How does one become an atheist?

[jake-the-peg]

Tweaker asked this in the thread on JWs

Personally I grew up in a familly that wasn't particularly religious, and it slowly grew on me.

I certainly remember at the age of 12 the Headmaster doing a role call of who was Christian, Jewish etc. and then asked "any others" - I put up my hand and said I was an atheist.

There then followed much consternation and d bluster before he said rather arrogantly "Well I hope you find a religion one day"

I guess that was when I first identified myself as an atheist.

How about the rest of you? Do you remember when you first identified yourselves as atheists?

[rojash]

From the age of four I attended Sunday School, and every fourth week, Church. From the age of (I think) seven, I also attended Scripture Union every Friday evening, and from the age of nine, a scripture group called "The Covenanters" every Sunday.

Thus, I was fortunate enough to gain the knowledge and insight required to convince me it was all bollux.

I think the defining moment was probably at around the age of ten, when my brother and I were beaten up by the other "Covenanters" for daring to question some of their beliefs.

[RATTER15]

During my school years I always found it difficult to sort in my head why I was being told that God created everything etc. in my R.E classes and all about Evolution in my biology, history classes.

I used to go to Sunday school every week and started having bible classes once a week. I found even then that I was challenging things in the bible that just sounded very silly and often just very wrong, morally and scientifically. I delved deeper and deeper and found it more and more ridiculous. The day I quit my Bible classes (age 11)was the day I became an Atheist and I have only seen sense in Atheism ever since, and the more I learn about religion the more ridiculous it appears.

[nailit]

I was born an atheist. I certainly wasnt born with a belief in any god.

[andy-hughes]

As a child I considered my relationship with God very seriously, but it gradually dawned on me that there was actually nothing 'there'. This sat with me far better than the notion that all the ills of the world are because of Man's sin - and I grew to accept that this is simply the way the world is. Things happen - good and bad.

My wife is a devout Catholic, and i watched helplessly as her health was broken and her faith virtually destroyed by the actions of the church over a case of an abusing teacher in the school where she was Head. If I needed any more convincing that the Catholic church has nothing to do with any God, and far more to do with the machinations of emotionally retarded celibates who have their daily lives looked after for them, leaving them free to plot and scheme to protect each other - then that incident sealed it for me once and for all.

Religion is slowly dying in the western world, because it is an optional 'add-on' which people choose not to take up. Religion is growing in the eastern world because it is woven into the fabric of peope's lives as surely as eating and drinking.

I will not mourn the death of Christianity - I will not be here to see it - but i will rejoice that the harm doen in its name will die with it.

[daffy654]

I was brought up in the care system, in one of the homes we were forced to go to church, Sunday school and Scripture classes and I hated every second of it. I could not fathom this being who was supposed to love and protect children but would allow the horrible things that happened to me, to happen. As I grew older I realised that religion is just other people's way of abdicating responsibility for their failings by claiming it as god's will.

[Hopkirk]

I went through the usual religious brainwashing, but realised during my teens what utter bunkum it all is.

It baffles me how highly intelligent people can still believe in this tosh.

[sandyRoe]

I think many atheists could be considered the JWs of the non-believing world. Some of them display similar characteristics.

[nailit]

Really sandy? I dont recall any atheists knocking on my door trying to convert me.

[Jenarry]

I remember being asked who didn't believe in god in my first RE lesson in 1st year secondary school when i was 10yrs old. straight away i put my hand up. my parents had never brought me up as religious as mainly my mum had a terribly strict religious upbringing....having to go to church everyday and twice on sunday which had left her very negative about the whole thing. i remember being dead certain of my reaction but a little embarassed when i realised i was the only one who had put their hand up.cringe!
it never made me question my feelings though as i'm still an atheist 30 yrs on.

[andy-hughes]

sandyRoe - based on previous posts, i think you re deliberately trying to be provocative, comparfing aetheists to JW's.

But one of the great advantages aetheism haas over christianity is that aehteists are perfectly happy with their abesnce of belief, there is no pressure on them to try and make sure that other people feel as they do.

[Old_Geezer]

Does one become atheist ? How does one become anything ? I was atheistic as a child in the sense that I asked questions for which I was given no satisfactory answer, so I was suspicious of the whole thing. Then as I grew older I realised I was being arrogant to insist there was no God or Spiritual plane since I didn't know, I just didn't have information so I became agnostic. And since then I've have experiences which lead me to believe survival of bodily death is likely and who knows, there may be a supreme spirit out there too somewhere. May find out at some point.

[rowanwitch]

I went to church as a child... sang in the choir for a while, sunday school and girls club... my mum and a friend cleaned the church, but even as a small child I asked awkward questions... like where exactly is heaven? and if its real why can't you see it with a telescope etc... I think they found my suggestion that the virgin could only have had a female child (early understanding of genetis) so Jesus was a girl a little taxing but I still see my old Sunday school teacher who says I am the one she never forgot but I knew early on what I was told was a load of rubbish but it exercised my little brain so the process was a good one

[ludwig]

We're all born as atheists - it's the default position. Some of us become something else, and some say as we are.

Some of those who became believers go back to being atheists, but I wouldn't even describe that as 'becoming' one, just reverting to the natural state.

[China Doll]

I was brought up a catholic. I always found church incredibly boring and looking back I can see now that I just never believed in any of it, I spent a lot of my time wishing I was somewhere else and really just not understanding the point to any of it. As I got older and learnt more I grew more and more opposed to organised religion and then duly broke my mother's heart when I refused to make my confirmation as I wanted no part in the catholic church or any other organised religion, (I think she still thinks it's a 'phase I'm going through'... I'm 33). Going through my teenage years I don't think I actually came outright and said 'I just don't believe in God and never have' until I was 18 or possibly even early 20's (don't really remember); it was always just assumed that I had a problem with organised religion (for good reason as I had stated that) but that ultimately I believed in 'something'. Even now I have a couple of girlfriends who I've known since I was 14 who still can't believe that I literally believe there is 'nothing' out there. But I'm happy with my thoughts and can still remember the relief I felt when I got to a point where I was confident enough to tell my mother that 'I'm not going anymore, it means nothing to me' in regards to our church visits and indeed social functions etc... my mum has (and always will) played a massive part in her church community.

So I guess I was always an athiest (by definition that I simply don't believe in any kind of deity) but it took a long time to learn what an 'atheist' actually was and to be able to articulate it. :c)

[venator]

All children are born without any beliefs.

Depending where they are born, they are exposed to the beliefs of that society, and many will conform.

If they reject those beliefs, they may identify themselves as atheists, agnostics, or choose a different belief system.

I was forcibly baptised when a baby, but I'm not interested in religion even to identify myself as an atheist.

It just doesn't matter to me - does that get some sort of classification?

[tweaker]

I don't believe (without proof on either side) anyone is an atheist, one can say they are but where is the evidence there is no divine something or other?. My girlfriend says she is an "atheist", there is always, always even if the spark is not viewable to others that the thought of a creator(s) or thought of "what if" after death. Everybody has it.


Can an atheist prove there is nothing? When even the top scientists cannot make a 100% connection of evolution to humans, and Clergy cannot prove that there is a God? One thing I do know through study is that the bible most certainly is not the word of God.

I am very agnostic, bordering on the "atheist" side, that there is no afterlife etc, which is why I very much read the Stoics, because like the rest of the world, no one can prove concrete evidence to either side whether there is or isn't.

I did watch recently a program, with these questions:

Where do streams come from. Answer: precipitation from the clouds. Ok. Where did the clouds come from, again precipitation, which is caused by the sun. Good. Where did the sun come from? From helium atoms exploding from hydrogen atoms. Where did hydrogen come from? From the big bang, hydrogen being the main element of life. What was before the big bang? NOTHING. And how could a living creator create if there were no elements for it to live.

I believe I have that in the right order. But there are still variants in the nothing...

[vetuste_ennemi]

Some are born atheists, some achieve it and some have it thrust upon them.

[Ankou]

i'm a born again atheist.

well i was born one at least. i don't particularly remember any occasions where i had to declare it to anyone, it just came up in general conversation if asked. i wasn't what you'd call loud n proud, but i didn't hide it. me parents were atheists too inmuch the same fashion.

[jake-the-peg]

Tweaker - there are technical answers to the what came before the big bang question but I won't go into them here, they've been discussed many times before.

The idea that a Universe had no creator is really no more difficult than a God that had no creator.

I think a number of atheist here are unlike JWs more like Pentacostalists. JWs have a instruction to go out and preach it's part of what defines them - there's a difference between that and just *wanting* to tell somebody something that you believe to be true.

I'm interestested to see that many of us had similar early experiences although if I were in the church I would see an interesting group who found the whole religious message "ridiculous"

I'm reminded of an old RE teacher who told me of an early fliirt with atheism when he realised that a whale could not have swallowed Jonah.

It sounds to me that the church loses a lot of kids by giving them an overly simplified version of their religion which it is easy to knock over even by children.

Similarly there is a niaive view of Science - I've lost count of how many people come on here with the idea that they can put Science in it's place by simply asking "What came before the Big Bang?"

But these are analytical reasons for a position - the sort of reasoning that appeals to people like I think many of us here are.

I've noticed that most religious people I meet don't think too hard about the theology - for them Church fills a hole in their lives - it provides community, friendship and a sense or order and purpose, if they have to believe something to get those things then they're ok with that.

It's a mindset many of us find unimaginable - and it's one that's only vulnerable when the church stops providing that, often when they suffer some tragic loss.

I haven't seen any of those atheists post but understandably it might be difficult to talk about.

[jomifl]

So, you have at last become an atheist have you Sandy? I guess it takes one to know one.