How Did You Become Atheist and Why?

[Sigurd]

Exactly what it says on the tin: What experiences in your life led to your decision to reject the notion of divinity? Which arguments moved you to reject that concept? How did your views in that area mature to your current perception thereof? Etc. Etc. Pp.

[velvet]

Actually it was more the absence of experiences.

People kept telling that God is good and wants all the best for his people and that he loves everyone and so on.
Reality though is quite different from that paradise vision, and there simply was nothing divine about the people's existence, but only suffering and death.
I thought, if God exists and he wants all good for his people, then he wouldnt allow wars and all the suffering.
And then the next problem, there is no way to communicate with (the christian) god. You simply are forced to believe in something completely unprooven. Some naive questions in that direction when I was seven or eight or something was the seed of doubt, that ended in the conviction about his non-existence shortly after. The answers just didnt make any sense and were quickly unveiled as lie and fantasy.

So the existence as atheist was just normal for me. I decided that I neither need the commandments of an imagined god nor the believe in his existence to be a happy human being.

That though didnt leave a complete spiritual void. I'm pretty sure that there is some more between the sky and the earth, but I'm likewise sure that this has nothing to do with the picture the christian belief paints. The spiritual experiences that I made were of a quite different nature, even when I cant describe them exactly. I didnt provoke them, they just happened to me, so I wasnt prepared. But they only came half from the outside, a better desciption would maybe be that something for a moment manifested outside of me which had its origin within me. Well, as said, cant describe that.

The term atheist for me refers mainly to the christian god, which I reject including all its commandments and concepts. Wether real or unreal in its source, the manifestations of this belief are very real, but they are alien and more hostile than friendly, more envying than granting, more evil than good in their nature.
Along with my own maturing and becoming a social being my argumentation against christianity is mainly a socio-psychological one. I'm pretty sure that the religious manifestation of it causes serious psychological defects in humans, due to its nature-denying concept.


Probably I'm on the borderline between atheist and realising the divine, and probable ways to it in heathenism. At least I would have less problems with accepting a pantheon than an envy little desert demon. Not least because the pantheon seems to be more in line with the partly quite different experiences I've made. And this pantheon seems to be in favour of the strength and powers within humans and does not try to suppress them. But the same way I have mainly followed my feelings (it just felt all wrong was first and then followed the logical investigation) when becoming an atheist, the same way I must follow my feelings when becoming a full heathen. I dont think that this is fully a conscious decision alone.

[flemish]

I'm agnostic, so I do believe in the possibility that there's a god or whatever. The reason I tend to doubt the existence of a god or gods is because of all of the crap that goes on in the world. What creator who cares about their creations would allow war, poverty, disease, etc. to go on at the rate that they do in our world?
Also, if there is a god, why did it wait until 125,000 years ago to create us after creating the universe 10 or so billion years ago? I think theists should ask themselves why they believe in something so irrational. If there's a god/creator, who created it(the god itself)?
The reason I'm agnostic and not atheist is due to my fear of death. Every living thing fears it, and I guess for most people believing in life after death makes passing away seem less frightening. For me hoping there is a god is kind of like wanting to believe that wishing upon a star will actually cause that wish to come true. It's just a hope.

[Freigeistige]

I have experienced an extreme lack of evidence in the midst of a search for the correct religion. Since I reject all assertions with no evidence (such as leprechauns), no religion fit my definition of true or even likely.

In my studies of history and science, I have noticed a trend. The scientific method has been humanity's guiding light, and has given us almost every advancement we enjoy. The scientific method has proven itself invaluable to the collection and application of knowledge, and to dismiss it in favour of something that feels good I feel would cloud my thought processes.

[SpearBrave]

So far I am of the church of whats happening now, meaning show me what you have done lately? The christian religion has had nothing happen for 2,000 years and if anything did happen there is no real proof.

I do believe there is something I just do not Know what that something is.

[CambridgeGreen]

I observed many religions are actually derived from primitive beliefs. Therefore, I strongly believe that intelligent individuals shall not believe in god, as nature would be very unforgiving for those who misinterpret them by primitive beliefs instead of logic. We are living under the realm of nature, not gods.

[Wulfram]

I observed many religions are actually derived from primitive beliefs. Therefore, I strongly believe that intelligent individuals shall not believe in god, as nature would be very unforgiving for those who misinterpret them by primitive beliefs instead of logic. We are living under the realm of nature, not gods.

Logic would be the conclusion that we have no evidence to prove that there is or isn't a god. To believe or disbelieve are equally without logic.
Folks, none of us has a clue as to what is really going on (or isn't going on), any attempt at an explanation is nothing more than intellectual flights of fancy.

[Neophyte]

I observed many religions are actually derived from primitive beliefs. Therefore, I strongly believe that intelligent individuals shall not believe in god, as nature would be very unforgiving for those who misinterpret them by primitive beliefs instead of logic. We are living under the realm of nature, not gods.

You could just as well believe that the natural laws were created for a reason and see them as the de facto commands of the gods.

[Sigurd]

You could just as well believe that the natural laws were created for a reason and see them as the de facto commands of the gods.

Yup, as a somewhat analytical type of Heathen, I found much of scientific explanation with the concept of Orlog, the Natural Primeval Law which is immutable.

Essentially, this notion of Orlog does not contradict with science, as anything that is found to be a law of nature, is obviously within the whlole concept.

[Freigeistige]

Logic would be the conclusion that we have no evidence to prove that there is or isn't a god. To believe or disbelieve are equally without logic.
Folks, none of us has a clue as to what is really going on (or isn't going on).

It agree with you that I cannot say that deities do or do not exist. However, with a lack of evidence altogether on their behalf, I experience a lack of theism, which is the meaning of 'atheism'. While we cannot answer the question of the origin of the universe, simply making something up with no evidence to support it only inhibits our search for the actual origin.

I do not replace an uncomfortable unknown with an unsubstantiated story for my own peace of mind, as this would prevent any further search. This is why I subscribe to no religious beliefs.

any attempt at an explanation is nothing more than intellectual flights of fancy

Actually, many attempts to explain it are legitimate scientific theories, and they are tested thoroughly and not accepted until proven. This is not intellectual folly, this is our best chance at understanding the world around us.