GodFearingPerson
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What are some reasons people are Atheist or become Atheist???? I Really need to know why.
Why Atheism???
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LadyInGreen
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G'day,
I am atheist and will respectfully answer your question. I went to Catholic school for 13 years. I identified as Catholic until I was 14, at which point I felt that Catholicism wasn't for me. I began reading the Bible to find out what it was all about. I found that, as a woman, the Bible was not exactly on my side! I was looking around at other Christian denominations but figured that since they all follow the Bible, I couldn't be a part. I was nonreligious theist for awhile, but then decided that God in general would become obsolete. Like Greek and Roman gods, I felt that it would just be mythology, a thing of the past. I could handle myself just fine without praying, and God just didn't make sense anymore. Hope that helped!
I am atheist and will respectfully answer your question. I went to Catholic school for 13 years. I identified as Catholic until I was 14, at which point I felt that Catholicism wasn't for me. I began reading the Bible to find out what it was all about. I found that, as a woman, the Bible was not exactly on my side! I was looking around at other Christian denominations but figured that since they all follow the Bible, I couldn't be a part. I was nonreligious theist for awhile, but then decided that God in general would become obsolete. Like Greek and Roman gods, I felt that it would just be mythology, a thing of the past. I could handle myself just fine without praying, and God just didn't make sense anymore. Hope that helped!
GodFearingPerson
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Yes of course if i were raised Catholic im sure i probably would have become atheist myself. so much contradiction than what the bible teaches like praying to mary/saints. priest forgiving sins. i cannot understand they don't see that. i myself have only been to a catholic church once when a friend died and it was kinda creepy. But let me ask you something..... if you had figured out that there was a God would you not want to seek truth so you could know how it is that someone is saved?? i don't know how else to word it. i am a christian. i believe in God but im not the typical church going christian. i believe that the churches today are teaching false Salvation message and that is why i got kicked out of my church.
An actual Atheist would be someone who has determined in their own mind that God or gods do NOT exist.
I don't believe that an *actual* Christian could ever become an Atheist ...
An actual Christian as opposed to.....?? :idunno:
I didn't think I'd see a non-Christian use the "not a real christian" line.
An Agnostic ... you know, someone who is not convinced that the Christian God exists.
IMO, someone that has doubts about the existence of God is not and cannot be a Christian.
LadyInGreen
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This sounds like the No True Scotsman fallacy, hun.
Not really ... without any indoctrination, if a child is asked how the world began, he would state "I don't know".
The idea that there must be an intelligent designer is one that is taught. I bring this up because so often the argument from fundamentalists is "everyone knows ... it is obvious". This type of argument is a cop out.
bornslacker
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Actually, that's not correct. An atheist is not making the claim that there is no god. An atheist is simply not convinced by the arguments put forth by a theist for a particular god. If presented the question, "Do you believe in god" any answer other than "yes" makes you an atheist, including "I don't know."
To clarify, you said an agnostic would be someone who is "not sure". That's slightly incorrect and comes from a common mistake people make. Most people think there are three different levels.
Atheist = God does not exist
Agnostic = I don't know (atheist light, middle of the road)
Theist = God does exist.
The above is wrong.
Theism and Gnosticism refer to two different things.
Theism = Belief
Gnosticism = Knowledge.
So...
You can combine these terms.
1. Agnostic Atheist = I don't KNOW there is no god, but I don't BELIEVE there is one. (What most atheists are) (No claim has been made).
2. Gnostic Atheist = I KNOW there is no god and I do not BELIEVE in one. (This is making a claim).
3. Agnostic Theist = I don't KNOW there is a god, but I BELIEVE there is one. (No claim has been made).
4. Gnostic Theist = I KNOW there is a god and I BELIEVE in him/her.(A claim is being made).
The question that the original poster puts forth requires additional clarification. To which God/Gods are you referring?
Tyrathca
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Why am I an atheists? The answer to that is another question, why should I beleive any religion? Since I am yet to find an answer I find credible to that latter question I am compeled to disbelieve, to do anything else would be intellectual hypocrisy on my part.
As for my history, I have always been an atheists. Obviously when I was young this was only implicit (i.e. I didn't even know of the concept of god therefore could not beleive it) but when I did learn of it I was never convinced and thus became an explicit atheist (knew of the concept of god but did not accept it as true). I went to a Catholic school for my 6 years of highschool (years 7 to 12 in Australia). Both of my parents are atheists, though they never told me to be one (I didn't even know what atheist meant until I was in highschool). My mother is rather superstitious however (coincidence "mean" something, ghosts, and other spooky stuff) while my dad is far more of a "rationalist" which I have taken after.
So there you go, my atheism in a brief nutshell.
As for my history, I have always been an atheists. Obviously when I was young this was only implicit (i.e. I didn't even know of the concept of god therefore could not beleive it) but when I did learn of it I was never convinced and thus became an explicit atheist (knew of the concept of god but did not accept it as true). I went to a Catholic school for my 6 years of highschool (years 7 to 12 in Australia). Both of my parents are atheists, though they never told me to be one (I didn't even know what atheist meant until I was in highschool). My mother is rather superstitious however (coincidence "mean" something, ghosts, and other spooky stuff) while my dad is far more of a "rationalist" which I have taken after.
So there you go, my atheism in a brief nutshell.
Well we are all born Atheits for a start, it all depends on how we go about avoiding indoctrination.
what does the mother of your son believe?
how do you know when it does make sense?
Viv is an atheist too.
HandyAtheist
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Since the question is simplistic, I'll give a simplistic answer. Why not atheism?
HandyAtheist
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<JK> I was a staunch Pentecostal. I lost my faith before I considered myself an atheist. I guess you could say during that transition, I was unlabeled. I went for weeks pretty disoriented. My world had come crashing down and I was left with what I thought was nothing. I felt completely unsatisfied, sad and hurt. I had be un-indoctrinated, deprogrammed if you will. My faith was so much a part of me that I felt I'd lost all sense of who I was without it.
Now since your question is more geared to why I lost my faith, that requires some real explanation. I was heavily involved with my church and was there four to five days per week. I believed I was part of the grand plan and nothing was going to shake my faith - nothing. God had pulled me through the most troubled times of my life. I owed him my life unquestionably.
Now, as part of a degree program at St. Leo University, I had to take a class called Western Religions (REL223). That class made me very uncomfortable. It started out on Judaism, Christianity and Islam and moved on from there. I did well until I started to read the text book about the origins of the new testament.
I was so ticked off about some of the course content regarding the bible that I protested to the instructor - a catholic priest. He urged me to research the text, cross referencing it with other extra-biblical sources. The more I researched, the more I panicked. I went to my minister and my bible study group asking for their advice. They said I should pray about it, which I was already doing profusely. Recently, our church went through the "Purpose Driven Life" bible study program. So, my knowledge of some of the old testament was refreshed from that. I admit, about 90% of my focus for years had been only on the new testament.
Then I started to learn about how all of the books of the bible were selected, edited, etc. I was massively confused and felt like no one wanted to help me find a resolution. My Christian friends, which were nearly all I knew, didn't want to touch it because they thought I was questioning my faith. They didn't want anything to do with it - other than to tell me to pray and read my bible. The more I read the bible, the less praying I did. I realized I was praying to a vindictive SOB who betrayed his own son.
I got into circular arguments with myself. Why pray if God's will will always be done? What's more powerful: God or free will? The trinity makes no sense in reality and the bible doesn't really explain it to our understanding: what is it? Why does an all powerful God truly care if we praise him? Why did God give us free will knowing that so many of his children would not be convinced of his existence? Why couldn't God forgive us without going through some ritualistic symbolism with his "son"? Etc. the list goes on and on and on. I used to have a bible with so many notes. Now I wish I'd kept it to see the process and pain I went through.
Anyway, once I passed through that door of not believing, it took some time to readjust and re-find myself. I was still here and more curious than ever. I felt free, liberated from my limiting dogma. So I began to revel in my new found freedom. Rather than spend all of my waking hours praying, studying the bible and helping at church, I read and learned, I went to more museums and created more art.
Does that mean we can't all get along? I don't think so. I love my Christian friends who hung around (many of them never wanted to speak with me again) just as much as my Muslim and Jewish friends, just as much as my Buddhist and Hindu friends, just as much as my atheist and agnostic friends. Just because we cannot be religiously compatible, we don't have to be completely incompatible. I think people are generally good-natured. I really don't care what their source of kindness is as long as the intention is genuine. When I give money or food to a beggar with a "God saves" sign or the like, I ask him/her if they will accept a gift from an atheist. They have yet to refuse my kind offering from the heart of one human to another.
Ciao!
Now since your question is more geared to why I lost my faith, that requires some real explanation. I was heavily involved with my church and was there four to five days per week. I believed I was part of the grand plan and nothing was going to shake my faith - nothing. God had pulled me through the most troubled times of my life. I owed him my life unquestionably.
Now, as part of a degree program at St. Leo University, I had to take a class called Western Religions (REL223). That class made me very uncomfortable. It started out on Judaism, Christianity and Islam and moved on from there. I did well until I started to read the text book about the origins of the new testament.
I was so ticked off about some of the course content regarding the bible that I protested to the instructor - a catholic priest. He urged me to research the text, cross referencing it with other extra-biblical sources. The more I researched, the more I panicked. I went to my minister and my bible study group asking for their advice. They said I should pray about it, which I was already doing profusely. Recently, our church went through the "Purpose Driven Life" bible study program. So, my knowledge of some of the old testament was refreshed from that. I admit, about 90% of my focus for years had been only on the new testament.
Then I started to learn about how all of the books of the bible were selected, edited, etc. I was massively confused and felt like no one wanted to help me find a resolution. My Christian friends, which were nearly all I knew, didn't want to touch it because they thought I was questioning my faith. They didn't want anything to do with it - other than to tell me to pray and read my bible. The more I read the bible, the less praying I did. I realized I was praying to a vindictive SOB who betrayed his own son.
I got into circular arguments with myself. Why pray if God's will will always be done? What's more powerful: God or free will? The trinity makes no sense in reality and the bible doesn't really explain it to our understanding: what is it? Why does an all powerful God truly care if we praise him? Why did God give us free will knowing that so many of his children would not be convinced of his existence? Why couldn't God forgive us without going through some ritualistic symbolism with his "son"? Etc. the list goes on and on and on. I used to have a bible with so many notes. Now I wish I'd kept it to see the process and pain I went through.
Anyway, once I passed through that door of not believing, it took some time to readjust and re-find myself. I was still here and more curious than ever. I felt free, liberated from my limiting dogma. So I began to revel in my new found freedom. Rather than spend all of my waking hours praying, studying the bible and helping at church, I read and learned, I went to more museums and created more art.
Does that mean we can't all get along? I don't think so. I love my Christian friends who hung around (many of them never wanted to speak with me again) just as much as my Muslim and Jewish friends, just as much as my Buddhist and Hindu friends, just as much as my atheist and agnostic friends. Just because we cannot be religiously compatible, we don't have to be completely incompatible. I think people are generally good-natured. I really don't care what their source of kindness is as long as the intention is genuine. When I give money or food to a beggar with a "God saves" sign or the like, I ask him/her if they will accept a gift from an atheist. They have yet to refuse my kind offering from the heart of one human to another.
Ciao!
I realized that all of the world's religions are on equal footing -- shaky -- and that I could rationalize my understanding of reality without having to resort to the supernatural. BTW, "rationalize" isn't a dirty word. We all do it. There is no way to make an absolute proof one way or the other, since we're all limited by our senses and intellect.
I have lots of intelligent friends with lots of different mutually exclusive beliefs. What makes an intelligent person believe something that's wrong? What makes you (or me) any better?
How many different interpretations of the Bible do you need to hear to think that maybe it isn't so perfect? How much of humanity do you need to see today to imagine that people will believe anything, say anything, do anything?
The biggest hurdle is being able to accept "I don't know" as an answer. Is there a god? I don't know. But I don't believe there is, and the universe that I experience makes sense that way.
ChrisGergen
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Memento Mori
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Hey bud, how do you mean that - "actual"?
I think it means if you become an atheist or agnostic then you weren't indoctrinated enough to be considered a True Christian®
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