A question for atheists

[DixyHol]

He said 'a credible answer', not a lame cop out that answers nothing.

 

Dont shoot the messenger.

Im just repeating the same thing ive been told when i asked something similar.

[flamingjimmy]

Dont shoot the messenger.

Im just repeating the same thing ive been told when i asked something similar.

 

If you agree that its a complete cop out then you shouldn't have repeated it, or at least indicate somehow that you're being sarcastic.

[frank ryan]

raised and educated as a catholic - I don't think I ever believed it, except perhaps as a young child when I believed in santa and fairies as well - I learned over time that religion is always used to oppress and control people and became anti theistic in my teens.

 

I'm very glad, being atheistic is liberating

[DixyHol]

If you agree that its a complete cop out then you shouldn't have repeated it, or at least indicate somehow that you're being sarcastic.

 

You mean like say id put a question mark on the end or something.

[flamingjimmy]

You mean like say id put a question mark on the end or something.

 

No, not like that. That's exactly the kind of pseudo-socratic technique that's often employed by the religious.

[RootsBooster]

Inspired by Tom Fletcher, and I promise no rules this time

 

Many people go on about theists patronizingly saying things like 'They believe in God because they need something in their lives to bring them comfort'.

 

So my question is how did you become atheist?

 

Any answer is valid, even 'I was always am atheist', but what I'm really looking for is how did you come to the position of 'I don't believe in God' rather than just not believing indifferently, does that make sense?

 

My own position started out as an indifferent non belief and evolved into am active non belief.

 

I never set out to look into religion, I just wasn't bothered, I was of the general (and somewhat naive) position that Christians went to church on Sunday and sinned through the week.

 

However, when I started doing martial arts I started coming into contact with this thing called Buddhism. Anyway, to cut a 15 year plus conversation down a bit through practicing the principals of one religion I learned a great deal more (and great respect) for the other religions, and it was looking at the theistic religions from the outside, but respectfully and with balance that so came to a position of atheism, as opposed to my previous position of indifferent non belief.

 

So what's your story, did you 'arrive' like I did at an atheistic position or do you consider that you just don't believe because, well you just don't believe?

 

I was born an atheist (ie, I popped out of me mum without belief in God) and as I was growing up some people, mostly my primary school headmaster, started telling me about God, the bible and Jesus.

Even as a small child I could see that much didn't make sense and there were huge holes in what I was being told. Whenever I asked questions about what I was being told, I got no answers, just patronising "benign" smiles and dodges/diversions. So I had no reason to believe any of that.

 

As I got a bit older I learned that there were other religions, LOTS of them.

 

Then I learned that Christianity was a very new religion, and that religions tend to have start dates and expiry dates, expired religions becoming known as mythology and new religions often being labelled cults.

 

The older I got, the more I realised there is no reason to believe in any gods. All the evidence suggests that they are all man-made ideas. All the information is written by men (and women) and has very little consistency.

 

I'm not against faith and I think that some people need it, but I was born an atheist and once I was introduced to theism I was not impressed or convinced, so remain an atheist.

 

I DON'T deny the existence of any gods but my view is that it's highly unlikely any exist. There is no reason to believe any do.

 

EDIT: It is only over the last 2 years I read the definition of atheism and realised I am and always have been one. Prior to that I thought an atheist outright denied the possibility of gods and were against religions.

[Hemibr]

The bible is a book with several authors written over decades / centuries.

 

If you put blind faith in any publication created on that basis and with all its contradictions you have to be a part loony.

 

If you try to repair a 2012 car from a 1970 Haynes manual and continually quote the manual as correct then you are going to lose friends fast.

 

You can always take out a Fatwah on Haynes or Henry Ford i suppose but what you cannot do is square the manual with the reality.

 

Moses went up the hill on his own and probably sexed up the commandments anyway.

 

The only doubts i have is that my wife too had a virgin birth...........did the impossible - conceived from a celestial visit whilst i was on 6 months tour of duty.

 

In the current climate shouldnt we be embracing all gods anyway regardless of sex age race ?

 

But on a serious note i think it more important to swear oath of allegiance or sworn testimony on a Haynes manual.

[medusa]

I was raised Christian, by one of the most practical Christian people I can imagine. My mum doesn't tell God he's great by standing in church a lot (which is some people's measure of whether someone is a good Christian) but she has given her life as a volunteer, full time, to helping others by running a voluntary help centre and she's done it with a huge amount of dedication and care for the last 30 years.

 

I spent a lot of my time as a youngster in and around churches either as a Girl Guide or playing in an assortment of bands and orchestras and was therefore, almost by default, assuming a Christian role. I even tried really quite hard to be Christian at some points, including when I first came to Sheffield as a student and met a lot of new people who challenged my opinions on all sorts of things.

 

The single thing that made me realise that I was not Christian was when I was going through my original cancer diagnosis. I had this sudden thought that at times like the night before a really very big operation to remove a tumour, most people would at least have a thought process which led towards praying, even in an absent minded sort of way. I didn't feel the need to pray and I took that as a huge sign that I actually didn't believe in God like so many people around me appear to do.

 

I'm not any sort of radical- I live a life that I don't think many Christians (or those of most other faiths) would have an issue with- and I don't have an issue with anybody who does have faith either. I live my life how I choose and others live their lives as they choose, I don't try to convert anybody to my way of life and I'd appreciate the same respect from others.

[fake]

No believer has ever come up with a credible answer as to why humans can be so evil at times if god created us in his image.

 

 

Perhaps its because this God in himself is capable of performing evil deeds. Read the Bible and you will read just how evil he can be in sending plagues, floods famine and death to those who wont do as he says. He is jealous and very malevolent, not a very good start when wanting praise.

 

In the words of Roger Waters:

 

"What God wants God gets, God help us all"

 

I don't believe in any religious God as all the time there are many God's then non of it make any sense.

[frank ryan]

if there is a god, he's a bloody sadist and should be told!

 

we were told that the bad stuff is all part of god's great plan - a human with a plan like that would be considered a psychopath - when he was creating nature 'hey hey diptheria, that'll get em worried, hang on a minute malaria, oh I'm good'

 

god can go and do one.