why are you an atheist?

[Kharybuce]

Thread Topic

Why are you an Atheist?"

Why would I be religious?  

[BitchesBrew]

Almost all popular religions are based on fear. If there was a god he wouldnt need his messageres to instel fear to get people to beleive. Also i doubt if there was a god that he would let so many terrible things be carried out in his name, it would rather be just humble with all of these huge places of worship. Now i dont use science as much of a arguement against religion because a god has the power to do anything. But religion just seems like bull.  

[Atheist_Saint]

I was born a Christian as well as many people in this guild but through out my high school experience I was shown many religions (Wicca, Paganism, etc...) and after hours of debating I have come to the conclusion that there was no God. Many people believe in God and that is what makes Christianity what it is. I think if everyone sat down and thought about science and religion maybe their views would change.  

[E_Night]

I am athiest because I always thought that if theres so many different religions worshiping different things that they can't all be right. I believe their all wrong.

Origionaly gods were created as things people didn't understand such as the sun. Ra also called atum~ra (from egypt) was said to controll the sun. Or Nut who is said to swallow the sun everynight and give birth to it every morning.

I believe the last things we are not sure of is Creation and death, and how we came to be here. gods are merly the fillers for the blanks of life  

[IDTgoo]

its stupid
and
any god is real
why are all of our lives so ******** up  

[cup_noodles]

I'm an atheist just because of the fact I was shown the Bible, read it, thought about it, and thought "Wow, some guy had a lot of free time on their hands." It just never made any sense and it contradicted itself too many times for me to accept it.

 

[Dread Dionaea]

I've been Athiest as long as I've known Santa didn't exist, hahaha. I was four years old and my mom was driving me to school around Christmas time. I asked her out of the blue, "How can Santa exist when he has to deliver a bunch of presents in one night?". My mom told me it was magic and then I asked "Well can't you just wrap the presents in different paper and SAY it's Santa?". She shook her head and then admitted that was what she did. So I did the same thing in turn with the tooth fairy, leprachauns, the Easter bunny, and finally when I was done I realised something.
God. God is only said to exist because people said so. Proof of God is the Bible, and much like wrapping presents in different paper it would be all too easy for people to write the Bible and then claim that it was divenely inspired. Although my mom was amused by my descisions on the other mythical figures she got incredibly mad when I included God in there.
Even now even though I moved out of my parents' house every damn time she calls or visits (I live 1,800 miles away so not too many visits) she STILL tries to convert me. sad  

[[Subject to Availability]]

Well, I remember going to a christian school (public one at that), singing hymns and saying prayers and whatnot.

However, despite being told this god exists, I never actively believed in such a creature (could say that is atheist - without a belief in a deity). It wasn't until I was 7-8 at eldest when I sat and thought.

Then I laughed. And proceeded to not sing hymns to any fictional deity. Or pray to it.  

[Meisugi_Jaganshi]

I don't really believe a greater power exists and has decided a fate for us. Who really knows where all this (I'm talking about the universe) came from, but I don't think any being in particular created it. I don't believe in the whole "Heaven" and "Hell" thing and how you spend eternity depends on what you do in life. I prefer what I know and what can be proven to anything higher and ungraspable (if that is a word).  

[Sanguvixen]

I don't think I ever really became Atheist. That would imply I once believed in a god. I never did have the luxery of the second part.

When I was young I was forced to go to a Sunday School. Pretty much everything started there.

I had this philopshy at the time that if you can't ask questions, and get answers that it's not worth being a part of. I also began to view religion a one big bribe. That had to do with how they bribe us with candy. Then later on I found out not much changes when you get into the other parts of religion. It is still a bribe, only you replace candy with the idea of a heaven.

I always asked questions at church, and I was never given satisfactory answers. When I got older I decided that religion was just one big feel good delusion, and I wanted nothing to do with it.

The older I got, the less sense the idea of a diety or god made. Then I got into my mid-teens and figured out there was a term for one who doesn't believe in god, or religion...and that is how I came to consider myself an Athiest.

I'm pretty open minded about almost everything. I just happen to believe in one less god than most Thiests do. I have no problem with others being religious as long as they have no problem with me.

 

[Yami_Ichi]

I was a really strong christian up until about 2 years ago. I was having doubts about my religion, so I went to my friends, and pastor. All I wanted was the answer to one simple question, "What has God done for you in your life?" I needed proof, because I was doubting that he was even there.

I went to every christian I could think of, asking them this question. They would either say, "Wow.. He has just done so much that I cannot pick one.." or they would give me something that was a total coincidence [sp?].

I started to see that Christians had no real mind of their own. They believed what they were told if you could give them something from the bible that would back it up. And I came up with my theory, kind of modified from one that I heard a while ago.:

When you want to prove something, your mind will twist circumstances to make you think that what you believe is true.

Example: "Spiritual gifts" Christians tell me that "God has blessed" me with a wonderful voice. What they don't know is that I put in hours of practice, training, and more practice. God did not give me anything, and they have to give credit to him for something I worked so hard to achieve.

And they will twist coincidences to say that that was God working in their lives.

So, basically, I became an atheist after I opened my eyes and got some real insight on what I thought about things.

 

[Xiporah]

I wasn't raised religiously and when I was old enough to think about religion, nothing I tried to get involved in felt right, nor was I willing to put the effort into caring. I tried praying when I was 11 for a while, but it felt weird and very unnatural.

I tried paganism and wicca, but that felt like a sideshow circus to me. I felt like I was a fraud for even being there because I didn't believe in any of it.

 

[Sanddru]

Firstly because I just dont believe there is any god/goddess or anything similar

Secondly because I'd rather look for answers, than just having a religion make them up for me  

[Ignorance is Your Disease]

I was originally of an agnostic position, in that if a higher power were to exist, it would exist beyond human understanding.
Eventually I began to see this as hypocritical and flawed (in my own perspective) because it claims to understand the mechanics of humans and God without actually explaining anything, and takes a very close-minded position about everything -- "I don't know and you don't either." This not only limits your own views, but simultaneously shuts down others' as well. I strive to maintain an open-mind as much as possible.
In a purely objective sense, I simply do not believe in God, and would have a very hard time holding faith in something intangible which existed within my own perception alone. Because I realize that this is the basis of faith, it becomes impossible for me to share in it.
While I don't rely on science to explain everything, I also notice that science, by itself, is universally acceptable regardless of cultural boundaries, is concrete and logic based, and by its nature does not claim to explain anything that it cannot prove already. Thus it is exponentially less likely to be affected by outside factors or stir serious conflict. It is decisive. I can accept the fact that human knowledge continues to grow, and that there are many things which will simply never be explained in my lifetime. I feel comfortable enough with the world that I don't need a security blanket in the form of Creation Theory.
I appreciate the Bible as a very important piece of Literature, which contains many symbolic statements about human nature. Unfortunately, most people who make the Bible an important part of their lives do not see it in the same light.
Another point for me is the existence of so many different religions worldwide, each with its own deep cultural ties. This drives home the fact that religious beliefs are a social construct which give humans morals, motivation and a sense of security. This is not something I appreciate being handed to me. Especially not when it associates being ignorant, corrupt and violent.
...
My mother is religious and doesn't understand my critical mindset, is alarmed by it, and seems to believe that I'm being immature.
I found the Asperger's topic a little while ago fascinating... Although I do not have this quality, I was always a very scientific child, I spent hours and hours pondering and researching a topic until i understood it... My father couldn't explain things and I would "get out of control" whenever my behavior did not suit others' view of the world. Basically, I was well ahead of the curriculum in elementary school, and my boredom was interpreted as insolence.  

[Status Quo Joe]

I was Brought up a Non-Practicing Non-denominational Pretty Liberal Democrat...so naturally I learned about how bad the church was...I read the bible and decided it was bull.