see past our own limitations.

Hope I'm not long winded. Just trying to explain my view on being an atheist.


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## vela

I grew up with religion. Both Lutheran and Catholic and I even went to a religious school. However, even when I was younger, I had a lot of questions. The things I was taught never made any sense to me. I questioned everything, and that questioning grew as I became an adult. 

It was a process for me. First I tried to fit science into my "faith", then I progressed to adopting things from other faiths I found interesting, and then eventually I just realized one day that I didn't believe in a higher power. I went agnostic for a few years, and now I'm just an atheist. 

So for me it's that religion makes absolutely no sense to me. It defies logic, and I'm a very logical and scientific person.


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## ilikebooks

I've always been an atheist. My mother tried to raise me in a Baptist church, and it only occurred to me when I was 10 that people actually believed it. Once I started reading the bible (instead of just the nice little passages we were told to read), I realized there was no way I believed it.

Turns out arguing with your Sunday School teacher in front of the other kiddies is a very, very good way to make your SA prominent.



bethoconnor said:


> Do we KNOW enough to say we're atheists? I prefer to think of myself as an agnostic.


Agnostic and atheist define two different things: Gnosticism is KNOWING something something to be true, where as agnosticism would be not knowing for certain. Atheism is simply the lack of a belief in a deity. Most, if not all, atheists that I know (and people like Dawkins, PZ Myers, etc.) are agnostic atheists--we don't know for certain that there aren't any gods, but there probably aren't.


----------



## sporteous

My mother is a Christian. My father was a racist alcoholic, and he thought religion was a load of crap, and he used to say (when drunk) "strike me down god, come on, strike me down." And my mum would say "you'll end up in hell if you carry on like that." After these weird and often experiences, I realised both my parents were completely, retarded.


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## KeithB72

It's just not logical and doesn't make any sense. It has nothing to do with bad things that happened, or a rejection of God. I mean, if I rejected God then I'd be admitting he exists and I just wanted nothing to do with him. But, that's not the case. The funny thing is, I do wish I believed in God because I think it would help me have more peace of mind. But, it's just not scientifically sound and I have a scientific mind that simply doesn't allow me to believe in God.

Although, to be honest, I consider myself an Agnostic, if only for the fact that I am the type of person who believes that "anything is possible." So, I admit that it is possible that God exists, but it's not very likely.


----------



## UltraShy

squidd said:


> I like everyone else was born an athiest, *I was too young to object to baptism when I was a baby.*


Sounds exactly like what I'd say.

If I ever happen to find my baptismal certificate I fully intend to write upon the back of it that I officially denounce the Catholic Church and all other religions, myths, and supernatural nonsense.

Actually, I'd really love to be excommunicated to break those ties as much as possible, but not even Hitler could manage to get excommunicated, so I'm guessing my odds of the Pope officially telling me to go to hell are pretty low.

The old-timers here might recall when I caused quite a stir on SAS by honestly stating that I'd shot a bible (2005).


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## HarryStanluv25

bethoconnor said:


> Do we KNOW enough to say we're atheists? I prefer to think of myself as an agnostic.


Like everyone else, it isn't about what you do or don't know. It's about what you do and don't believe. I know what I don't believe in and that is Jesus/ God and I am very firm in this so I can call myself an atheist. I'm not questioning whether or not it may be true. In my head and heart I don't think it's true so there ya go- atheist.


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## AnotherRawAddict

I was born atheist. I just managed to keep most organized religious nonsense out of my head.


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## arnie

This is like asking why don't I believe in ghosts or psychics.


----------



## Invisigirl

Even though I was born Catholic, it always felt more like just a label to me than what I believed. When I was a kid my dad tried to explain the concept of the human soul and the afterlife, and it all seemed fantastical. I prayed because I was told to, but my prayers were empty words with no feeling. I had classmates who shared my inherited religion, but I couldn't relate when they talked about it. And the idea of an angry old man reading my thoughts and watching my every move kind of creeped me out. :b 

I guess I was born with some kind of skeptic gene or something. The funny thing is though, I still believed in Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny when I was little. I don't get it, but whatever.


----------



## Dissonance

I'm an atheist because god told me to be one.


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## ThrashtilDeath

One day I sat down and actually thought about things, logically and rationally. That's pretty much all it took.

I'm now in the process of reading The Bible, and so far it's only strengthened by skepticism.


----------



## AlanJs

All my living years on earth i have been. Always had a love for science and religion isn't needed. My cat is happy just living it's life and enjoying it and that's what i'm doing as a fellow living thing. =)

Besides Atheism is so popular in my area that I only know a handfull of religious people and that's out of 100's. You could even say Religion is viewed as odd here.


----------



## duckie

mestizo1991 said:


> What were the reasons you guys became atheists?


everyone was born an atheist. you learned everything else, right or wrong.


----------



## Earl of Lemongrab

I do not consider myself a strict atheist in the sense that I can accept the possibility of a God or Gods existing, but I do not believe in a personal God. I do not think that with the world being the way it is, that there is a possibility of a benevolent God existing. Now, strict atheists usually jump on to this with the argument that "God is a non-falsifiable hypothesis just like unicorns or fairies." I don't believe that unicorns or fairies exist, but the concept of a creator is less of a concrete concept imo. There is no concrete evidence for the origins of the universe as we have only been able to trace that knowledge back to a certain point which we know nothing of prior to that. Parallel universes/multiverse are also a non-falsifiable hypothesis which I like to believe could exist, but that's purely a result of my own experiences in life. Had I been born in an entirely different life with entirely different experiences, I may or may not be completely happy/satisfied with the fact that my death would be the end of it.


----------



## Foh_Teej

umm, if you believe in god, you're a theist. If you do not, you're an atheist. It's pretty clear cut- one or the other.


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## Earl of Lemongrab

Foh_Teej said:


> umm, if you believe in god, you're a theist. If you do not, you're an atheist. It's pretty clear cut- one or the other.


I didn't say that I believed in God; I'm merely an agnostic who can accept the possibility of the concept of a creator. There's a difference.


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## Foh_Teej

trisquel said:


> I didn't say that I believed in God; I'm merely an agnostic who can accept the possibility of the concept of a creator. There's a difference.


(a)theism and (a)gnosticism are two different concepts. None of them have anything to do with possibility. (a)theism is to what you believe or do not believe, (a)nosticism is to what you know or do not know.


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## Earl of Lemongrab

Foh_Teej said:


> (a)theism and (a)gnosticism are two different concepts. None of them have anything to do with possibility. (a)theism is to what you believe or do not believe, (a)nosticism is to what you know or do not know.


I do not believe in a personal God; however, I won't discredit the possibility of a God or Gods existing because I do not _know_ for sure. Atheism entails absolute certainty that there is no God, afaik.


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## Reluctant Recluse

I wanted to be more free, so I sought out perspectives that validated this desire and ended up with existentialism.


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## Foh_Teej

trisquel said:


> I do not believe in a personal God; however, I won't discredit the possibility of a God or Gods existing because I do not _know_ for sure.


that would make you an agnostic atheist. If you claimed knowledge, you'd be a gnostic atheist. If you were a theist, and claimed no knowledge (like many deists for example), you'd be an agnostic theist. Of course a gnostic theist claims knowledge that there is a god.



trisquel said:


> Atheism entails absolute certainty that there is no God, afaik.


No it doesn't. It says absolutely nothing about certainty. It is simply a position that a claim hasn't met its burden of proof.


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## Earl of Lemongrab

I don't care to argue semantics. All I will say is that I will never say that there is a God for sure, because I don't have the absolute knowledge to know that there is or isn't one.


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## EndlessBlu

I can't think of any particular event that caused me to become an Atheist. It's just something I started to realize over time, especially during my college years. A large part of it was probably because of all the "holier than thou" Christians who feel they have superior morals just because they're Christians, and think this gives them the right to force their beliefs on everybody else. I'm disgusted at many of the things done in the name of religion. I think that probably pushed me over the edge. 

Also, when you examine all the facts, there is absolutely no evidence that a god exists. There is no magical place where all good people are rewarded after they die, and there is no hell.


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## simian4455

I think everybody is born an atheist, no? Religions are beliefs. You can't be born a believer of Santa Claus yah?


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## ReyG

I always questioned Catholicism, which was what I was raised with as far back as I can remember. I remember I had to confess once during my first communion and I just wanted to know who did that guy think he was to be able to forgive others sins. Like who gave him the power you know? He told my mother about my unruly behavior and since that day I just dropped it. I was 10. Its not like I was ever into it, I just stopped going to church with my mother for good. To this day I believe its nothing more than a fairy tale passed down every generation by word of mouth. Its just something out of our reach that no one will ever truly know until one dies. Just live your life without fear of punishment from some "creator" that you have never, and surely never _will_ see during your life. But to each, their own.


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## MoniqueS

I was raised as a Lutheran and went to church when I was young and completed sunday school and confirmation classes. So I've been somewhat educated on the Lutheran faith at least. And I've had many conversations with people about why they believe God exists and ultimately for many it just came down to a feeling they had, they believed in their hearts God is real. And I just do not and cannot find this feeling within myself.


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## MalyGolab

I actually became quite religious towards the end of high school, but later on, I just stopped believing in a deity of any sort. My parents were immigrants from Poland, so I was raised Catholic. And that's the most logical explanation for me holding on to my religion. I was too afraid at first to imagine losing it, and so I wrapped myself around reading the Bible (managed to get through the whole New Testament and about half way through the Old Testament) and learning about the different denominations of Christianity (i.e. Protestantism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Traditionalist Catholics, Catholicism, etc.) and the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

Eventually, it wasn't until I went to see a spiritual healer that I started to question if he really "cured" people's problems or not. And then, I also began looking more into nihilism and Nietzsche, as well as atheism and science, which, all together, separated me more and more from my faith until it completely went away. I definitely think that the fact that my college experience has and still is a big struggle for me, especially lead me to losing hope in a higher power of any kind.


----------



## PickleNose

I am agnostic. I was never anything else. I just didn't believe in the religious stuff. I went along with it to get along with all the people in my life at the time.

I think it must be really hard to go from being a believer to a nonbeliever.


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## thinkstoomuch101

after leaving the place i've just worked? who wouldn't be?

My landlord was "religious".. come to find out he was a liar, cheat, and pretty low down.

my ex-director that i just left? a devout mormon..compulsive liar, coward, manipulative, and had no balls.

Plus, i just left work in idaho. I found out that 50+% of the population is mormon. Talk about "Connected"... and low down? jeez!

Regardless of religion. Some folks know how to say the right thing at the right time to the right people. Using religion makes the person in need - even more vulnerable.

I don't blame being an atheist on any of these people - or the folks in my past.. but i swear, every time some one tries to sell me something, and they use that phrase: "I'm a christian".. i'm never disappointed with their actions..


----------



## Tangerine

I never got into the whole religion thing. When I was about 13, I just stopped going to church. My parents let me decide for myself. I had no interest in it from the beginning..always hated church and bible stuff. Boring.


----------



## Museinc

I became an atheist because of animal suffering. I always bought into the idea that we humans are suffering because we are evil sinners and blah blah blah, but then I witnessed an animal really, really suffering, and I thought, ok that's nonsense. There's no reason for that. And then I went online and started talking to atheists, they turned me on to Richard Dawkins and Sam Harris, and that was that...


----------



## aki58

I was born athiest like everyone is. Then I was fed religion, statism, popular culture for many years and bought into it. Then I realized it's a scam and accepted Athiesm towards gods, states and masters into my heart.


----------



## Hamster

loquaciousintrovert said:


> No way, there are TONS of Catholics turned atheists. Which doesn't surprise me at all.


true, learning more about religion makes you question it more...


----------



## Hamster

trisquel said:


> I don't care to argue semantics. All I will say is that I will never say that there is a God for sure, because I don't have the absolute knowledge to know that there is or isn't one.


this is quoted from wikipedia, so i can't know for sure if they're defined correctly:

"In the strict sense, however, agnosticism is the view that human reason is incapable of providing sufficient rational grounds to justify the belief that deities either do or do not exist. Within agnosticism there are agnostic atheists (who do not believe any deity exists, but do not deny it as a possibility) and agnostic theists (who believe a deity exists but do not claim it as personal knowledge)."


----------



## 0lly

Because I live in England and it is the way of things here.


----------



## UKPhobe

thinkstoomuch101 said:


> My landlord was "religious".. come to find out he was a liar, cheat, and pretty low down.
> 
> my ex-director that i just left? a devout mormon..compulsive liar, coward, manipulative, and had no balls.


Unfortunately that does sound very familiar. I've met plenty of examples of this type of hypocrisy. Being religious is never a guarantee of integrity.

That's not to say that there aren't plenty of decent religious people or that atheists are automatically better.


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## globberglup

I grew up in a pentecostal church as well. It certainly is one of the most bizarre religions out there! When I was in Italy, I went to this cathedral. The monks we're all chanting in latin, and it sorta reminded me of those scenes in movies where a cult was about to sacrifice a virgin. I thought that if I had been raised in a catholic church, I would have turned atheist so much faster!


----------



## jonny neurotic

globberglup said:


> I grew up in a pentecostal church as well. It certainly is one of the most bizarre religions out there!


My mum is an atheist but my grandfather is a pentecostal. He took me to church a few times when I was a kid. I remember once it was it a big church in a different town. At one point they insisted I go play with the other kids through in a room, but me being the socially anxious person I am I wandered back through to sit in the main hall and when I walked in the door I thought WTF? Everyones gibbering away, some are rolling around on the floor, others are gyrating with their hands in the air and I thought they had all went mad. 'spose they had. lol.

I think they keep the whole speaking in tongues/going mental bit away from the kids until they have bought the "Jeezis luvs U" bit, in case it scares them off.


----------



## Selbbin

I never 'became' an atheist. That denotes starting as a theist.

I'm not a fireman. I never became a not-a-fireman.


----------



## Meli24R

jonny neurotic said:


> My mum is an atheist but my grandfather is a pentecostal. He took me to church a few times when I was a kid. I remember once it was it a big church in a different town. At one point they insisted I go play with the other kids through in a room, but me being the socially anxious person I am I wandered back through to sit in the main hall and when I walked in the door I thought WTF? Everyones gibbering away, some are rolling around on the floor, others are gyrating with their hands in the air and I thought they had all went mad. 'spose they had. lol.
> 
> I think they keep the whole speaking in tongues/going mental bit away from the kids until they have bought the "Jeezis luvs U" bit, in case it scares them off.


Lol that's pretty funny. I had a similar experience. A pentecostal girl I went to high school with wanted to convert me and invited me to her youth group. They talked about bible verses for about an hour and then stood up, joined hands and started praying. Then one girl started screaming gibberish(really startled me) dropped to the floor and appeared to be convulsing. I had never been in a church before this and did not know that this was considered normal behavior for pentecostals. I seriously thought this girl was having a stroke or something and I kept looking around at everyone, but no one had their eyes open or was reacting to her. Then they started playing music and more people started doing really bizarre stuff.


----------



## Selbbin

Everyone starts as an atheist. Babies have no religion.


----------



## simian4455

Selbbin said:


> Everyone starts as an atheist. Babies have no religion.


That is pretty right. Just like nobody is born a bigfoot believer or ufo believer.


----------



## Owl-99

I was born into a family of agnostics and atheists, and scientists are much more believable than the bible.


----------



## simian4455

Meli24R said:


> Lol that's pretty funny. I had a similar experience. A pentecostal girl I went to high school with wanted to convert me and invited me to her youth group. They talked about bible verses for about an hour and then stood up, joined hands and started praying. Then one girl started screaming gibberish(really startled me) dropped to the floor and appeared to be convulsing. I had never been in a church before this and did not know that this was considered normal behavior for pentecostals. I seriously thought this girl was having a stroke or something and I kept looking around at everyone, but no one had their eyes open or was reacting to her. Then they started playing music *and more people started doing really bizarre stuff.*


Please elaborate  ...


----------



## Meli24R

simian4455 said:


> Please elaborate  ...


Well there was a lot of rolling around on the floor, waving their hands in the air, jumping up and down, shaking, crying or sobbing and speaking or yelling in tongues. The girl that first started doing it looked like she was possessed. I was about 15 at the time and had never witnessed anything like this before or seen any religious programs where people acted like this. Needless to say, I was freaked out.


----------



## simian4455

Meli24R said:


> Well there was a lot of rolling around on the floor, waving their hands in the air, jumping up and down, shaking, crying or sobbing and speaking or yelling in tongues. The girl that first started doing it looked like she was possessed. I was about 15 at the time and had never witnessed anything like this before or seen any religious programs where people acted like this. Needless to say, I was freaked out.


I have heard of this but have never seen them. Sounds a bit like a cult ...


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## wordscancutyoulikeglass

Born Christian, was Christian until last year when my doubt and logic finally overcame my faith. It was a good thing. For the longest time as a kid I would always wonder why God made us so imperfect that we would need him, or why he would only listen to some prayers and forget about mine, or why people died even when I begged for him to let them live. I never understood why he would send people to Hell when they lived in Muslim countries where Christianity was non-existent. I wondered why he created the devil. I wondered why he never spoke back to me. Sometimes, I would be so crazy that I would pray to god and ask him to have one of my blankets that was on my bed end up on my rug in the morning. the blanket wasn't there. I just kept wondering, and wondering, and wondering for years, until I figured it all out.

God isn't real.


----------



## wordscancutyoulikeglass

Meli24R said:


> Well there was a lot of rolling around on the floor, waving their hands in the air, jumping up and down, shaking, crying or sobbing and speaking or yelling in tongues. The girl that first started doing it looked like she was possessed. I was about 15 at the time and had never witnessed anything like this before or seen any religious programs where people acted like this. Needless to say, I was freaked out.


When people do this sort of stuff like babbling and rolling on the ground, they are from a special kind of Christian church called a 4 Square Church. They're babbling is them speaking in Tounges, which was the original language people spoke according to the bible. Also in the bible it says that no one can speak tongues so they are just speaking gibberish that everyone there believes is tounges or whatever. I have no idea why the find it necessary to roll around on the ground and convince everyone they're having a seizure.


----------



## Joe G

I believe in Aliens and that doesn't leave much room for religion. We are part of the universe so whatever created the universe created us. Now that astronomers are finding planets like Earth we are not so special anymore. Just a matter of time before the truth is told about the origins of humans.:um


----------



## Selbbin

Joe G said:


> I believe in Aliens and that doesn't leave much room for religion. We are part of the universe so whatever created the universe created us. Now that astronomers are finding planets like Earth we are not so special anymore. Just a matter of time before the truth is told about the origins of humans.:um


A planet doesn't even have to be like Earth to support life. It just has to be like earth to support Earth-like life. We have no idea or concept about what other life could exist, sentient or non-sentient. Or something even beyond life, something we have no ability to imagine, let alone comprehend (and no, not God). It would be like a Roman soldier in his time contemplating computers or an iPad. He has no reference to even _start_.


----------



## A SAD Finn

I thought that there were too many ethical dilemmas with Christianity or any other religion I'm aware of. However, I'd no problems with the faith and science because I'd think that God made the big bang happen, created the laws of the universe and directed the evolution to make a man.


----------



## Selbbin

I strongly believe that a lot of the Christian doctrines are very unethical. Past and present.


----------



## Bluueyyy

1. The bible has so many inconsistencies

2. is a concept too hard to swallow

3. The old testament

4. The main reason: No one at church has responded to my lack of social skills and as a result I feel separate and neglected

I just figure...if there's so many people going to hell, and it's soooo hard getting into heaven...then what chance does anyone have?
I actually want to be saved, and I go to church, and still I fail at developing any companionship at all.
For those who don't know....companionship is one of the most primary factors in Christianity.
So i'm not even a true christian....and what chance do anyone have?

I don't consider myself athiest...I'm passionate about loving and caring for others, and there are verses in the bible that are most inspirational e.g. 1 Corinthians 13

I have no Idea.


----------



## AlazarRamir

I used to be a devout catholic. Even used to be an altar boy. But one day, when I was really ill and could not participate in mass, I called the priest to tell him I could not make it. His response was: If you don't have time for God you can **** off!

Needless to say I was still young and quite impressionable. It opened way too many doubts and questions that I decided I could not and would not deal with them.


----------



## sparkplug74

Well, I was already having so many doubts in my mind about my Catholic/Christian belief years before I became an atheist. But I immediately shut down those thoughts even before I could process it because I was taught that God would punish me for merely questioning my belief. Then one day I've finally had the guts to look for answers. I started to form questions in my mind about my beliefs, and I soon discovered the countless logical fallacies and errors that my religion was telling me to believe. I read books and articles regarding science and religion, and it opened up my mind even more about the subject of reality. At first I was still feeling a little reluctance about changing my viewpoint on religion because of my fear that my religion might turn out to be right all along and God would send me to hell for questioning him. But a few more researches and logical thinking later, I finally convinced myself that God and religion is nothing more than a delusion that people blindly embrace to make themselves feel special and loved. And that's how I became an atheist.


----------



## AwkBoy

Deep down I've never believed in Yahweh. I've just never been able to suspend all my critical thinking faculties and be a "sheep" in some pastors "flock". The idea of following someone or something blindly and absolutely without asking questions and thinking critically about it is repulsive to me.

*No Gods, No Masters!*


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## Smoothie

My family is catholic,my father not so much,but my mother is(not the go to church type,but always pray for thanking and asking).
I believe in God,but never in Hell or Devil.I was always curious about God,and sometimes would think it was absurd for him to be real,I always liked scientific subjects and tv shows.
I did catechism for 2 years so I could get the host,but I remember saying to my brother something like reading some scientific book so I would not become moonstruck.
I became atheist not for reading the bible or anything,it just made more sense to me.I don't see nothing wrong with religion,only with fanatics,like the people from the school I went from 7 to 13 years old(were against rock,halloween, taught christianity but said they were a school with no religion,now they changed names and from what I heard the students needs to bring bibles with them).


----------



## NoHeart

I was raised as an Atheist. Well actually... religion was never a big part of my upbringing, and neither was the lack of it really... if you see what I mean.
They didn't go out of their way to tell me WHY there is no god or why so many people believe in it.

I became interested in the debate when i became a teenager... Sometimes i wish i was given the chance to find atheism like most have... you might say I would be just as fundamental if i was raised diffirently... idk.


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## Killer2121

limeybob said:


> 1. The bible has so many inconsistencies
> 
> 2. is a concept too hard to swallow
> 
> 3. The old testament
> 
> 4. The main reason: No one at church has responded to my lack of social skills and as a result I feel separate and neglected
> 
> I just figure...if there's so many people going to hell, and it's soooo hard getting into heaven...then what chance does anyone have?
> I actually want to be saved, and I go to church, and still I fail at developing any companionship at all.
> For those who don't know....companionship is one of the most primary factors in Christianity.
> So i'm not even a true christian....and what chance do anyone have?
> 
> I don't consider myself athiest...I'm passionate about loving and caring for others, and there are verses in the bible that are most inspirational e.g. 1 Corinthians 13
> 
> I have no Idea.


I think you are just not trying hard enough. It's a concept to hard to swallow because when it comes down to it, the essential teachings of Christ are contrary to the way you want to live you life. The Old Testament is not something Christians should live by.


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## Jonni

Joe G said:


> I believe in Aliens and that doesn't leave much room for religion.


Me too :high5

I'd like to believe 'the Gods' that 'descended unto us" were actually space ships. That's _way_ more interesting. :yes


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## matmad94

Joe G said:


> I believe in Aliens and that doesn't leave much room for religion. We are part of the universe so whatever created the universe created us. Now that astronomers are finding planets like Earth we are not so special anymore. Just a matter of time before the truth is told about the origins of humans.:um


Just so you know the Catholic church is actually open to the idea of aliens and the pope and high up people in the Vatican had to have a meeting of how they would christen an alien a few years ago which I found funny because they were generally concerned that the holy water might be toxic to them.


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## elDiablo

Ones upon a time, I met God. I asked if he loved me. His answer was no. Since this time, I haven't belived in him.


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## MissMichele

*Just...*

I never really had religion in my life. My mom's side is Catholic and I remember going to church as a small 5-year old with my grandfather, and I was baptised, but I grew up not in it because he died and my mom isn't religious. My dad's side are Jehovah's Witnesses and I do have to watch what I say and participate in their meetings when I visit that side of the family. My dad was disfellowshipped (??) and he's sort of "shunned".

Personally, when I'm at a meeting, it's all hogwash to me..And I wonder how people could believe in such a thing?? But I am not against anyone's religion as long as they are not against my non-religiousness. I don't tell my family that I am Atheist except if I know they will accept it. 

Ummm...I never want to be involved in religion. The only way that I have jealousy towards it is the growing up socializing with people. That would (maybe) help my SA growing up. 

My "label" is Athiest. But I find fantasy...Things like tarot cards and spiritual stuff interesting and fun. I think, if there is a good religion, it would be Buddhism. So... I have a "Native American" feel. I love the Earth, hate the way we take care of it, I feel like the world is full of "energy" although it's not personified...And it's not a higher power. 

So, there ya go.


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## catawampus

I was raised a mostly non-practicing Catholic. My family still doesn't like to discuss my atheism in spite of their own ignorance with respect to their Christian faith. I know more about their bible than they do.

I remember as a child being told to say my prayers at bedtime and although I did so it never really meant much to me. None of it ever made any sense or gave me any feelings of connectedness or hope.

I struggled with my atheistic tendencies for years, imagining there was something wrong with me. Why couldn't I just believe like everyone else? It wasn't until I was in my early twenties that I was no longer ashamed of my atheism or afraid to tell others.


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## fetisha

Because religion scares me


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## Braaainns

I have always been Atheist, I went to a Church of England primary school where they shoved religious stuff down your throat all the time and none of it ever made sense to me. I refuse to believe anything without a substantial evidence and logic behind it, and religion doesn't have any of that.


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## Andre

God has always been impossible for me to believe. I never "became" one.


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## ugh1979

matmad94 said:


> Just so you know the Catholic church is actually open to the idea of aliens and the pope and high up people in the Vatican had to have a meeting of how they would christen an alien a few years ago which I found funny because they were generally concerned that the holy water might be toxic to them.


:lol I'm not sure if that is even true but either way it's funny. If so, how typically naive. :lol


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## WYSkiBum

I was born that way =] 

My family was never religious, it was never talked about. My mother is methodist, and my father was never baptized. I've just always been appalled to the idea of religion from a young age. I was friends with a very religious family who would always take me church - or other activities with them. My family didn't care and expected us to choose our own path in life. I found out the more I learned about religions, the more ridiculous it seemed. 

In the end, whatever helps people through the rigors of everyday life can not be frowned upon. People just need to live and let live.. stop foisting everything on your neighbor! I don't talk about my views with anyone (unless they think like me, then we have a fun conversation!, if not I dismiss it immediately.)


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## DeniseAfterAll

Because I only saw clouds..

..and because I hate being ignored


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## AJFA88

all my family is religious. I grew up in a catholic household. I was baptized and did first communion. Though I'd say....from the age of 12 I couldnt quite get the whole religion concept. I had a lot of doubts around that age. I was trying very hard to convince myself that god existed. On my very early teens i looked at intelligent design because it claimed that "science and religion are side by side and dont contradict." It gave me comfort, but at the same time i also knew that it was a load of bull and i was just trying to ignore the truth just to have that comfort that there is a god. It did take some time. The biggest thing was that I was scared ****less of the thought of dying and nothing happen. But gradually I became to fully accept the truth regardless of how scare it was at the time.

I had a lot of conflicts that i think contributed to it all. The basic one being the bible and the religion itself, but also growing up in an environment where every single person was religious. Once I moved to the US, i sort of had a break from that environment which led me to really figure things out without being judged(not as bad as in my native country...the US wasnt too accepting either). thank god for the internet.


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## Doomed

My parents forced me to attend Catholic schools my whole life. When I was 13 I started asking questions to the nuns about god and challenging his existence. They repeated the you're just supposed to have faith line and sent me on my way. Before graduating high school I realized they were just as clueless as I was.


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## Adversary

My parents forced to go to Catholic church as a kid, but I have always been an atheist or at least an agnostic. I remember my prayers as a kid would begin with "If you really do exist" or something along those lines.


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## No Name

I never 'became' Atheist. I _realized_ i was an atheist when i suddenly had an interest in religion (some time ago) and i found out about these terms i'd never heard of like atheist.

I believe everyone is born an Atheist. Whatever religion one follows is just because they have been taught to believe or perhaps they just want to believe in _something_.

My primary school was christian and i never actually realised at the time. I didn't really think about stuff back then. I never took all the stories about 'jesus', hymns, prayers and nativities seriously anyways. It all bored me too much.


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## Trigo

Because it makes sense.


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## Marleywhite

I was a weird kid growing up. I would wake up at 4:00 am everyday just to study the stars and i kept asking myself what is out there? as i grew older I began to ask more question until one day I asked my nun at church where does god come from? she didn't know what to say and that was the day I turned into an atheist


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## agentcooper

I became an atheist once I really learned about the sciences. Sometime around highschool but I was never able to put my thoughts into words until college where there was an open dialog. 

Its not so much about sciences as it is about truth in evidence. I used to say I was agnostic because of hat line of thinking but I have since abandoned it.

Now I consider myself atheist+


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## fawn2793

I don't put so much importance on religions because if a person wants to believe in a particular religion for whatever reason they may have, what's the harm? I'm 37 & i still haven't figured out what to believe, however i do consider myself agnostic because if i can't touch it, see it, or have solid unwavering proof of its existence then I'm gonna question it. I'm thinking about learning more about scientology because I have a great interest in our solar system, galaxy, and how things are and have been created. Anyone can write a book and claim that the words of our creator are written in it and make you believe that you are a sinner and will go to hell if you don't live by this book. Those who are smart enough to see through the attempt of our ancestors to gain control over the free thinkers know what I'm saying. I don't judge or criticize anyone for what they believe, my best friend is a devout Christian and her and I have some very good conversations and debates. If we all believed one thing then we would have to dismiss anything else that is proven to be true beyond what we initially believed and that's just not human nature...


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## Silent Water

Why did I become an atheist? Long story short, because religion makes no sense whatsoever.


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## J C

I'm a atheist because I have yet to hear one sensible argument that provided sufficient-enough evidence to convince me that a god exists.


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## pantazi

I have a functioning brain.


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## TheComedian

Grew up Catholic, but started taking Philosophy and History classes. As I started to understand mankind, I also started to understand what religion really is...just a way to explain what you can't understand and the hope that there is a reason for your suffering in life.


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## Quinn the Eskimo

I have a functioning penis


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## mjkittredge

I was born one and not raised religious. Never had the urge to join any denomination.


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## kittyteak

My parents tried to make me religious but the whole time I was, as a young kid, I didn't really understand it, it was never completely real to me. My family fell apart, and I began to distrust my parents and reject everything they had said or did. First I thought God abandoned me, finally I just gave up on it. I started learning about science and things became more clear.


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## Billius

I realized I need no gods to lead a good life. Also I cannot condone the harm and injustice done by religion as an institution. Eventually I realized I am a nihilist, I don't care for religion or debate


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## Clairelyse

I grew up in a baptist home, and we all went to church every sunday. It always bothered me that noone could answer my questions, and when I got older I just got more and more irritated that people who were religious refused to even acknowledge the idea that they might be wrong. I just think it's way more likely that human beings came up with the idea of a god to make themselves feel better about being a lonely civilization on a rock floating through space.


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## Cam1

Simply because I don't believe in religion or god. I do respect the morals and overall concept of religion and they influence that they have on the world, but in now way to I believe in it.


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## rawrguy

I am not an athiest, I am an agnostic. Remember, this part of the forum is for both of those.


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## chatikh

I became an atheist because even when I was 13, I knew there was no evidence that Christianity was right, and quite a lot of evidence that some Biblical claims are false. Now I know that just because Christianity is probably wrong, that doesn't mean another religion is right. But it seemed that if Christianity was wrong, there's no evidence for any other religion, then they are probably all wrong. 

I went through a religious phase once, for a couple of months when I was 12. Atheism made me feel better mentally than religion did. I had no worries that I was going to hell.


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## Kirceratops

I was brought up to care in only what I believed in. And I'm so glad for it! I've been an Atheist probably about 15 years (a guess) and it feels great.


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## SnowFlakesFire

Because those peeps in the bible-nightmare book are violent, racist killers and earth, child, animal and woman abusers uke . I was never in faith btw.


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## NightshadeBerry

I was braught up Catholic and now I don't believe in any God. To me it just sound like made up stories for people to make sense of things and make rules. Something like Santa or the sand man. I don't really call myself an atheist, I don't have any religion. We are in this vast universe, to me it's more like an act of chance that we are here... not an act of God/ a creator. 

One day I just opened my eyes and realised how silly it all is (religion)


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## millenniumman75

Hadron said:


> Just plain and simple common sense. Religion is dumb; but useful nonetheless though.


Without religion, what is "common sense" though?


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## millenniumman75

Hadron said:


> Common sense as in the numerous illogical things i saw in the old testements whilst learning about it as a child.
> 
> The scientific method always seemed more practical to me as a pursuit of the nature of stuff.


I mean "common sense" as to right and wrong.


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## ugh1979

millenniumman75 said:


> Without religion, what is "common sense" though?





millenniumman75 said:


> I mean "common sense" as to right and wrong.


Right and wrong pre-exist religion by at least hundreds of thousands of years. Religion just adopted it as it's own and in some cases totally corrupted it. :|


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## MollyAmins

I was born atheist. Word up. Never was raised on any religion, and I thank god for that. (haha)


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## Paul

millenniumman75 said:


> I mean "common sense" as to right and wrong.


The results tend to be better if you take the time to think about the issues of right and wrong and understand the theory of what makes something right or wrong, instead of trusting whatever's handed to you. A set of commands, even if they _were_ developed by a perfect being, can't prepare you for novel situations or different contexts -- only learning how to think and reason independently can do that.


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## hoddesdon

Paul said:


> The results tend to be better if you take the time to think about the issues of right and wrong and understand the theory of what makes something right or wrong, instead of trusting whatever's handed to you. *A set of commands, even if they were developed by a perfect being, can't prepare you for novel situations or different contexts* -- only learning how to think and reason independently can do that.


Developing a set of commands which does prepare you for novel situations is exactly what a perfect being can do.

What is the theory of right and wrong as you understand it?

The set of commands you refer does work in novel situations or different contexts. In which situation or context do they not work?


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## AussiePea

I guess my logic didn't marry up well with religious beliefs.


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## hoddesdon

Hadron said:


> Coscience, you mean? Well, religious folks will tell you it's the voice of god. I rather think it's an inbuilt evolutionary program that's designed (by natural selection!) to make us a more productive and strong species as a whole.


It is accepted that the emergence of morality or conscience was a necessary precursor to civilisation. Without morality there would be no health system.

So it has had a positive influence even if viewed purely through the prism of physical existence. Yet morality is contrary to the law of the jungle, which is the only thing that existed at the time of its emergence. At the time they had no way of foreseeing the future, and so had no idea that morality would bring positive benefits. Therefore there is no evolutionary explanation for it.

If it is an in-built evolutionary program, then why have other species not developed it?


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## ugh1979

hoddesdon said:


> It is accepted that the emergence of morality or conscience was a necessary precursor to civilisation. Without morality there would be no health system.
> 
> So it has had a positive influence even if viewed purely through the prism of physical existence. Yet morality is contrary to the law of the jungle, which is the only thing that existed at the time of its emergence.


There are obvious benefits for some social species for being more moralistic rather than eveyone for themselves as in the 'Law of the jungle'. It's natural emergence is inevitable.



> At the time they had no way of foreseeing the future, and so had no idea that morality would bring positive benefits. Therefore there is no evolutionary explanation for it.


To the contrary, the positive benefits it created are _why _it exists. If it hadn't had positive benefits it wouldn't have survived the process of evolution.



> If it is an in-built evolutionary program, then why have other species not developed it?


There is compelling evidence that apes and dolphins have a more primitive sense of morality compared with humans. Cases of altruism and sense of fairness have frequently been observed, among other traits we deem as moralistic.

A sense of morality helps intelligent social species survive and prosper, so it seems obvious to me why it was so important in our success as a species and why it evolved in to us.


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## MalyGolab

For me, I actually became much more religiously devoted for a certain period of time, which led me to look more into religion as a whole, especially Xtianity. After looking to god for answers and for reasons why I was going through the suffering that I was going through (that the majority will probably never go through in their entire lives), such as major depressive disorder (or dysthmic disorder), OCD, and SAD, plus all of the other things that went wrong in my life, I really started to lose faith in him. 

I looked into atheism for a long while before my faith started to decrease, but I increased the amount of time looking into atheism more, and, with the logic that is behind religion, I started to see the flaws in most religious people's ways of thinking. And I actually descended more into nihilism before becoming a rational, (scientifically) skeptic atheist. It was more than 2 years ago since I lost my faith.

With the God in the Gaps argument (as science finds more answers to things which religion would act as a substitute for) and the Problem of Hell argument, among many other atheist rebuttals, I just see no way that a deity can exist. With people like us here, on this forum, I find it so insulting when someone else comes to tell me or someone else like me that the reason that I am going through all of this pain is because it is a "test from God" or that it is "my cross to bear." Yeah, tell that to all of the people suffering across the different continents in the world, particularly the poorest regions of the Earth, and say it with a straight face. Better yet, say it while you are smiling, as if we should take it as good news. All that this does is cause people to try to justify there being a sense of superiority (social Darwinism) over others and that the weakest or worst off don't deserve any help or anything in return for their troubles.


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## NYCKid

I was raised catholic, but as I got older I started to have doubt and I realized how dumb religion is. All the over the top stuff like the talking snake and some guy walking on water and coming back to life as a zombie all made me have doubt. I'm happy I've realized how stupid religion is though. It's a waste of time.


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## ineverwipe

Religion was never my thing. Dunno why, just never got into it


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## probably offline

It happend naturally, as soon as I started questioning the world around me(including religion). I just didn't label myself as an atheist until I was... 13 or so. I haven't been presented with any reason to question my point of view so far.


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## komorikun

I was raised an atheist.


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## VeryStrangeMan

My high school deskmate somehow got me into the atheism. Whenever I said "God" in some context, he replied with a f-you. I eventually stopped saying it, stopped going to church, stopped believing in something that doesn't exist.
And I think I made a right choice.


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## Amandus

I've been an atheist since the age of ten (quite young), and I did because I was simply drifting away from it and began to know more about science. I was "drifting away" because though my parents raised me to be Christian, they rarely spoke about it or enforced it. Even when I was Christian I was interested in science, especially astronomy and evolutionary biology. My father made sure I knew plenty about science at a young age, while my mother sent me to somewhat Christian-preschools. As a result, I believed in evolution _and_ creation at the same time. I later realized that the two don't mix well, God doesn't cooperate with scientific laws, and the ethics of Christianity were ridiculous. Since then, I've educated myself more about science and my feelings against religion have grown stronger.


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## arnie

Same reason I stopped believing in Santa Claus.


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## wiseman

I don't have any cool story. I just could never buy into the "man in the sky" and "people burning under the earth" concepts; they always seemed far-fetched to me.


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## jamesjameson

never bought the whole god exsists things, and if im worng then he's a god who i wouldnt want to spent eternity with.


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## Laceration

I'm agnostic.

Being neutral on the issue, I find the God thing to be incredibly subjective. He's a angry god, he's a forgiving god, etc. Follow the 10 commandments or you'll burn in Hell for all eternity..... but he loves you.

God forgives you for anything but there's still a special place in Hell in case you do something bad.

FFS.


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## fredbloggs02

Foh_Teej said:


> (a)theism and (a)gnosticism are two different concepts. None of them have anything to do with possibility. (a)theism is to what you believe or do not believe, (a)nosticism is to what you know or do not know.


Oxford English dictionary definitions:

Agnostic: A person who believes that nothing is known or can be known of the existence or nature of God.

Atheist: The theory or belief that God does not exist.

Accordingly, an agnostic _can believe_ he does not know or that nothing can be known of God and still believe in God(s), whilst an atheist _could theorize_ about a Godless universe following facts and phenomena and still believe in God(s). Agnosticism by those definitions has as much to do with belief as atheism has to do with knowledge. I see no reason your definitions should take precedence.

The person explains more than the definition in my view.


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## s1819

too much misery that i've lost my personal belief


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## Foh_Teej

fredbloggs02 said:


> Oxford English dictionary definitions:
> Agnostic: A person who believes that nothing is known or can be known of the existence or nature of God.


Operative word here is? Known; root word know--short for knowledge. Knowledge is a different concept and necessarily a subset of belief. You are allowing the word "believes" in your reference to become conflated with what it is actually addressing. Belief simply means a conviction that a proposition is true. In this case, it is merely the acceptance to "that nothing is known or can be known of the existence or nature of God." Accepting this as true has nothing to do with belief or disbelief in a god or gods, as they are different concepts.



fredbloggs02 said:


> Atheist: The theory or belief that God does not exist.


This is incorrect. Theism is a single proposition. You either accept the existence of a god or gods as true, or you don't. Not accepting the proposition requires no active theorization or belief whatsoever.



fredbloggs02 said:


> Accordingly, an agnostic can believe he does not know or that nothing can be known of God and still believe in God(s),


I never argued this. However, one can also believe he or she does not know or that nothing can be known of God and still disbelieve in God(s). The fact that you can apply this statement either way goes to show they address different concepts.



fredbloggs02 said:


> whilst an atheist could theorize about a Godless universe following facts and phenomena and still believe in God(s).


What? :sus You can't be an atheist and believe in gods. At any rate, a person can theorize anything they want. This doesn't necessarily mean they also believe it.



fredbloggs02 said:


> Agnosticism by those definitions has as much to do with belief as atheism has to do with knowledge.


Yeah precisely nothing as I've pointed out. Agnosticism specifically addresses knowledge while atheism specifically addresses belief. Like I said, you allowed one word, that has nothing in and of itself to do with the claim, outside of its meaning of acceptance to the claim.



fredbloggs02 said:


> I see no reason your definitions should take precedence.


Because they are the correct way to use them? That sounds like a good reason to me.



fredbloggs02 said:


> The person explains more than the definition in my view.


I've discussed this to death in the agnostic mega thread:
http://www.socialanxietysupport.com/forum/1061948169-post33.html


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## Xenos

At a certain point in my life it just became clear that nobody who claimed knowledge/experience of god or the spiritual actually had the first clue what they were talking about. I guess that's technically agnosticism, and I identified as agnostic for a while, but agnosticism seems to validate spiritual positions by failing to outright reject them.

That people and cultures make up fantastic mythologies to suit their perceived needs isn't really up for debate; that's where our religions come from. Nobody who claims to have knowledge of a god is in a position to actually have that knowledge, and the possibility that they are coincidentally correct, or even close to correct, is small enough that it may as well not exist. To even pretend religious beliefs _might_ be correct gives them far more respect than they deserve.


----------



## Laceration

Know what really annoys me? People who say atheism is a religion.


----------



## Crimson Lotus

Laceration said:


> Know what really annoys me? People who say atheism is a religion.


It a way it is like a godless religion, since it basically means you have a belief that you claim as fact about "god" that you're unable to prove beyond doubt.

I personally became an atheist around 8 years old after finishing reading The Bible but at around 15 I became mature enough to understand that I was actually an agnostic atheist.


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## WillYouStopDave

I never believed in anything. I only endured church when I was young because I had to.

I consider myself agnostic.


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## ugh1979

Schierke said:


> It a way it is like a godless religion, since it basically means you have a belief that you claim as fact about "god" that you're unable to prove beyond doubt.


The definition of a godless religion is something like Buddhism. It's nothing like atheism.

Saying atheism is a religion is like saying baldness is a hairstyle.



> I personally became an atheist around 8 years old after finishing reading The Bible but at around 15 I became mature enough to understand that I was actually an agnostic atheist.


Almost all atheists are agnostic atheists, unless they are deluded enough to think they have knowledge there is nothing that could be called a "god".


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## boas

Atheism is the default state of a human being when they are born. I was never really indoctrinated as my parents are not religious. My school paid lip service to Christianity by having the local priest take the morning assembly every now and then, and the media taught me that religion ought to be arbitrarily respected; something I now reject. But in short, I was never on board.


----------



## jesica24

Because i realised that holding a conversation with god was like holding a conversation with my wall. And i feel i'm suffering too much in a world where god is supposed to exist. And there are way too many religions each having it's own definition of god. And because it's a story made up by people, just like santa and captain jack sparrow.


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## halb

I became cynical at a very young age. I stopped believing in God when I was 12 years old. Everything around me proved that there is no existence of God. Later on, I took on to atheism as a rational thought process instead of as a mean to latch on to my bitterness about life.


----------



## Quoux

I was raised to be Christian. I participated in religious activities (church, out-of-school bible study, etcetera) until about third grade, although I always attended public schools. In fourth grade, I became a pretty negative person. I simply figured that there was too much wrong with the world for there to be a god, so I began considering myself an atheist.

In sixth grade, I became pretty scientifically inclined. I started thinking over all of my philosophical curiosities from a more scientific perspective. I realized that neither theism nor atheism were logical concepts, because there is no evidence supporting OR refuting the existence of a god. No matter how many bibles you write, words you preach, or blind hypotheses to purpose, there's no evidence, and that's that. I decided agnosticism is the only concept of religion that really suited my beliefs.


----------



## Foh_Teej

Quoux said:


> I decided agnosticism is the only concept of religion that really suited my beliefs.


You are indeed an atheist by definition. Agnosticism does not address belief. Depending on one's explanation of knowledge, I'd go as far to say it is a pointless modifier. (Not sure why people find it important to declare what they don't know about something no one actually_ knows _anything about) Also, there is no middle ground to belief; you either do or you don't believe a proposition. Theism is a single propositon. One's is a theist if he or she accepts this proposition as true. Atheism does not accept this proposition true. (It is NOT the affirmation to the contrary) This is all atheism is. Furthermore, religion has nothing necessarily to do with belief in a deity. If you believe in the existence in a god or gods, you are a theist. If you do not meet this criteria exactly, you are an atheist.


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## jedidri

Seemed like the logical thing to do after reading The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.


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## Quoux

Foh_Teej said:


> You are indeed an atheist by definition. Agnosticism does not address belief. Depending on one's explanation of knowledge, I'd go as far to say it is a pointless modifier. (Not sure why people find it important to declare what they don't know about something no one actually_ knows _anything about) Also, there is no middle ground to belief; you either do or you don't believe a proposition. Theism is a single propositon. One's is a theist if he or she accepts this proposition as true. Atheism does not accept this proposition true. (It is NOT the affirmation to the contrary) This is all atheism is. Furthermore, religion has nothing necessarily to do with belief in a deity. If you believe in the existence in a god or gods, you are a theist. If you do not meet this criteria exactly, you are an atheist.


I do think that agnosticism is a belief. It's not a belief of whether or not there is a god/deity; it's the belief that it's impossible (or at least unknown how) to prove the existence of such a being, therefore rendering religion pointless in terms of debate. Agnosticism isn't a religion or necessary lack thereof, but it is a religious belief. Again: religious belief; not religion.

I simply can't admit to believing that there is a god/deity or that one doesn't exist. In my opinion, whomever can admit to either of those beliefs does so without reason. That's like saying you believe or don't believe in the Big Bang theory before being provided any support of either side of the issue.


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## Arkiasis

I didn't grow up in a religious household, so naturally I was never exposed to religion. And personally to me it doesn't make sense for there to be some sort of all knowing God, especially in the Christian sense of some dude with a beard. Science expalins things pretty rationally and it makes sense. Religion has a lot of plot holes.


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## Foh_Teej

Quoux said:


> I do think that agnosticism is a belief.


Yes specifically an acceptance to a claim regarding knowledge. I addressed this already a few posts up:
http://www.socialanxietysupport.com/forum/1069288985-post286.html


Quoux said:


> It's not a belief of whether or not there is a god/deity;


Yes I stated that. It is a position of knowledge. It clearly states this in the definition.


Quoux said:


> it's the belief that it's impossible (or at least unknown how) to prove the existence of such a being, therefore rendering religion pointless in terms of debate.


I agree religion is irrelevant. However, this statement does NOT address whether one believes in the existence in one. Belief in a god is entirely a separate concept than a claim to knowledge regarding one.



Quoux said:


> Agnosticism isn't a religion or necessary lack thereof, but it is a religious belief. Again: religious belief; not religion.


I didn't say it was a religion. Religion is irrelevant to either (a)gnosticism or (a)theism. Belief simply means you accept some proposition true. All this means is you accept the position that the nature of god is unknown or unknowable. It is purely an epistemological position which does not address belief. Regarding the claim that something is unknowable, it is arguably untenable since you cannot possibly posses the requisite knowledge to determine whether something is actually unknowable.



Quoux said:


> I simply can't admit to believing that there is a god/deity or that one doesn't exist.


You are not required to. Atheism is not the position that gods do not exist. You are an atheist if you do not accept the position of theism. This isn't up for debate. This is how the words work per definition. 


Quoux said:


> In my opinion, whomever can admit to either of those beliefs does so without reason.


This is not how it works. Atheism is not a belief as it requires no active component to disbelieve something. Theism is a single proposition. You either accept the claim of theism as true or you don't. However, until theists meet the burden of proof, disbelief is completely justified and reasonable. Disbelief is the default position regarding any claim that does not have substantial evidence to confirm outright. This is why the overwhelming consensus is that fairies, the boogie man, dragons, etc... do not exist. There is a reason that people don't get all agnostic on fairies and ****--there is little inclination to avoid being cast in a certain light regarding the existence of a fairy. 


Quoux said:


> That's like saying you believe or don't believe in the Big Bang theory before being provided any support of either side of the issue.


Not really. When presented with proposition X, you go into it in default non-belief. An active conviction to accept X true is required. Sometimes it is justified, other times perhaps not so. People believe all sorts of claims for good reasons and bad ones.


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## Quoux

I'm glad some agreements have been established. I also am quite confident, though, that agnosticism isn't defined at all by a lack of belief/disbelief in the existence of a god. I'm confident that it's specifically defined as the belief that proof of the existence or nonexistence of a god/deity doesn't exist, therefore the existence of such a being is unknown.

I'm sorry; I didn't mean to make my statement that agnosticism isn't a religion sounds like a rebuttal to your words. Now that I think about it, that was brought up out of an ignorant presumption of mine. Sorry about that, again. Anyway, I don't understand what you mean when you say that religion is irrelevant to (a)gnosticism/(a)theism. Theism, one of those four relative concepts, for example, synonymous with "religion" in the sense that they're defined as the belief in at least one god or deity's existence. I think religion is quite relevant to all four of the given concepts.

As I said, agnosticism is the belief that it's impossible, OR that it's unknown how, to prove the existence of a god or deity. That difference is defined as strong agnosticism (referring to the impossibility of proof) and weak agnosticism (referring to the latter). I'm stating so under the presumption that you didn't previously know those terms; please forgive me if I'm wrong. I believe in weak agnosticism, to clarify, anyway.

I am indeed an atheist; I never disagreed with that. I agree entirely with your definition of atheism. I said that theism and atheism weren't logical concepts, and by that, I was implying that theism isn't a logical concept and that atheism isn't a concept at all. It's only considerably a concept if you want to get complicated and say that it's a concept of another concept's untruth. Either way, I believe that that's beside the point of this debate. I thought we were primarily discussing the principles of agnosticism.

Disbelief in theism is beyond justified and reasonable. I mean, it's the initial state of every person, as you stated. I certainly think that there is a state (and a justified and reasonable one, at that) of nonbelief in the concepts of theism and the Big Bang theory alike, without any supporting/refuting evidence or even acknowledgement of a given concept's existence required.

I think what we're not making a connection with is the difference between disbelief and nonbelief. You're trying to tell me that nonbelief is an initial, reasonable state that defines atheism, and I completely agree with this. But disbelief, on the other hand, is a word that can be used to describe the belief that there are no gods or deities. That is what I think is unreasonable, and what deems agnosticism a reasonable concept.

-​
I'm really enjoying this argument, by the way. I'm sorry if I sound like I'm trying to be aggressive or something like that; I'm really not. You seem very intelligent, anyway. I hope I'm not giving you too contrary an impression of myself.


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## Quoux

Nonbelief in theism is beyond justified and reasonable.*


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## Foh_Teej

Quoux said:


> I also am quite confident, though, that agnosticism isn't defined at all by a lack of belief/disbelief in the existence of a god.


I'm not certain if you are making an argument or just a general statement for the sake of clarification, or hell, even conversation. Either way, I'm not sure why as I never said anything that would necessitate pointing this out.



Quoux said:


> I'm confident that it's specifically defined as the belief that proof of the existence or nonexistence of a god/deity doesn't exist, therefore the existence of such a being is unknown.


Dubious wording aside, this is an untenable position. You can't possibly have the knowledge to assess whether proof doesn't or can't exist--or that someone else cannot have access to it. That aside, it is completely irrelevant that you believe proof for the existence of a god doesn't exist. People never wait around to this level of certainty before accepting or rejecting a proposition.



Quoux said:


> Anyway, I don't understand what you mean when you say that religion is irrelevant to (a)gnosticism/(a)theism.


For the same reason you considered it "pointless" in your previous post. Whether you believe or disbelieve that a god exists is not contingent upon having or not having a religion or being religious. My only point was that beliefs only require a conviction. Religion is not a necessary component to establishing belief.



Quoux said:


> Theism, one of those four relative concepts, for example, synonymous with "religion" in the sense that they're defined as the belief in at least one god or deity's existence. I think religion is quite relevant to all four of the given concepts.


Right. That wasn't the point I was trying to make.



Quoux said:


> As I said, agnosticism is the belief that it's impossible, OR that it's unknown how, to prove the existence of a god or deity.


Still, dubious wording. Virtually any source on the matter does not state it this way(not that you are the first to describe it as such) Even if I take this at face value, I'm not sure it actually says a damn thing more about the situation that wasn't already apparent. Quite frankly, I don't give a damn that you hold the opinion that it is impossible to prove the existence of a deity. This still doesn't address belief or disbelief that one exists or how others arrive at his or her conclusion. That was my original point. I couldn't care less about the gradients of agnosticism as I find the whole concept pointless outside of a purely academic discussion regarding epistemology. I don't care what someone claims to know or not know about a topic that no one _actually knows_ anything about.



Quoux said:


> That difference is defined as strong agnosticism (referring to the impossibility of proof) and weak agnosticism (referring to the latter). I'm stating so under the presumption that you didn't previously know those terms; please forgive me if I'm wrong. I believe in weak agnosticism, to clarify, anyway.


Yes and I don't care what you claim to know or not know about something. I'm not trying to be a dick about this from the way it might sound--it just simply doesn't matter beyond one's own mind. Knowledge, in any practical sense, is the degree of certainty one holds a belief true.



Quoux said:


> I am indeed an atheist; I never disagreed with that. I agree entirely with your definition of atheism. I said that theism and atheism weren't logical concepts, and by that, I was implying that theism isn't a logical concept and that atheism isn't a concept at all. It's only considerably a concept if you want to get complicated and say that it's a concept of another concept's untruth. Either way, I believe that that's beside the point of this debate. I thought we were primarily discussing the principles of agnosticism.


There is a huge discussion on agnosticism where virtually all of this has been discussed to death: http://www.socialanxietysupport.com...ng-agnostic-288929/index2.html#post1061948169



Quoux said:


> I think what we're not making a connection with is the difference between disbelief and nonbelief.


They are synonyms and identical in application. I don't care to split hairs over petty nuances of word usage when both prefixes are defined as meaning _not --_or an exclusion, negation, or lack of the root word.



Quoux said:


> You're trying to tell me that nonbelief is an initial, reasonable state that defines atheism, and I completely agree with this. But disbelief, on the other hand, is a word that can be used to describe the belief that there are no gods or deities.


I don't use it in such a way and have no inclination to defend it in that context. I avoid the anti-theistic wording simply to avoid theist's attempts at shifting the burden of proof. If you find the anti-theist position indefensible, good for you. I personally don't care. However, I'd argue it is just as valid position for the same reason that anyone that holds the position that leprechauns don't exist to whatever degree of certainty he or she deems appropriate. No one seems to object (except maybe the Irish:b) with the damn near unanimous consensus that leprechauns don't exist.



Quoux said:


> That is what I think is unreasonable, and what deems agnosticism a reasonable concept.


Well as long as you're consistent with this on every claim regarding similar claims (like other mythological creatures and such). It is perhaps arguably reasonable to some extent...however, I hardly find it a particularly practical concept. I don't go around talking about my _agnosticism_ regarding dragons and clyclopes like I actually entertain the idea that my lack of knowledge regarding the existence of these things makes a hill of seal nuts in the reality we all seemingly share. I can live my life exactly the same way as if I were to adamantly declare they do not exist or simply shrug and mumble "I don't know for certain."


----------



## DeniseAfterAll

lol . You could guess it pretty easily .


----------



## Quoux

You said that my statement regarding the definition of agnosticism does't address whether one believes in the existence in a god or deity, and so I was explaining to you that I didn't address this because it isn't even a relevant issue to agnosticism.

I'm sorry; I meant to say that agnosticism is defined as the belief that proof of the existence or nonexistence of a god/deity doesn't exist, or that said proof is unknown of. This, as I already explained, is the difference between strong agnosticism and weak agnosticism. You don't need to describe to me how untenable the specifications of strong agnosticism are; I agree with you on that.

"Religion" is _defined_ as the belief in a god or deity. If you believe in a god, you are religious. If you've established belief in a god or deity, you have, by definition, become religious.

If belief or disbelief that a god/deity exists or how others arrive at his or her conclusion is your intended topic of this discussion, and mine is the principles of agnosticism, then it appears to me that this debate is useless; nevertheless, I'll finish this statement. However, I suggest we don't further debate whatever we're attempting to unless we clarify together what the hell we're primarily debating.

I'm not sure if you're implying that _I'm_ claiming knowledge of anything we're discussing here. I believe in solipsism just as you seem to; I claim knowledge of nothing beyond my conscience. I'm just arguing with the support of whatever information I most confidently believe to be true. :b

"Dis-" and "non-" are about as synonymous as "atheism" and "agnosticism." "Dis-" is a prefix used to reverse a word and make it negative. "Non-" simply means that something is not [insert adjective here].

I do indeed believe that my agnostic beliefs encompass all similar claims. Please understand, though, that my agnosticism isn't a very prominent concern of mine. Actually, it would mean absolutely nothing to me if religion wasn't such an important issue to the majority of the world. I certainly don't go around preaching of agnosticism or similar concepts regarding other issues, because I don't think a practical thing to discuss in a religious regard. Hell, lack of practical discussion is rather a point and characteristic of agnosticism.

I agree with you completely about the impracticality of agnosticism, but I don't think it's supposed to be a matter of practicality. It's simply a state of belief that I happen to find true of myself. Whomever it concerns is far too concerned about the religious state of others, in my opinion.


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## Grog

Wouldn't call myself a atheist but don't believe in religion the same way I don't believe in ghosts ,fairies and other made up bull **** from old crappy story books 
I'll believe when I see proof for myself


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## inerameia

I became an atheist because...

1. I realized the Christian deity is just as likely to be real as any other deity.

2. The Bible is full of errors, so there's no good reason to believe it's divinely inspired; rather, it reads like it was inspired by a primitive society's primitive understanding of reality.

4. Science is more accurate than the Bible in representing reality.

I think there may be a higher power. I don't really believe in one but I can't know whether or not there is one. Life is a mystery so I have an open mind to certain speculation.


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## GiftofGABA

I never "became" an atheist, I just always was one. Never could see what some others seem to perceive so easily, you know, the whole watchmaker allegory. To me everything has always seemed plausibly spontaneous and random. From my earlliest memories, I recall people talking about god and it made absolutely zero sense to me. It smacked of brainwashing.

I don't need a cause for creation, I can imagine it uncaused and recognize the human brain's limitations to understand everything. I see causality violation (as a limitation of humans' capacity to understand) as a FAR more plausible explanation than supposing some kind of agent sparking everything into creation, let alone an anthropomorphic being as the universe's maker. If god created everything, then what created god? I'm much more comfortable with causality being a faulty construct and having logic break down at the human mind level than higher up on the causality hierarchy.


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## Foh_Teej

Quoux said:


> You said that my statement regarding the definition of agnosticism does't address whether one believes in the existence in a god or deity, and so I was explaining to you that I didn't address this because it isn't even a relevant issue to agnosticism.


Great we agree then...I think. So if I made sense of this correctly, you agree that (a)gnosticism is an epistemological position while (a)theism is a doxastic one? Afterall, that was my whole point.


Quoux said:


> I'm sorry; I meant to say that agnosticism is defined as the belief that proof of the existence or nonexistence of a god/deity doesn't exist, or that said proof is unknown of.


I still find this particular wording a bit dubious. Can you cite a source that actually uses it verbatim or are you spinning it from the actual definition?



Quoux said:


> This, as I already explained, is the difference between strong agnosticism and weak agnosticism. You don't need to describe to me how untenable the specifications of strong agnosticism are; I agree with you on that.


Ok great. However, I still find weak agnosticism as pointless as identifying as such hardly puts a person on any level different than any other person, outside of the most adamant theist. Those types of theists are easy enough to separate as it is since their "knowledge" of god is of simple declaration of such.


Quoux said:


> "Religion" is defined as the belief in a god or deity. If you believe in a god, you are religious. If you've established belief in a god or deity, you have, by definition, become religious.


I have already explained this to you. You know how dictionaries have multiple entries? Now that I think about it, maybe you don't since you show signs of never having read one. Anyhow, to address this yet again, I was referring to the organized social construct that includes observance of rituals, customs, practices with adherence to certain doctrine, dogma, and ideologies. I meant it made no difference if you are a Baptist, Buddist, or Zorastrian. Of course you know god damn good and well what I meant so cut the trolling me with equivocation bull**** please.



Quoux said:


> If belief or disbelief that a god/deity exists or how others arrive at his or her conclusion is your intended topic of this discussion, and mine is the principles of agnosticism, then it appears to me that this debate is useless;


Yeah it would be...but since that isn't my intended topic and you seem to apply the principles of agnosticism in a dubious manner, can we continue?



Quoux said:


> nevertheless, I'll finish this statement. However, I suggest we don't further debate whatever we're attempting to unless we clarify together what the hell we're primarily debating.


Right on! I charge you with misapplying the word agnosticism and twisting your own take on it. There. Did that help?



Quoux said:


> I'm not sure if you're implying that I'm claiming knowledge of anything we're discussing here.


Well you can remove all of that doubt as I, in fact and indeed, wasn't implying that. What I said was agnosticism is a claim to knowledge...or in this case, not having knowledge as the prefix a- attached to the root denotes.



Quoux said:


> "Dis-" and "non-" are about as synonymous as "atheism" and "agnosticism." "Dis-" is a prefix used to reverse a word and make it negative. "Non-" simply means that something is not [insert adjective here].


I'm beginning to think you created your own dictionary because you definitely appear to never consult established ones. For **** sake, Webster has an a nearly identical definition for both. Dictionary.com states both mean negation of the root. They are listed as synonyms on both and in the thesaurus. Not quite sure why you'd argue otherwise. If I disbelieve something, that means I don't believe it. A nonbelief is exactly that--something you don't believe.
http://postimg.org/image/9qav0fh03/
Taken from Webster incase you still want to argue:





Quoux said:


> I do indeed believe that my agnostic beliefs encompass all similar claims.


I don't follow what you are addressing here. What exactly are your agnostic beliefs? What similar claims? 


Quoux said:


> Please understand, though, that my agnosticism isn't a very prominent concern of mine.


Glad to hear since you already have been made aware that I find it pointless to any degree. 


Quoux said:


> Actually, it would mean absolutely nothing to me if religion wasn't such an important issue to the majority of the world. I certainly don't go around preaching of agnosticism or similar concepts regarding other issues, because I don't think a practical thing to discuss in a religious regard. Hell, lack of practical discussion is rather a point and characteristic of agnosticism.


Right on. For the record, I have never gone around and preached that I don't always know what to order at Taco Bell either.



Quoux said:


> I agree with you completely about the impracticality of agnosticism, but I don't think it's supposed to be a matter of practicality.


Then what do you propose is the use of it, if any?


Quoux said:


> It's simply a state of belief that I happen to find true of myself. Whomever it concerns is far too concerned about the religious state of others, in my opinion.


No it's a state regarding KNOWLEDGE you accept as true.


----------



## MyChi

I haven't really "become" an Atheist. I have always been. I just believe in science and it's the only logical thing to "believe" in. God and such is an imaginary friend you can trust and beg to. But it's only kept inside your head and won't really help you physically.

That's just my two cents. Feel free to bash on me. But really, I'm just stating facts :b

Religion creates war. However, science has been an helping hand to it. Not sure what my point is in that statement though... lol


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## Necroline

I grew up Catholic family, but as I grew up I started questioning things about Christianity. I started seeing people as a product of their environment: ex - if I was born in Iran I would be raised a Muslim, if I was born in India, I would be raised as a Hindu, if I was born in Thailand I would be raised as a Buddhist, if I was born in North Korea, I would be worshiping Kim Jong Un as a living God. Just like how I come from a Polish family, which is a strongly Catholic country, so I was raised on the Catholic faith.

They're all taught to believe that their religion is the true religion, and they believe it with all their hearts, just the way I was taught growing up. I started not thinking it was fair to think my religion was the true one when there were millions of people of other religions thinking the same thing. I didn't want to be a product of my environment; I wanted to question the things being fed to me and become my own person. I feel if I didn't do that I would be a completely different person compared to what I am today, which I'm thankful for. It's rather depressing when I see religious people saying "I would never question God/my beliefs are true and theirs are not". Even as an Atheist, I would never tell someone that there was no God, because I realize that's a big unknown in life. It should be the same thing for religious people, even though I know many of them can't see that because think they're doing good by trying to convert people and act like their beliefs are undoubtedly 100% true and everyone should act on their religion's rules.

What really turned me off about religion was when I started realizing how much religion separated people and caused so much ridiculous judgement and hatred in the world. It's because of religion because millions of people think I'll be burning in hell for eternity/should be imprisoned for life/put to death because of my sexual orientation. So many people are killed/harassed/discriminated/led to suicide because their differences go against their demographic's religious beliefs. I do realize that a lot of religious people aren't like this, but it's the many bad apples that ruined it all for me, and I didn't want to be associated with it.


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## Khorneflakes

GiftofGABA said:


> I never "became" an atheist, I just always was one. Never could see what some others seem to perceive so easily, you know, the whole watchmaker allegory. To me everything has always seemed plausibly spontaneous and random. From my earlliest memories, I recall people talking about god and it made absolutely zero sense to me. It smacked of brainwashing.
> 
> I don't need a cause for creation, I can imagine it uncaused and recognize the human brain's limitations to understand everything. I see causality violation (as a limitation of humans' capacity to understand) as FAR more plausible explanation than supposing some kind of agent sparking everything into creation, let alone an anthropomorphic being as the universe's maker. If god created everything, then what created god? I'm much more comfortable with causality being a faulty construct and having logic break down at the human mind level than higher up on the causality hierarchy.


Pretty much the same applies to me. on the subject of creation, I like the idea of there being no beginning or end, just an infinite cycle of expansion and collapse where the amount of energy is constant and the variables of distribution change according to the laws of probability.


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## thelonelysound

I was born during the Information Age, and read anything I wanted to.


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## miserablecow

Grew up with Islam and went to mosque to learn the Quran etc. I always questioned the existence of God most of my life. Nothing in Islam put me of religion or God or hate religion. I just recently came to realise I was wasting my time trying to practise a religion where I didn't even believe there was a God I was half heartedly praying to.


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## kittyxbabe

I've never believed in God..


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## adam4991

I'm atheist because I need to have proof of a God, which I have yet to find.


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## MrKappa

Was always an athiest, a militant one on some regards, then there was that whole wave of athiest / religious war on the internet, and that tired me out, so athiesm, started to look like anti-theism, and book burning. Now I'm agnostic and admire camps like the Westboro Baptists. I mean come on, what small family has ever made such a massive impact to the way people on all sides feel about their affiliations.



Grog said:


> Wouldn't call myself a atheist but don't believe in religion the same way I don't believe in ghosts ,fairies and other made up bull **** from old crappy story books
> I'll believe when I see proof for myself


You know, when they say we didn't evolve from monkeys, it's true. We de-evolved from giant apes.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gigantopithecus

David and Goliath and the Philistines.

This presentation gets really good around the 39 minute mark. It goes on an on about newspaper accounts (hundreds of them) of giant skeletons in North America.






So people find the idea of keeping human remains on display unethical. That's what happens when you can't separate religion from the educational institution.

I got alot of proof if you want, just don't want to derail the thread too much.

I became an athiest because something didn't smell right from the start. Agnosticism is the better approach.


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## scorch428

I became an atheist for the same reason I stopped believing in Santa Claus:

I grew up and became less naïve.


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## Freyja

Same as most in the thread: I've never quite bought it, from a young age.

I live in a predominently catholic* country, went to catholic schools from 3 to 18 (made very clear to my parents I didn't want to, but I had no say); how I hated those religion lessons. 
Hell, it's the only course I failed during that period: had a particularly zealous teacher, couldn't stomach the indoctrination and handed out blank tests.

I remember trying to get out of all ceremonies as well; small communion, communion... my parents only relented when came the time of confirmation (16yo), so I'm not "confirmed" in my "faith".


*At least in traditions, not so much in belief. 
Many of my compatriots don't go to church on sundays, don't pray and don't even own a bible, but they'll get married in a church and baptise their children. 
Tradition for tradition's sake...


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## Omri

I was actually raised by a christian family. my mother would take me to church every weekend... it would go on for about 8 years.
I eventually came to the realization that I was being forced to believe in something created by humans with so little evidence (sorry to any religious guys), so I told my family I was an agnostic. my mother tried to change my mind, but it just wasn't happening. several arguments/debates later, she gave up. 
I just think religion is the result of fear. I stay clear of the deluded ones, they scare me.


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## Hooting and Howling

I'm an atheist because I am not convinced that a god exists. Furthermore, it was skepticism that eventually led to my atheism.


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## markwalters2




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## pazuzuinxs

Probably because I can see how religion reinvented itself through the years with the passing of every societal change. If there are no concrete irrefutable truths, I figured religion was just a societal "mass hallucination" mechanism to establish order and overcome the fear of death.


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## estse

I mentioned to a coworker that I was an atheist, and she ask, "What did HE do to you?" How come so many people don't understand the concept of atheism. You DO NOT BECOME an atheist. You ARE an atheist.


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## masterridley

I'm not so sure about that assertion... a lot of people are born with a predisposition to believing in a higher entity. Not necessarily a specific god, just a divine entity. This seems to me to indicate a need for the human brain to believe that there is something else beyond and above this world. Each one has his/her own reasons for believing that.

I became an atheist because it's the scientific thing to do, so to speak. I tend to think very scientifically for better or for worse, so when I thought about who created everything and the answer was God, I was not satisfied because then I thought "who created God". Anyway.


----------



## ugh1979

masterridley said:


> I'm not so sure about that assertion... a lot of people are born with a predisposition to believing in a higher entity. Not necessarily a specific god, just a divine entity. This seems to me to indicate a need for the human brain to believe that there is something else beyond and above this world. Each one has his/her own reasons for believing that.


We aren't born with any beliefs. Concepts such as deities are far too advanced for a baby/infant to comprehend. They may learn to believe in one or some in time, so the potential to believe is there, but that's very different from it being an inherent belief.


----------



## pazuzuinxs

ugh1979 said:


> We aren't born with any beliefs. Concepts such as deities are far too advanced for a baby/infant to comprehend. They may learn to believe in one or some in time, so the potential to believe is there, but that's very different from it being an inherent belief.


A predisposition is not a belief system. It is an antecedent of belief. Again comprehension in infants is not that easy to gauge since they can't communicate effectively. They might start understanding a number of words and comprehend their meaning, but due to their lack of ability to communicate, all we think is that they say 'da-da'. 
And epi-genetics shows us that some traits are inherently passed on. So if someone's parents have been dogmatic believers, the baby might have trait for believing in a higher entity. Whether it is genetically expressed or not will of course depend on individual to individual.


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## Schmosby

I was born an atheist, but became a Christian a few years back.


----------



## ugh1979

pazuzuinxs said:


> A predisposition is not a belief system. It is an antecedent of belief. Again comprehension in infants is not that easy to gauge since they can't communicate effectively. They might start understanding a number of words and comprehend their meaning, but due to their lack of ability to communicate, all we think is that they say 'da-da'.
> And epi-genetics shows us that some traits are inherently passed on. So if someone's parents have been dogmatic believers, the baby might have trait for believing in a higher entity. Whether it is genetically expressed or not will of course depend on individual to individual.


Indeed.

Regarding the cognitive abilities of babies and infants, we know for example that they don't become self aware until between 15-24 months, so that makes it obvious they wouldn't be aware of something entirely conceptual such as deity.

I also agree that some people may be genetically more predisposed to belief in supernatural concepts than others.


----------



## Ben12

I didn't become an atheist. Always was one. If I wasn't educated about god because the opportunities never presented itself, how does one become an atheist?


----------



## ugh1979

Ben12 said:


> how does one become an atheist?


A credible education in how to think critically and maturely. It is of course a deconversion exercise, since we were all atheists once.


----------



## pazuzuinxs

Ben12 said:


> I didn't become an atheist. Always was one. If I wasn't educated about god because the opportunities never presented itself, how does one become an atheist?


While atheism literally does mean not believing in god, it probably encompasses more. It means, at least to me, believing in science and logic. So a communist (well not always of course) might believe in the teachings of Mao and take them as perfect without analyzing it, just going on the basis of Mao being accredited fame. A true atheist, in my idea, would only fully consider a belief system if he/she finds it logical and scientific.
So to answer your question directly, even if I had no notion of god and still believed that wearing my favorite cap might make the Lakers win the next game, i would be literally atheist but in essence as much a theist as another person.


----------



## ugh1979

pazuzuinxs said:


> While atheism literally does mean not believing in god, it probably encompasses more. It means, at least to me, believing in science and logic. So a communist (well not always of course) might believe in the teachings of Mao and take them as perfect without analyzing it, just going on the basis of Mao being accredited fame. A true atheist, in my idea, would only fully consider a belief system if he/she finds it logical and scientific.
> So to answer your question directly, even if I had no notion of god and still believed that wearing my favorite cap might make the Lakers win the next game, i would be literally atheist but in essence as much a theist as another person.


I disagree. Atheism a position of disbelief in a deity/deities. Any belief that an atheist has in something else, (such as the value of science and reason), is from a belief in philosophies such as rationalism. Atheism is not a philosophy, as at posits no beliefs.



> _Atheism is not a philosophy; it is not even a view of the world; it is simply an admission of the obvious. In fact, "atheism" is a term that should not even exist. No one needs to identify himself as a "non-astrologer" or a "non-alchemist." We do not have words for people who doubt that Elvis is still alive or that aliens have traversed the galaxy only to molest ranchers and cattle. Atheism is nothing more than the noises reasonable people make in the presence of unjustified religious beliefs._ ― Sam Harris, Letter to a Christian Nation


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## pazuzuinxs

ugh1979 said:


> I disagree. Atheism a position of disbelief in a deity/deities. Any belief that atheist has in something else, (such as the value of science and reason), is from a belief in philosophies such as rationalism. Atheism is not a philosophy, as at posits no beliefs.


You are right. This is just my concept, my own broader meaning of atheism. That's why I always clarified myself in my last post, wherever possible. Atheism of course is simply a lack of belief in deities.


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## JadedSoldier

I never believed in god. I read the bible when my mother bought me one years ago and it didn't make sense to me. I saw god as more of the villain and the serpent the hero, since god did lie and say the apple would surely kill you but all it did was give Adam and at the time his no named rib wife knowledge. I questioned it a lot and all that got me was severe beatings, when all I was trying to do was understand it.


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## markwalters2

Schmosby said:


> I was born an atheist, but became a Christian a few years back.


So, what convinced you of the religion?


----------



## Noca

After growing up having religion shoved down my throat by my abusive father, being guilt ridden, shamed, and fear monger about hell, filled with self loathing, I chose to educate myself and inform myself in order to rid myself of those negative feelings so that I could hope to be okay, free of guilt, shame, irrational fears and accept myself someday.

The more I read the Bible and what was in it, the less probable it was that god existed, until it reached a point of beyond reasonable doubt. I attained a higher quantum of proof, more so than anything else I required in order to believe in something in my life, that religion was all a bunch of bs, and god didn't exist.

From there, the more I witnessed, read about, heard of the atrocities, the bigotry, the hypocritical behaviour, the anti-intellectual beliefs, and the pain and suffering that religion caused on a daily basis, the more I moved away from religion everyday, and realized that the world would be much better off without religion.


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## Brandon86

There was no specific reason for it. I grew up in a Christian but fairly non-religious household, and in my early 20s I really did try to go to church a few times and become religious, but in recent years I've just drifted away from Christianity.

I don't really see the plausibility of God anymore. Certainly it's _possible_ there's a God, anything's possible, but I just don't see the necessity for it anymore.

I'm not really "out" to anyone other than a couple friends. My mom is becoming more religious as she gets older and I don't want to ruin that for her, so I just keep my atheism to myself.


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## awakenedwolf

Because of the hypocrisy of most Organized Religion. They have caused so many bloody wars over the history of our planet. And I have noticed a pattern that many religious people are very judgmental in certain ways. Many priests seem to have Sociopathic Tendencies along with "certain" members in the vatican. How certain muslims have completely warped the quran teaching into thinking it endorses killing non muslims... I mean really. How many of America's Christian/Catholic Politicians commit horrible atrocities all the time and order the killing of tons of innocent people in other countries in the name of National Security. People use religion as a scapegoat to do bad things way to often because they have the idea that if they confess there sins everything is alright. Every bad thing they have done is somehow erased and won't effect the people they hurt anymore...

I support the Buddhist way of life all the way. Makes sense if you think about it, reincarnation. We all are a part of this earth along with plants, other animals, insects. If there was indeed a "God" of sort, I firmly believe our ancestors mistook aliens as gods because of how advanced they would of appeared to them.


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## awakenedwolf

Because of the hypocrisy of most Organized Religion. They have caused so many bloody wars over the history of our planet. And I have noticed a pattern that many religious people are very judgmental in certain ways. Many priests seem to have Sociopathic Tendencies along with "certain" members in the vatican. How certain muslims have completely warped the quran teaching into thinking it endorses killing non muslims... I mean really. How many of America's Christian/Catholic Politicians commit horrible atrocities all the time and order the killing of tons of innocent people in other countries in the name of National Security. People use religion as a scapegoat to do bad things way to often because they have the idea that if they confess there sins everything is alright. Every bad thing they have done is somehow erased and won't effect the people they hurt anymore...
Also that "religion" seems to be the biggest tool for "power" hungry individuals and self righteous people to control and belittle others because they don't share common beliefs or follow the masses like sheep. Most atheists I have met are generally more intelligent, open minded, and caring than religious folks.

I support the Buddhist way of life all the way. Makes sense if you think about it, reincarnation. We all are a part of this earth along with plants, other animals, insects. If there was indeed a "God" of sort, I firmly believe our ancestors mistook aliens as gods because of how advanced they would of appeared to them.


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## AceEmoKid

I never became an atheist; I always was one, even when forced to sit in those uncomfortable wooden pews and listen to the priest drone his sermon in my younger days.


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## slider

we are all born atheists but why i stayed an atheist is because i am not stupid enough to believe in "gods" in the sky. This is 2014 for **** sake why have we not solved this "religion" problem yet. If religion had its way the dark ages would have never ended, then how would you download your porn?


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## WillYouStopDave

WillYouStopDave said:


> I never believed in anything. I only endured church when I was young because I had to.
> 
> I consider myself agnostic.


 Also, atheist/agnostics have the highest body count, I think (or eventually will). You want to be on the right side when it comes to death, regardless of what you actually believe.


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## HilarityEnsues

I was born with skeptic etched across my forehead. 

I stopped believing in the tooth fairy around 2-3 years old, Santa was bull**** by 5 years old and I never can once remember saying with any type of enthusiasm "I believe in God."

One thing I do believe though, is that God exists as a thing, not a physical being. 

The "bible" states that God is everywhere at all times, all knowing, all powerful, and created the universe itself. Religious folks also claim God created himself. 

Big Bang = Creation of the Universe. 

So as far as I'm concerned, The Universe = God.


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## twitchy666

*It happened when I was 4*

flaunting scripture and history
I hated the stories

I think I was more mature at age 4 than I am now

It's taken decades to reinforce my thoughts at age 4. 
I see Society, culture and behaviour is based on religion. Not for me. I think of my body, what I can get in life.

Simple truth: the outcome is due to all strangers. I've got you choice. I expected I would be control of everything. Not true. Judged and nailed to the cross.


----------



## nature

I was a christian for a while(used it during times of difficulty and it helped) and then the critical thinking kicked in.. And I shifted to being agnostic. After a while i had been experimenting with psychdelics and the nature of my reality shifted. I felt like i experienced the most positive tranced state i had ever felt.. Very hard to verbalise this.. Its the closest ive felt to any concept of a spiritual presence that was not a "creator". I did not accept the possibility of a supernatural deity after experiencing this. Infact the idea of a deity seemed to pollute my experience. since then i have been an atheist. Ive had several epiphanies with and without using anything psychoactive and its only made my love for the world stronger.


----------



## nature

HilarityEnsues said:


> I was born with skeptic etched across my forehead.
> 
> I stopped believing in the tooth fairy around 2-3 years old, Santa was bull**** by 5 years old and I never can once remember saying with any type of enthusiasm "I believe in God."
> 
> One thing I do believe though, is that God exists as a thing, not a physical being.
> 
> The "bible" states that God is everywhere at all times, all knowing, all powerful, and created the universe itself. Religious folks also claim God created himself.
> 
> Big Bang = Creation of the Universe.
> 
> So as far as I'm concerned, The Universe = God.


 very inline with my experience!


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## apx24

I'm not an atheist, I think there is a God, just that he's a ****ing wanker.


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## pazuzuinxs

twitchy666 said:


> flaunting scripture and history
> I hated the stories
> 
> I think I was more mature at age 4 than I am now
> 
> It's taken decades to reinforce my thoughts at age 4.
> I see Society, culture and behaviour is based on religion. Not for me. I think of my body, what I can get in life.
> 
> Simple truth: the outcome is due to all strangers. I've got you choice. I expected I would be control of everything. Not true. Judged and nailed to the cross.


You almost have a poetic (haiku?) style of writing. Just noticed. Surely irrelevant to the main topic.


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## Sunstillout

If the 70 something year old preacher interperated a verse in Bible to mean something having to do with cutting my knob off. Then everyone would have to do it or be sent to Hell forever. So I decided that that wasn't change I could believe in. Religion is ultimately insanity.


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## cellardoor23

I started out by wanting to strengthen my faith by reading the Bible all the way through, but by reading it, it just made me more skeptical of the Biblical tales. I began to read about other religions and creation myths, which made realize the Genesis creation story is only one out of a large quantity of creation stories. 

I also began to truly realize how small and insignificant this planet is compared to the vastness of the universe. I realized we're one planet revolving around one star that is only one of about 300 billion stars (which have planets) in the Milky Way Galaxy alone, and that the Milky Way Galaxy is just one galaxy out of billions and billions of other galaxies in the universe which all respectively have their own billions of stars and planets. We're one little droplet in the cosmic ocean; Don't see why God would focus all of his attention on this one little pixel of his monolithic computer screen to play out some Holy narrative. 

There's just as much evidence for the Jewish/Muslim/Christian God as there is Cronos, Atum, or Unkulunkulu.


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## DanCan

If you start looking into it there's a bunch of recent scientific stuff that backs the Bible up. Some of the stuff online is fake though. 
Most Christians are *******s  ha ha. But then, just cause you met a bunch of BMW drivers that were *******s, doesn't mean you'd think BMW cars are crap. If you do think like that, you gotta reevaluate your reasoning there. 
I know I can't convince anyone. We all prob already have our minds made up on this thread. But... if you're sorta on the fence. Case for a Creator is a good book about evidence for a creator. 
* oh no! Dan Can is a crazy Creationist !! block him!! *


----------



## millenniumman75

DanCan said:


> If you start looking into it there's a bunch of recent scientific stuff that backs the Bible up. Some of the stuff online is fake though.
> Most Christians are *******s  ha ha. But then, just cause you met a bunch of BMW drivers that were *******s, doesn't mean you'd think BMW cars are crap. If you do think like that, you gotta reevaluate your reasoning there.
> I know I can't convince anyone. We all prob already have our minds made up on this thread. But... if you're sorta on the fence. Case for a Creator is a good book about evidence for a creator.
> * oh no! Dan Can is a crazy Creationist !! block him!! *


 ....yep, I think we have all seen our fair share of the *******s. 
Our goal is not to become one of them :lol.


----------



## inerameia

Well, I was a docile Christian. I feared the supernatural and believed it was real. Then I cut out my beliefs in Christianity because they were biased and plain fallacious. 

I only believed what I was told as a kid. "God is all-powerful, knows everything, is the epitome of love, ad nauseam. We are all hopeless without Him." So I began to sincerely worship and ask Him for forgiveness every night. I even read most of the Bible. Most Christians don't do that. I wanted 'God' to 'light the fire in my heart' (blegh) in my psyche. Like something was missing or out. It was a massive delusion. 

Anyway, my reality becomes an unreality as I realize this is a sadistic, delusion-inducing god. His gruesome and disgusting antics revealed a psychopathic visage of rage. I was filled with gloom, anger and despair. That wasn't the 'God' I believed in. I refused to (still refuse to) believe such a god exists. If he does, then **** him. But I'm 99% sure it wouldn't be that particular god.


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## HelpfulHero

Neuroscience especially how we can mess with the motor cortex to force people to perform movements without their consent so everything is not bounded by "will." History especially the similarity of Christianity to other religions like resurrection myths in ancient Egypt or Zoroastrianism. AI/technology If we can create artificial minds would they have souls? and other existential questions. Physics especially evidence for ΛCDM and the movement in my mind of the concept causality from agents with "wills" to inanimate processes. Christianity shelters ignorant racist homophobes I could not be a member of that group and make excuses for those people. Christianity couldn't answer my questions like "If a Christian dies and donates his heart to medical research and someone gets it as a transplant and the rapture happens then does the heart stay with the recipient or go to heaven to be with the donor?" Math is more beautiful. Lots and lots of other reasons.


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## RRAAGGEE

I've became an atheist the same day I wanted to commit suicide. I got depression and I had social anxiety and I said to myself, if there is a god why does he let people suffer like this. Now I realize that there is no god.


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## Caroline1

I stopped believing in god because I simply couldn't believe that there was something so merciless. I say this because many people's lives suck. They have abusive parents, they have been sexually assaulted, they are disabled, etc. I couldn't wrap my head around how this "greater being" could just sit back and watch us kill each other and destroy each other. And they all claim that he tries to stop us by giving us religion, yet WE KILL EACH OTHER OVER HIM AS WELL! It's either god does exist and simply doesn't care about us specifically ( which means heaven and hell don't exist) ( this is the one that I am leaning more towards as well, because I don't get what makes humans more special then the other species) or God simply doesn't exist at all.


----------



## retracekim

Started questioning early,like around age 12ish but never really dug into it. Then I thought about slavery and why do black people follow an institution that has been used to help enslave them. I then considered myself as someone without a religion and without a belief. So I was a functional atheist. Overtime I embraced the term. I think I "came out" at 20 or 21?


----------



## error404

-Used to be Mormon.
-Got really depressed up at BYU-Idaho.
-Was told to read my scriptures and pray to overcome it.
-Did it for a good 4 months, being very devout (not getting any better all the while)
-Always saw contradictions in the scriptures that made me uncomfortable, ignored them.
-Hit rock bottom.
-Poured out my soul to "God" in prayer for a few hours, asking if Mormonism was true, if He was real, etc.
-Got nothing. (you're promised a warm feeling of comfort/knowledge when you ask God in faith if the Church is true, at least in Mormonism)
-Got up from my knees, felt numb, realized He was never there in the first place.

That was a fun time. It was really earth-shattering at first, and it drove me even deeper into my depression. As time went on, though, I've finally come to terms with it and am actually MUCH better off for it! No more church! No more tithing! No more double standards! Nothing to be afraid of (in terms of, like...eternal judgement and all that, anyways)!


----------



## fm5827

Never really thought about it much at all, I guess mostly due to the hypocrisy of various religions. Also I would have to go to church with my grandmother on christmas day, and even at a young age it always made me feel uncomfortable.


----------



## Tensed mouse

I read many books on religion which eventually turned me into an atheist,that and Hinduism seemed so utterly ridiculous.


----------



## Barette

I don't believe in god. I figured that was the only thing you needed to be an atheist.


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## RRAAGGEE

The whole concept of religion that says "pray for what you want and you'll get it" then seeing the whole world suffering and history filled with war made me think, if there was a god and he loved everyone like the bible claim he does, why would he make mankind suffer through all this.


----------



## Espirito

I became an Atheist because I never really understood the teachings of the Bible in the first place. (I thought I did)

I was too busy watching television, hanging out with friends, having fun, you know, being a kid. 

I was a very rebellious child. 

I had a hard time even respecting my parents. 

It was easier to blame God for everything that I saw was wrong and all my bad decisions than it was to take some responsibility.

The Atheists I focused my attention on made such good arguments, seemingly, and I was captivated by their Intellects.

With that, and all the hate and resentment I had already built up, it was easy to become an Atheist, it was simply a label.


----------



## Warpedsanity

Was in the apostolic pentecostal church (UPCI) for over 20 years involved in music for many of those years. I already know of the hypocrisy mainly from hanging around a few of the preachers, going to their houses to hang out, etc.. I ended up becoming more socially liberal on issues and my SA wasn't making it easy so I decided to stop going for awhile. At some point I decided to challenge what I was raised believing. Ended up connected with a friend I knew from the 1st apostolic church I grew up in he was a drummer and he was atheist at this point. To make a long story short he gave me the list of books that helped him through what I wanted to go through. Books by respected bible scholars is what really rocked me since I always believed everything was perfect in the bible, it was god inspired for our time, no contradictions, etc.. I by no means know everything as I am still learning and reading books and keeping an open mind but I don't see any evidence for a god.


----------



## gow1993

i was born as a muslim (but my family wasn't very relegious). when i was 14 i read in quran that if muslims attack a city and the people of the city resist and kill muslims in defence, muslims can enslave the literally rape the female people of the city when they conquer it.
and in other part it says if you steal an orphans money, when you die and you go to hell god will force you to eat boiling gold forever(!!!).
these two quotes where enough for me to find islam barbaric and leave it.


----------



## Parsley

essemsee said:


> -Used to be Mormon.
> -Got really depressed up at BYU-Idaho.
> -Was told to read my scriptures and pray to overcome it.
> -Did it for a good 4 months, being very devout (not getting any better all the while)
> -Always saw contradictions in the scriptures that made me uncomfortable, ignored them.
> -Hit rock bottom.
> -Poured out my soul to "God" in prayer for a few hours, asking if Mormonism was true, if He was real, etc.
> -Got nothing. (you're promised a warm feeling of comfort/knowledge when you ask God in faith if the Church is true, at least in Mormonism)
> -Got up from my knees, felt numb, realized He was never there in the first place.
> 
> That was a fun time. It was really earth-shattering at first, and it drove me even deeper into my depression. As time went on, though, I've finally come to terms with it and am actually MUCH better off for it! No more church! No more tithing! No more double standards! Nothing to be afraid of (in terms of, like...eternal judgement and all that, anyways)!


That sounds like a ride and a half, how did your family take that? I hear Mormons are very community based, a bit like Jews are (at least ones in the UK, not sure about US), is that true?


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## annoyedgrunt84

For me it was the realization that I was holding onto my belief in god for very sentimental reasons.


----------



## littlebluething

Tensed mouse said:


> I read many books on religion which eventually turned me into an atheist,that and Hinduism seemed so utterly ridiculous.


haha, tell me about it!
and being an atheist when you come from a 'hindu' family is the perfect way to earn yourself the title of the family outcast.
I remember reading somewhere that religious people also, more often than not, score low on I.Q. tests. lets just say its not the most surprising fact.


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## bluecrime

Because there is no god. Need I say more


----------



## introvert33

The Silent 1 said:


> Christianity never really made sense to me. Growing up, I would ask questions all the time like "Why would god torture people forever for not believing in him?" "Why did god punish all humanity just because Adam and Eve ate the fruit?" "Why did god have to resurrect Jesus, just to forgive humanity?" "Why did god order such horrible acts?" And many more questions, and I just never got a satisfactory answer. And whenever I would think of these questions myself, my fear of hell fire, prevented me from going very far. Worse yet, everyone around me was religious so I was never exposed to other ways of thinking. As I grew older, was exposed to other types of people and decided to let go of my fears of hell in order to seriously research I realized very quickly that I didn't believe any of this and that it made little sense.





Lmatic3030 said:


> Reading about other religions made me stop believing in religion.
> 
> I started to ask myself what makes all the crazy stories in the Bible about people living 600+ years, parting seas, etc. more that more believable than the stories from Greek mythology, Hinduism, or any other religion?
> 
> That was the beginning of me letting go of that stuff





sherbert said:


> In a nutshell: it doesn't make any sense. I know there are more articulate arguments, but that's pretty much it for me.


I grew up catholic, these pretty much sum it up for me. I did struggle a bit, because I liked the practice of praying in bed at night. And also I just wanted to believe my mom. This coming from the kid that believed in Santa Claus for a long time because my mom told me he existed, and would show me ways of believing in a kernel of truth without having to believe everything. But in the end I couldn't get past how egotistical it was to believe your religion was the right one, and I never got a satisfactory answer on why God would let so many people go unexposed to Christianity. I never really feared hell or voiced my questions though, it was more of an internal consideration.


----------



## WhispersWithWolf

*Apathy!!*

I kind of just was an atheist. I can't really say why, God seems so unnecessary to me. I did enjoy Church and youth group ironically, mostly for the music and sense of belonging. I try to picture a God in Heaven, but all that comes up is chocolate cookies  As I got older than I got more anti-theistic but over all, its just apathy. I feel that science and philosophy and youtube fill that role/


----------



## Slytherclaw

I wouldn't say I "became" an atheist. I always have been. Even as a child I didn't believe in God, it just seemed too fairytale-like. What happened was I figured out what my beliefs meant and embraced them.


----------



## Kyle84

Laur,

I completely agree with your position. I've tried every which way to believe in God - but simply cannot given all the horrible things in this world of ours.


----------



## arnie

This is like asking "Why did you become a homosexual?" You just can deny your attraction for hot male bodies in the same way you just can't find any evidence of God. 8)


----------



## ProfessorSnape

I used to be a very religious Catholic. To the point where I was studying to be a priest at one point. I had a gradual falling away from the faith. I stopped going to church regularly a couple years after I left the seminary. I kinda went back and forth between belief and disbelief. I'd always call myself an agnostic because I had a hard time using the word atheist. I just read more and more, as I have grown to be more fascinated with logic and scientific thought, I finally just put my foot down and determined that I'm an atheist about four years ago. It's not something that very many people know about me in my everyday life though.


----------



## earthdr

I'd never heard of God until I was too old to believe anything I was told. None of the arguments that I've heard over the years is convincing, so I never adopted theism.


----------



## curiouscursive

One day I found the word for what I am, that's when I realized. I've always been somewhere between atheist and agnostic. When I think about religion and all the questions science doesn't answer my thought has always be "I don't know, no one knows and I don't care. I don't care at all." If heaven is real, sweet! If hell is real sweet! if it isn't and we just die and out bodies decompose and consciousnesses ends with lights out whatever, great! AWESOME! lol Where i'm going and my actions are the other things I don't worry about! I worry about everything.


----------



## earthdr

"You make no sense."


----------



## earthdr

^ Oops! I posted too soon. But it basically summarizes the why.

By the way it looks like there's someone lurking the forums and sending PMs to atheists. Don't do that. It's cowardly. If you have something to say, say it out in the open.


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## Foh_Teej

curiouscursive said:


> I've always been somewhere between atheist and agnostic.


 Yeah this area is actually called_ confused_ since there is no place between terms that address different concepts.


----------



## stultussum

Religions just never made any sense to me. Never have, never will.


----------



## Iwantham

Because I refuse to be a sheep like everyone else.


----------



## twitchy666

because I got baptised

I never knew that until digging out some family antiques

Two birth certificates were refused when applying for MOD jobs being told they were fake. That hurt. They said the dates weren't right. 

Maybe my baptism certificate will sort me out because all parents, siblings and friends signed it!


----------



## TheWildeOne

I became an atheist when I started seriously looking into science. Bit by bit, everything about the Bible started making progressively less sense, in the light of real, empirical evidence. As a kid, I had actually been the only one in the house who prayed; my parents were not and never have been religious, and were perfectly open to me making me own choice, though my grandparents less so. And so I made my choice. I am an agnostic/ignostic atheist. A god may exist, but the evidence has yet to show one - and if there is a deity, I have no doubt in my mind it isn't one of the petty, anthropomorphised abominations we've conjured up. Who even knows if it would be an actual _being_? Assumptions, assumptions.


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## tombobby55

I became an atheist--here in the Deep South/Bible Belt--because I was tired to listening to the hate. Love ought to be unconditional where ever it comes from. How long can you listen to a preacher tell you that you are a no good sinner and that you are hell bound if you don't "give it all up to god" ? See--I didn't capitalize god and the world didn't crash in around my ears!!


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## Cyclonic

To start off, I was raised Catholic...was baptized, given communion, and participated in confirmation, etc.. However, despite being an altar boy briefly and attending catechism for most of my childhood, I was never really too interested in the church. 

My parents divorced when I was young, I lived with my mother most of the time, who wasn't quite as religious as my dad and his wife. So, the only times I went to church was with my dad and his family every other weekend. By the time I went off to college, I was never attending mass regularly. 

I believed in (the Christian) God for quite some time even into college. I was also quite politically conservative going into college, believed that homosexuality was wrong, abortion was evil, the Iraq invasion was justified, I even voted for Pastor Chuck Baldwin from the Constitution Party in 2008. I was also quite racist at the time (but that was more due to family influence than anything else). 

I can't really pinpoint the exact day that the switch was flipped, but I'd say I started to question my beliefs early on in college. I met a lot of gays and lesbians in my dorm floor my freshman year in college, I even befriended some of these people. Truth is, these people were a lot of fun to hang around. When I was around them, their sexual orientation didn't matter. My previously ignorant views that gays were evil, perverted people was shattered. On top of that, I attended a school that was very diverse...a good chunk of students were from another country. I ended up interacting with several people, people from Africa, the Middle East, India, Korea, Australia, Eastern/Western Europe, and probably places I've barely heard of. I also lived on campus in Chicago, which is a diverse city on its own. I began to see past skin color, past origin, past beliefs. It was truly an eye-opening experience for me.

It wasn't until my last two years in college where I completely lost faith. Even with the changes to my social views, I still believed in a higher power. I took several philosophy/religion courses in college. The most notable two were a Nietzsche course in junior year and an Islamic history course in senior year. The Nietzsche course planted the seed of doubt within me, but the Islamic history course was something that really put a lot of questions in my head. The customs, the rules, the constant wars...it just didn't add up, why would a god allow such behavior and command such nonsense? I lost my belief in God there and haven't looked back since. 

I now identify myself as a liberal Atheist, I frequently listen to Atheist podcasts, watch/listen to theist-atheist debates, and I'm even part of a local Atheist meet-up group. Even if my degree never gets me a good job and I'm stuck paying student loans for decades, I will at least appreciate the mind-opening experiences that college gave me.


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## HelpfulHero

to be honest.. probably because I met smart compassionate atheists that made me question if what I was doing was right


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## JennieStrife

I don't think I became an atheist. I think I always was. I was lucky, my Dad is all science. Although there were big arguments when I was young. Best advice ever "Don't bother arguing with stupid people because they, by definition, stupid" Thanks Dad


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## bencastle

JennieStrife said:


> I don't think I became an atheist. I think I always was. I was lucky, my Dad is all science. Although there were big arguments when I was young. Best advice ever "Don't bother arguing with stupid people because they, by definition, stupid" Thanks Dad


Oh boy, I am exactly the same. Even as a 9 year old I didn't believe in God and I didn't want to participate in any religious stuff at school or elsewhere.

Funny story my mum signed me up for a religious class at elementary school and when the teacher told the names who needs to stay on the first day I was shocked and I thought this is must be a misunderstanding. I had to sat through the first class then stormed home and questioned my mum what the heck she was thinking? She said she thought I might be interested, but of course I was pulled out from next day.


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## jdrubnitz

the devil made me do it.

Just kidding. I was a Christian for 17 years. A passionate one. I was convinced it is true, had "miracle" experiences, a "prophetic dream" and all that. But I took a christian worldview class and found all the contradictions within Christianity just by reflecting on the idea of "worldview" as a whole. Still am recovering from such an intense change.


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## mii2naCaptor

Religion never clicked with me. I tried as a kid, but it never made any actual sense. I mean fear was basically why I kept believing, but once I came to terms with "Hey, there might not be a god after all", things seemed to make more sense. I was taking out the garbage at the time, lol


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## ugh1979

mii2naCaptor said:


> I was taking out the garbage at the time, lol


That makes for a good analogy.


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## HelpfulHero

Dice


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## jcthoma3

The scientific method. I learned what it meant to get as close to certainty as possible but still admit you don't know for sure. Even after a scientific principle describes certain universal phenomena nearly perfectly a scientific man will always tell you he doesn't know for sure. He will say, "you never know what will happen on the next trail but as far as we know this is how the universe behaves." This sort of self doubt isn't something that's respected or even understood by the religious folks. In fact, it's frowned upon specifically (doubting Thomas for instance), whereas in science it's vital to the entire philosophy. I started thinking about all the claims without evidence, all the parallels with more ancient religions, the repeating pattern of religion and different gods, the wars it causes, the inequality it perpetuates, the contradictions and so forth. I don't understand why religion is so appealing. The universe as it is is more beautiful than anything I could ever know. With a couple of symbols I can write down a law which describes something which is true for the entire universe. That gives me a more transcending feeling than any religious fairy tale. We don't need religion. Or at least I didn't. I'm much better off without it.


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## Manhorse

I was apatheist because my parents are atheists. Now I'm an atheist. I became one because I've become more conscious about my apatheism.


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## Justlittleme

I'm not, and can't be no matter what science books say, I know they don't have absolute truth.


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## Schmosby

markwalters2 said:


> So, what convinced you of the religion?


Well for most of my life I was very depressed mainly because I had an awful life, I thought very negatively and took lonliness very hard, I tended to avoid lonliness by getting together with any woman who showed some interest and holding on no matter how bad, then on break up jumping on the next woman I could find. Well I got to the point where I had half broken up with someone I was very in love with, my mum was drinking a lot and being abusive, I had no friends to talk to really and I had been listening to Christian radio for a while every night because I share a lot of ethos with the religion even though I had no religious belief, well during the ad breaks they play little testimonials where people tell their story and one of them had a similar story to me of being depressed and abused etc and I was so low I was ready to try anything, so I surrendered to Jesus and of course expected nothing to change because I considered it to all be nonsense, but actually everything changed, I stopped feeling lonely and started feeling full of love, my negative personality changed to positive, I found the strength to get rid of my awful ex, my mum changed and stopped being anywhere near as abusive and in fact now is very loving for the first time I can remember, my depression vanished after 20 years etc etc I just feel really comfortable and content even though there are still some issues, they just don't seem to matter any more. You could say this is all placebo or coincidence and I can understand that, but to me I don't think it matters any more, I can't think of a benefit of going back to Atheist.


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## WillYouStopDave

I became an agnostic because I didn't believe the stories at church. Not even when I was very young. I chose to be respectful to people who did believe and leave them alone as long as they left me alone. Agnostic was the obvious choice.

My parents are still very religious and I have to live with them. So I just don't talk about religion.


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## Austere

I've never been religious. I've grown up in Norway, in a place with few religious people. I didn't really realize how dedicated religious people were until I was 12 years old or something. Up until this point I assumed most people were atheists or agnostic. I just thought some people believed there might be a god, and some didn't. I didn't see any signs of it being true, so I naturally didn't believe. It never was a big deal, and it has never been frowned upon.


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## Chump Change

I've never really believed in anything I was taught at the Kingdom Hall. My family are Jehovah's Witnesses. I've always been "agnostic" though to be honest I'm more of an apatheist than anything.

I don't like to talk about religion with my folks because they get upset. I've only recently told them that I don't believe in god.


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## Whywontyoutalktome

I became an atheist because believing was really hard work what with all the avoiding thinking for myself and getting up early on Sundays. LOL 

Ok, all atheist snark aside I finally stopped believing after years of questioning everything about religion. None of it made sense and I decided that even if this GOD guy did exist his ideas and decisions were so unbelievably stupid that I wouldn't want to follow him anyway! I mean, who kills little babies with cancer and allows kids to suffer sexual abuse yet lets the rapists, murderers, and thieves live healthy lives right up to 100 years of age?! 

Yeah, Flying Spaghetti Monster all the way, at least he has delicious noodles.


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## Chrisstine

I was born & raised Catholic. Even went to Catholic school. Started questioning my religion in my teens. By my twenties I was very interested in Taoism & Buddhism. In my 30's I began to be more interested in other cultures' mythologies. That's when I realized I was just caught up in my own culture's mythology. Watching this movie called Zeitgeist sealed the deal. That's how it happened for me.


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## Raeden

I was never forced into any religion as a child. So, I didn't necessarily "become" an atheist, but rather I jut never became a theist. Atheism is a default.


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## Dissonance

Raeden said:


> I was never forced into any religion as a child. So, I didn't necessarily "become" an atheist, but rather I jut never became a theist. Atheism is a default.


CAT-holicism is a religion idiot.


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## Raeden

Dissonance said:


> CAT-holicism is a religion idiot.


It's not a religion, it's a lifestyle choice.


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## nullptr

Raeden said:


> I was never forced into any religion as a child. So, I didn't necessarily "become" an atheist, but rather I jut never became a theist. Atheism is a default.


You forgot, catism's deity is GabeN V_V


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## Dissonance

Raeden said:


> It's not a religion, it's a lifestyle choice.


 Just like every religion ever


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## tooljunkie

I realized I was brain washed as a kid growing up regarding religion.


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## Junebuug

Never really thought about it although I was raised in a catholic household, until a cousin of mine had told me that my uncle was gay. I then had family members tell me that he was going to hell,I was around 5 or 6.

After that I payed a bit more attention to what people had to say about god and religion and decided that it seemed all make believe, like Santa clause


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## The Sleeping Dragon

Let's see. I was raised a christian. But I noticed the bible was inconsistent and I never felt a presence of god no matter how hard I prayed. 

So I looked to other places to find answers. Judaism and Buddhism where religions I considered. But in the end the more I learned about religions and how they were formed the more convinced I became that gods are the invention of mankind and that the universe is way to complex to be solved by such a simple answer such as gods.


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## sammy555

I was raised in a christian household. I slowly grew out of religion once I actually started questioning religion in itself. I began to see religion as extremely negative and unnecessary. I realized that the only reason that I believed in god was because I was taught from a young age and the idea of it has been ingrained in my head. I've come to the conclusion that I do not need religion for comfort and answers. I would much rather prefer to live my life day by day, and to appreciate this life. As far as I'm concerned, this is the only life that I have.


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## lifeimpossible123

why are there millions of other gods if there is only one??


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## DanTheOutlaw

I have no reason to believe that a god exists, I've seen no evidence to suggest that god is there so by default I must assume that one doesn't exist.


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## Lonelyfalcon

I have no reason to explain why I am an atheist. It's on religious people to prove that god excists.


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## ilikesloths

I've always been an atheist. When I was young (like under the age of 10), I used to question God, because of societal norm, but I always thought what I was saying sounding ridiculous.


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## LordSnow

As soon as I started questioning religion in my mid-teens, I realised it was all contradictory and seemed made up.


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## Watsky

Because I have a brain and I don't let others tell me what to or not to think/believe.


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## DementedFuschia

I'm not an athiest but I've never been extremely religious just because I don't believe in the bible. It's way too far fetched and if humans had to live their life in that manner I don't even want there to be a God. I do believe in some form of higher entity creating us, one that is much more understanding and that our souls do live on after we die on this Earth. Might just be wishful thinking though lol.


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## Mikebissle

I grew up in a Pentecostal household, though nowhere near as extreme as the stereotype. I will say that I was not brainwashed, having come into religion all on my own when I was six and read my first Bible, but of course my family was glad to see me take such a strong interest and encouraged it for the most part. Even though I was baptized and everyone used to talk about how much I knew about the Bible (I sat in the adult Bible study courses at church instead of Sunday school), I was only really interested in the stories and the history behind them rather than the spiritual bits. I remember being interested in extra-biblical accounts and talking about how these stories fit with history, and being told not to think about it. OH, boy, should've been a clue... :no

I don't like to think that being gay had much to do with this changing, but it sure did. I had been raised to think that gay people were, at best, demons wearing human skin, and came to believe that about myself. As I reached my mid-teens, I learned that there were more ways to be a Christian and clung to reconcile being a Christian with being gay, even briefly trying to learn Koine Greek to get a better understanding of the scriptures used to justify condemnation of homosexuality. After a couple of years though, I came to realize that this was pointless, and that religion can and has been used to justify whatever its readers wanted, and I was no better than the people whose minds I wanted to change in that respect. That and some other stressful events in my life going on at the time caused me to "take a break" from religion, but I still planned to return to it one day.

The final clincher though was courtesy of James Cameron. He had co-created a documentary called _The Exodus Decoded _back in 2006, which set out to present evidence for a historical Exodus. I was, for the first time in a long time, really pumped to see it. Then it came out, and... it sucked. The theory and the evidence used to support it was so fragmentary and circumstantial and reeked of desperation. I thought, "Why do they need The Exodus to have happened in this way?" Then I thought, "... and why do I need it to have happened at all?" From there, I was able to look back on all the stories I used to believe in, and finally reach the understanding that they were just that-stories.

I actually am still interested in the stories of the Bible, but about on par with the surrounding Sumerian, Babylonian, and, to a lesser extent, Canaanite/Phoenician mythologies. I try to temper any potential resentment I have towards the religious, and I don't think these stories should be eradicated from existence. They're excellent glimpses into the psychology and culture of the people who wrote and spread them, and some are plenty entertaining in their own right, but I'm not going to live my life based on them.


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## Marty McFly

I became an agnostic atheist slowly, after much contemplation and investigation. I approached the question, "Is there a god?" with a head full of indoctrinated bias, so I'm amazed my worldview changed at all. There are so many reasons I became an atheist, too many to mention here. Suffice it to say that I eventually realized my beliefs were unfounded and superfluous.


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## eunice23

I was born, raised, and schooled in a SDA (protestant) community until I went to a secular university when I was 17. Finally, I was able to question and do some research on my beliefs. After 2 years of searching, I became a closet agnostic atheist.


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## LeoKezer

I asked questions. Found answers. Now I am a non-believer.


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## KimThanh

As I was growing older, I needed to re-evaluate my values in order to take myself more seriously. I didn't like the way I'd feel about myself trying to defend a baseless belief so I did some reading, watched some documentaries and came clean with myself. I no longer needed to hide behind a faith in order to feel confident, because not having a faith is an even more solid basis to credibility.


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## ByStorm

Theism made and makes no sense to me and atheism did. To believe in a god is to believe in magic.


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## Joanna96

As a child i had to pretend i'm catholic because my family was, so i had no choince. 
Religion makes no sense to me and in my opinion there's no point in believing in something when there's no evidences.


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## Nautesque

I watched some youtube video that converted me.


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## charlie92

Being religious seems to be rare where I live. In any case, my mum is an athiest and I never found any reason to believe in religion.


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## Darkness Evanescent

mestizo1991 said:


> What were the reasons you guys became atheists?


I read The Greatest Show on Earth by Richard Dawkins (combined with a few other experiences around the same time, like watching documentaries and reading articles) and it made me realize that atheism made a lot more sense. I didn't grow up religious and always harbored a strong disinterest for organized religions (especially Christianity), so for me once I thought about the reasons (especially the processes of evolution through natural selection) it was just a no-brainer.


----------



## The Exodus

I think I actually became Atheist when I was about eleven. It just suddenly struck me that the concept of Heaven was just entirely improbable and implausible. As I got older, my Atheism was set in stone by the amount of information that supports, say, abiogenesis and evolution. 

At this point in time, a Deity and an afterlife does not just seem implausible to me; I feel like I know, for a fact, that a God does not exist. There's no way I can prove this, but I find a God difficult to believe in, and an afterlife almost mind bending and realistically strenuous. I mean, who wants to live forever anyway? 

In closing, I will point out that Christians believe the world is too complex and beautiful to have not been created by an intelligent designer. I say it's too complex and beautiful TO have been created by an intelligent designer.


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## Happy Boy

I was born a non-believer? Never really understood what religion was until i was in my teens and by that time it just sounded like fairytale nonsense XD


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## pocketbird

Honestly, I don't know what I am. I never understood how the whole universe started with a big bang but God created the world? I don't get it. I hate the labels. I do believe in something and that's hope, but I don't care much for calling it anything.


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## Harmeulius

One of my biggest hobbies is history. And whatever religion you take it always conflicts with history.


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## SoiFon

When I was little everyone around me believed in God, and it was presented to me like it was a fact. I remember noticing contradictions, and I had SO many questions about things I thought made no sense. I pretty much just decided that I was too young and stupid to understand, and that it had to be true since absolutely everyone in my life said it was. When I got a bit older (around 12ish), I started getting on the internet a lot. I came across people who didn't believe in God. It's like I didn't even realize that was an option until then even though kind of I felt that way. I did a ton of research, and was an atheist pretty quickly afterwards.


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## tooljunkie

In the very beginning there was Adam and Eve, right? Along with all the other characters in the bible who were homosapiens like you and I.

Then somehow we magically become Neanderthals and magically homosapiens again. WTF? 

Dinosaur bones found are proven to be older than any human bone ever found.
So how the hell were Adam and Eve the first creatures on this Earth?

How can anyone blindly believe such obvious fairy tales. 

Samson got super human strength from his hair! Oh Come On!

God said, "let there be light, let there be stars, the universe and so on" and it was. :eyes Who the hell was around to witness that and wrote it in the bible.

The talking and walking on legs snake ( how ridiculous does that look ) told Eve to eat that apple thus dooming mankind into sin and the snake was cursed to forever be on his belly. So the big question is; what did the worm do to be punished so bad?

If them ain't the biggest made up fairy tales I've ever heard!


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## Znuffle

Logically thinking about posibility and ask questions about why this why that.. A chritian usually just ends off by saying the legendary words: "God works in mysterious ways" Yea no ****.. And If I am able to not think behound those mysterious ways then I don't really care if he is going to send me to hell. Because that would be the most ignorant thing to do if I was him...

That's like me punishing my best friend for having sex with my GF
Or
Me punishing my GF if she was rapped.

I should blame god for not making me smart enough to KNOW what I should believe in, in life.
I should blame god for not revealing himself..
And anybody who says they have spoken to god or god has reavealed him to them. They are insane.. End of story


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## WillCedar

I grew up in a strong Christian family and my dad was even a pastor for a while. I was forced to go to church every Sunday morning and evening, as well as youth groups in the middle of the week, and hated every minute of it from as long as I can remember. 

Being forced to socialize in church from an early age made me hate church even more. I don't think I ever believed, I always had to pretend that I believed. In a way I'm thankful for my SA potentially preventing me from becoming brainwashed.


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## Ithaqua

The first thing that made me doubt religion was people. Then I read the bible and understood it had nothing true in it. That's how I became an atheist


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## SplendidBob

Honestly it was very easy for me. My dads family were quite religious. My mum on the other hand, I would describe her as a 'realist' heh. I get the impression she wiped out any traces of my dads religious beliefs pretty quick.

So I was brought up not in a religious environment. We actually did do some religious stuff when we were young, but there wasn't any pressure or conditioning on us.

I like to think I would have become atheist anyway, though this may not be the case and I think it is unwise to underestimate the effect of any form of conditioning on the young. (and being exposed to any 'social norm' is conditioning imo). When raised in an environment where basically everyone you know believes one thing (and nobody is questioning it) it must be quite a tough thing to go against that.


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## zstandig

Because most of the things that people consider sacred beliefs are not in the Bible.

There is nothing suggesting that there is an after life, not for regular people, and most of the laws can only seriously be applied to a small group of city states that existed in the levant 2000+ years ago. Hell is barely mentioned in the Bible, Satan is nowhere, and when he's mentioned he isn't a red guy with a trident.

I find it interesting, because I like history and mythology, but once its taken so seriously that I have to deal with separating Dairy Products and Meat Products....well that was the last straw. Milk comes from meat....so it can't be separate to begin with. There are microscopic particles everywhere, nothing is purely one or the other, somehow fish is considered not meat enough that its allowed to be eaten with dairy products, which is completely messed up because fish are just as alive as anything else, and they sure as hell are not plants (Mr. Big-Head's salmon bushes?).

Finally, no religion even pays attention to their own laws, the meat and dairy thing came from, the God of Israel, having something against boiling a calf in its mother's milk, which apparently was a delicacy at the time, and I suppose from a certain point of view is kind of cruel.

But there's a problem with that, it says nothing about lamb, fish, poultry, (pork is out by default), etc. Poultry don't make milk so it should be fine, hell...dairy cattle and meat cattle aren't even in the same farm, so the odds of boiling veal in its mother's milk are astronomical....and there are many other ways to cook things than simply boiling it.

Yet, if I want to live at home, I have to deal with having two dish washers, and two sets of cutlery, plates, etc.

What a waste of time and energy...a lot wasted space too.


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## McFly

My mother is an atheist and when people talked about religion I found it strange that they actually believed what they were saying was real. Never once have I ever thought anything from the bible is real.


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## BreakMyFall

I looked around and saw everyone follow the leader like they were zombies.

I refused to conform.


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## lifeimpossible123

it doesnt make any sense


----------



## Julia555

I was raised Catholic. I don't know if I ever truly believed but my parents would get very angry if I questioned religion, so even to this day they do not know my standing. I wish I had the strength to stand up for myself, but I guess that's part of my anxiety issues. Anyway, I finally admitted it to myself when I was around 18. I went to church and just felt like a zombie, reciting prayers and going along with the group but not even thinking about what it all meant. It just all didn't make sense to me. Then I realized that parts of the Bible conflict with other parts and that they picked and chose through different Gospels to decide what would make the final cut into the Bible. Also, for something that is supposed to be peaceful, so many wars have been fought over religion. While there are many exceptions and I have many Christian friends who are wonderful people, I have also met so many who just think anyone who doesn't believe is beneath them. I think the breaking point was when I was 18 and something terrible happened to me. I started praying and realized that it was doing absolutely no good. Whatever happens will happen and trying to communicate to God or whomever would change nothing. It was all pointless. All of these things together finally got me to admit to myself that I didn't believe in it. I think religion is necessary for a lot of people to see that there is something bigger than this world and that they need some kind of hope that things will get better. I also still think a lot of the traditions and the history are beautiful, but I just can't have faith anymore.


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## misski

I wish I remember exactly when I became Atheist! I block a lot of what happened to me in past, which is possibly a symptom of avoidant personality disorder. I think it may have something to do with Bill Maher when he was on The View talking about the bible, particularly when he mentioned Noah's Ark.

I attended a Catholic school from K-8th grade. 

(An interesting fact about the school I went to is that one of the fathers who I saw from time to time was apparently questioned in a child molestation case for being a part of a cover up. When I was still a student there, there was a rumor among the kids that he also molested students. My friend pulled me aside and said, "So-and-so told me that Father George is a molester!" I didn't know what the word "molest" meant though. Lol. The last priest in my school was also on trial in the same case, although I don't know if he was the molester or if he was a part of the cover up. I think the trial is still going on, but I lost touch.)

Anyways, I accepted that god was for real just because it was ingrained in me to do so. There was never any real answer or reason for anything. I never questioned it until, I think, Bill Maher helped me find rationality.


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## BackToThePast

I've always questioned certain things about the Bible and my religion in general. But I was almost always passively shut down. Got a question about the origin of dinosaurs with the context of the creation of Adam and Eve? We'll answer that after sermon. Except they didn't. They left before I had a chance to ask again. This type of avoidance led me to question my beliefs for many years, but I didn't have the willpower to make a final decision. I had to be pushed.

Turns out, being baptized was that push which led me to drop faith in my religion, which is sort of ironic. I had to go through a series of private teachings from my pastor. Then a board of directors meeting largely composed of men in suits who approved me mostly based on my parents' contributions to the church (odd). Basically it was a lot of effort to lead up to this final event, which I had high expectations for as a life-changing moment. I got that moment, just not the one I was expecting.

On the day of being baptized, I faced an overly enthusiastic audience as my parents hugged and congratulated me. What's weird is that my dad almost never hugs me (he still loves me, it's just that he shows it in other ways), which struck me with a short-lived and quickly brushed aside epiphany of "wtf am I doing here". I had to force myself in the moment, otherwise it wouldn't look genuine to everyone who was watching me. But in the back of my mind...I don't know, I just didn't feel like a Christian at that moment. I was anything but. The whole ceremony felt mechanical, devoid of any spiritual influence on me.

Each week after that I did the usual Sunday activities. Sing praises, listen to sermons, leave. Only this time it all felt very calculated and routine. I felt empty. I certainly didn't feel any different than before I was baptized. After each sermon I'd leave the building and go wait in the car until my parents were finished. I've always questioned certain things about my beliefs, but during those weeks I started to seriously wonder if God was even a presence in my life, or if it had been a fabrication of my mind this entire time.

The straw that broke the camel's back was one night when I was feeling very hopeless and depressed. I was at a particularly low point in my life. I gave a very desperate plea (more like an ultimatum) for my god to somehow, some way, prove his existence to me. Otherwise I would drop my faith and look for the answers to my problems elsewhere. As you would have guessed, I received no answer that night. Ever since then I never felt a single sign of presence from this god. The god I believed in wasn't just dead, he was never there to begin with.

Sorry for the novel. If you've read up to this point, I don't know what to say. I hope you found it interesting.


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## Tarantula152

*I was raised into religion, but when I hit a certain age (probably 12) I could really start to see a lot of holes. I could see how many times the word has been re-written. It's even worse when you take a look into any basic history textbooks and realize how much of "the word" has been derived from other "words" thousands of years before "the word" was written... *


----------



## SapphicDysphoria

I read a few books on evolution as a 9 year old and it just logically made more sense. Tried to hold onto my Christian upbringing for a while while still believing in evolution and the Big Bang, but it just didn't work. There are many questions that even the most knowledgable religious leaders cannot answer and I've attended Christian schools for long enough to see right through the bull****.

The problem that always got me was that God created everything, therefore he would have had to _create_ the definition of free will. If I could choose how I wanted people to act around me, why would I intentionally _make_ certain people hate me?
Additionally, if God is omnipresent, as his believers claim, then he could anticipate the Fall of Man from the very beginning. So why would he intentionally set them up for failure? Why would he _create_ evil in the first place, let alone a tree that allowed one to _understand_ evil?

While I am not a religious person, however, I do believe that there is something much greater and more powerful than us (to think otherwise is extremely egocentric in my opinion), though I find it very unlikely that any higher power was responsible for our creation.


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## HookedOnEbonics

Because religion is stupid and every religious person i've known is a hypocrite and/or has created negative stimuli. Lying to themselves, or decieving themselves to believe something that hey don't truly believe, but WANT SO DESPERATELY TO BELIEVE IN, for the sake of comfort.


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## Peaceful Earthling

*Knowledge is power*

I became atheist because I learned the facts. In biology, in science. I simply learned, instead of blindly believing in nonsense. Plus nothing in religion makes any sense at all.


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## twitchy666

*Bored of bible readings in 1st school assembly*

I preferred learning latin. Glad everyone agreed, and the next 2 schools


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## Resrat

Lmatic3030 said:


> Reading about other religions made me stop believing in religion.
> 
> I started to ask myself what makes all the crazy stories in the Bible about people living 600+ years, parting seas, etc. more that more believable than the stories from Greek mythology, Hinduism, or any other religion?
> 
> That was the beginning of me letting go of that stuff


It's incredible that so-called intelligent people still find some way of believing that the Bible is something different from other myths and superstitions. People living for hundreds of years is obviously nonsense, yet I've heard it defended by people like teachers and scientists. I spoke to a scientist years ago who believed in Noah's ark and he showed me the mathematical 'proof' that all the animals would have fitted in....my eyes glazed over and my brain froze. He thought I needed to have an 'open mind', so I hit him with that perfect atheist response: 'If your mind is too open, your brains fall out'.

Talking donkeys and talking snakes, living inside a whale, the earth stopping on its axis....there are countless absurdities in the Bible. Next, look at the atrocities that God performs by himself or his agents. First off, the flood. He did it to kill 'evil' people, but I'm guessing that babies, toddlers, old people and even fairly inoffensive, decent people also died in the flood. Get Hitler to do something similar through mass murder and nobody hesitates to call it 'evil'. When god does it, it's in some way 'good'. Anything god does is 'good' but it bears no resemblance to what humans see as good.

Jesus came along telling everyone that every word of scripture is truth, so Jesus himself believed in absurdity and atrocity. It follows that he was deluded like all the Christians that blindly follow him and reject logic, reason and morality as they do so....


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## YamiZee

I never thought the stories that were being read to me were actually supposedly real? I always thought the bible was just a story book. However I guess I thought god was real even though I didn't believe in the bible. My family wasn't very religious anyway so it wasn't too much trouble. Then I moved and we stopped going to church and christian classes and eventually I just kind of forgot about it. Then 5 years later or so I saw some atheist videos on youtube and learned more and then started labeling myself as one.


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## Berzerker

My parents were always disinterested and lazy, and would use any means to distract me, so they could watch TV or go get drunk at the casino. I grew up with only my older bro for parenting. 

My dad was from utah, so it's only natural he was mormon. Raised me on that stuff, to have blind faith and pray and submit to the will of some white dude in the clouds.

I remember at age 10, during the worst years of my life being trapped in the heart of the southwest in a Rural, mormon oil town.. I was praying to god to make my life better.. About a minute in, I started questioning it all, and quickly lost all faith.

As I grew up and got access to a computer and the internet, I found it easy to research the facts for myself, and gradually became atheist.


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## TooScaredToTry

Lack of evidence for God.


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## villadb

I don't think I ever believed in God, in fact I don't think I know anyone who does really. My parents Christened my two older brothers but didn't bother with me, they must have consciously made the decision not to bother with religion any more. Either that or they just couldn't be arsed. Anyway, I find it incredibly daft to put so much faith in it, but then again I'm curious as to what made people originally believe it to be so true that it's been passed on for so many generations with such conviction.


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## Pongy Jumpluff

I think I have always been an Athiest. I could never understand how someone could believe in a magic man in the sky just because a book tells you to.


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## JayDivision

I became an atheist at 14 when I start questioning why would a loving god create a horrible place like hell knowing that he created people that he knows will end up there. Plus I feel like if there's a creator, that we have the wrong idea about what it is.


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## the fella

I enrolled in college and started taking biology courses. I realized that a God was not a prerequisite for life.


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## WalkingOnBothSides

My parents failed at indoctrinating me. I've always been an atheist, but I've become an explicit atheist, instead of an implicit atheist.


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## sqrkbkwmqko

I chose to believe that if I can't know for sure, then I should not believe nor disbelieve.

Both of my parents assume things too much to the point of causing pain and inconvenience. Let us just say that I was hurt enough to realize that we need to be sure of things before stating them as truths.

That is when I started questioning my beliefs. Only months later though, did I drop my religion.


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## aveek

Religious mother, atheist father. It was no contest.


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## Aribeth

I stumbled upon a website called Why Won't God Heal Amputees? when I was around 10 or so. 1 hour later, I was an Atheist. It just instantly made so much sense.


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## Green Eyes

I just grew up like that. I have never believed in god. I never questioned it. It never made sense to be, that whole story about a god creating the world. There isn't any real prove for it. I have started to read the bible, and I just know it can't be true, because other things are scientifically proven to be right. Also, I just don't like what is written in the bible.


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## breezyfun711

*?*

I was born an atheist just like everyone else...


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## SunshineSam218

I'm not sure how to answer this but to sum it up, a lot of horrible things happened when I was younger and I started to question Religion at a very young age. Ever since that happened to me, I never followed the Bible.


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## tonyhd71

I didn't want to place my faith into something I'm sure is a lie. Makes no sense giving yourself false hopes and worshipping a fairytale. 

I didn't want to limit myself. As an atheist I don't have to worry about pleasing god, doing what god wants etc.


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## No Talking

Hmm. This is a really hard question. Mostly, no real evidence that god exists. I was christened nondenominational as a baby because there are so many religions in my family, and my parents decided that I need to be the one to decide what religion to follow. I bet they weren't considering that I wouldn't follow any of them.

I find that too many religions have a hateful, jealous god, and religion and god in general are used to justify discrimination and hate crimes. 

Religion and god as we know them make absolutely no sense to me. If I were to worship anything, I would worship nature. I know it sounds hippyish, and yes, I am a bit of a tree hugger, but I believe in the circle of life. I mean I buried my dead pet rat under a plant.


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## dontwaitupforme

I live in a country full of religious zealots, the more exposure i had, the more it steered me into looking for different answers and reasoning.. why?


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## Icantw8

Though not an Atheist anymore, I choose to remain secular in part because of the misconceptions explained by the religious. I became like this in 2012 when I left church and realized that this so called "GOD" doesn't really give a damn about my existence and everything ever told to me in Church was merely giving me a false sense of hope. 

Religion hasn't done anything to me. I wasn't able to transform and become blessed as it had claimed. I started to realize this as I saw that so many people out there were doing far better than other people without putting just as much effort as those people and that got me thinking, "How could such a god allow this to happen?" Well, that pretty much became my wake-up call and the next thing, I completely abandoned all religion to a point where I actually became hostile towards it. 

If you want to know my actual religion, I have my own religion which is called Logic - basically everything in the universe is bound by reason. That is pretty much it. Religion is simply an organized set of beliefs so I believe Logic can be a religion.


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## ugh1979

Icantw8 said:


> If you want to know my actual religion, I have my own religion which is called Logic - basically everything in the universe is bound by reason. That is pretty much it. Religion is simply an organized set of beliefs so I believe Logic can be a religion.


I'd say calling that a religion is pointless. Why even bother when the term religion has so many connotations that aren't applicable? It's more likely just going to confuse people about what you believe.


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## deeeanabanana

The God my family taught me about, that watches me like a stalker and dictates how I am supposed to lead my life in order to be happy and get into this paradise, scammed me. I did absolutely everything the way he wanted it, I was a good girl, obedient and I could even say "good at heart" and I got what I got, that is being very miserable constantly. My life turned pretty crappy in the last 6-7 years and using the line "Gods knows why this happens" gave some sort of cushion to mabye not try to change things myself and then during the last year when I pushed myself to be best and change the life around me I realized, it must be this "man" really hates me. I rather not make myself more miserable believing in another person who doesn't love me and enjoys laughing at my fail tries. So I'm on my own right now and it gives me great tranquility to think there is no one watching me or caring, just me and that when I die, that's it, that's the end.


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## Kind Of

I hold an Agnostic-Atheist view on deity, but refuse religious or nonreligious association. I originally only wanted to switch religions from my family's, but I hated every one I looked into. Well, not the religion, more so the people who were so obviously obsessed with slapping meaning on the meaningless and fleeing real-life that I couldn't in good conscience associate myself with them. They diluted and sullied the experience for me, and I've really only found my place in solitude and in reading books on logic and critical thinking in addition to philosophy, science, and various select spiritual or metaphysical topics. 

Religion or lack thereof pretty much forces me to choose between two terrible options for who I'm associated with in flash-judgments, and often who I'm actually around:
1) To Hell with science, I believe what I feel and what I'm told! Science, skepticism, and critical thinking threatens to destroy what makes me comfortable, so I try to avoid it.
2) To Hell with faith, none of that is real and is mutually exclusive with science. There is only what has currently been validated, and searching for or believing in anything beyond our current capacity makes you a fool. 

If it weren't so interspersed with crazy, if I had to be anything perhaps I would join forces with Thelema.


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## 58318

I feel like I always was one, just grew out of god in the same way I grew out of Santa. That's why its not a big deal to me and I don't feel the need to talk about it much. I never replaced one ideology with another, I never had any to begin with.The newly converted (to anything) are the most annoying.


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## Yer Blues

Cancer.

Watching various relatives in my life endure this horrible disease and at fairly young ages made me start to question an all powerful empathetic being. These were kind decent people who did a lot of charity work. And being a deist to me means you might as well worship a neutrino or dark matter.


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## forgetmylife

because you're ****ing psychotic if you believe in an invisible man who does favors for you!


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## Liverpool1993

I became an atheist when I could come up with coherent thoughts of my own.


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## ShadowWraith

I found no reason to believe in any gods.


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## darkhoboelf

Because I think


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## Pennywise

George Carlin was the catalyst for me. I had never _really_ taken religion seriously as a kid, but when I discovered Carlin and his commentary on religion it really made me question what I was "believing" rather than just half-heartedly going along with it.


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## ugh1979

Pennywise said:


> George Carlin was the catalyst for me. I had never _really_ taken religion seriously as a kid, but when I discovered Carlin and his commentary on religion it really made me question what I was "believing" rather than just half-heartedly going along with it.


This is why the likes of Islam oppresses comedy and satire which addresses it, as it can do a very good job of showing the fallacy of it.


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## tooljunkie

BreakMyFall said:


> I looked around and saw everyone follow the leader like they were zombies.
> 
> I refused to conform.


Speaking of zombies, if Jesus was real, wouldn't him rising from the dead make him the first documented zombie?
:yes


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## forgetmylife

Pennywise said:


> George Carlin was the catalyst for me. I had never _really_ taken religion seriously as a kid, but when I discovered Carlin and his commentary on religion it really made me question what I was "believing" rather than just half-heartedly going along with it.


same here. he really makes you think and has a way with words


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## BreakMyFall

tooljunkie said:


> Speaking of zombies, if Jesus was real, wouldn't him rising from the dead make him the first documented zombie?
> :yes


Hahaha, well, yeah that's if you believe he was a puppet but anyway, I respect him for all the crap he put up with people, sounded like a nice, calm lad but I don't believe he's god, maybe just a prophet.

If there was media back in the days .. maybe so, depends on how you interpret it


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## Jonatan

To me it doesn't feel like I became an atheist, I just never became religious, which makes me an atheist.


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## simon234

When I became aware of the book, The Origin of Species.


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## Wren611

I was an intelligent 6 year old.


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## kageri

I was born that way. My family has no religion and I was never taught to follow religion. I heard from other people and I learned about various religions on my own but I never decided to believe in one.


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## kivi

I don't understand why god needs worshiping. I don't believe in a person's reliability if they are behaving well because of the idea of heaven or hell. It doesn't seem right. I also hate dogma. And I believe in evolution.


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## Zyriel

Was born like that lol. Although when I was little I used to ask what my "purpose" was, and used to see this "book of life" with a tree on the cover, that was supposed to tell me my "reason" for existing (in my head lol). So that question has always been on my mind, as for religion, unless I believe in a tree, possibly Yggdrassil, the Sephirot, or the Chakras represented in the human body metaphorically, then nope lol. Worshiping said, tree? Nope, revering, possibly^^


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## TabbyTab

Started thinking for myself


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## Last of the Time Lords

I can't pinpoint exactly when and why I became an atheist. I guess that I just gradually realised that religion doesn't make sense. And I wasn't very religious to begin with. I distinctly remember that I used to pray a lot some time in 5th grade but even then I never actually thought about why I believed in god.


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## Cmasch

I remember around 12 or 13, i couldn't stop thinking about how boring church and church classes were. I told my mom i didn't want to go anymore, and it fell in place from there.


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