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Is Atheism A Choice?
The title is pretty self-explanatory. I had just assumed that after my research and falling out, I chose to be an Atheist. The other day I was speaking to my brother, and he said that to him Atheism wasn't really a choice. And in a way it's true. I don't think I could ever force myself to return to Christianity or believe the things I was taught. I'm kind of stuck, really. So, what do you think? Is atheism a choice?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Mark R. Stevens on -
OK -I'm with you and your explaination is very well thought out. Where would that leave us in the case of choosing food from a menu, clothes from a catalog, cars from a car lot, colors, flavors, movies, etc. These must fall under your catagory of 'some choices'?
Most definately agree that free will and choice are questionable which no doubt gets back to the original question of whether or not atheism is a choice.
I would like to think, as I stated, that I do have free will. Perhaps that is my ego believing I am more in controll than I really am.
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Permalink Reply by Merelen on -
I wouldn't call it a choice, but then, I never had to put up with being taken to church and introduced to the whole god idea.
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Permalink Reply by Leon on -
Meh you could have been agnostic at very least w/o religion, so i think that makes it atleast partly a choice.
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Permalink Reply by Nick Blair on -
Well, before you come to believe in a god, you are an atheist. Everyone is an atheist at birth, because no newborn has the capacity to understand, let alone accept, the existence of a god. So, in that way, it is not a choice. As you learn, however, you start to make decisions which will eventually affect the way you view the world. I would say that atheism itself is not a choice, but rather a consequence of other choices which have led you away from a believe in a god, or at least not led you towards one.
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Permalink Reply by Merelen on
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Agreed. Atheism is the default setting. Kids have to be taught about god.
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Permalink Reply by Mark R. Stevens on
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Agreed, they are taught that particular answer to one of their many questions. Like "where did I come from?" (stork) "Who brings the presents?" (Santa Claus) etc.
Children, and people in general, are curious. Religion (and gods) began, and in fact still are, answers to questions that no one could answer: What is lightening, what makes things grow up out of the ground, where do we go when we die.
As skeptics and scientists and, yes, us pesky atheists that won't take god for an answer, continue to search and discover the truth behind the silliness (aka dogma) all things that can be known will ultimately be uncovered...
...and the answers will continue to be much more awe inspiring then the scapegoat shrug off called "god."
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Permalink Reply by Kelly M on -
I totally agree with this! Spot on! For me not a choice. There were no choices involved at all for me. If you don't believe, then you don't believe. I never did, and to this day still don't believe in the invisible god man in the sky. I couldn't even choose to believe, because I could never get around my logic. What puzzles me is how others can choose to ignore that nagging little voice in their head called logic and rationality.
Oh wait, that's the debil.......roflmaao!!
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Permalink Reply by Mark R. Stevens on
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Precisely (see Michael Shermer's "Why people believe weird things." Many people will always take the path of least resistance which in this case would be to follow the crowd or the family faith. It takes a hearty (mechanical) soul to stand apart and choose to find their own answers which is not particularly in our best interests or even a decent survival ethic (it has only been recently that atheists have not been burned for admitting such).
So for the majority of history it has been more a survival tactic, as well as basic psychology, to follow the crowd.
...and your cat does believe in god, and it is you my friend. LOL
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Permalink Reply by Mark R. Stevens on
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That's not completely true, the Earth is the center of the universe, ask any catholic...
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Permalink Reply by Kelly M on
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Well then, your cat is smarter than most of the people I'm surrounded by. lol
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Permalink Reply by Tabi on -
I dont think that for me becoming an Atheist was a choice. I was very young, about 8 years old, attending church, and I remember sitting there and listining to the preacher, and just thinking to myself, what a load of crap!
That then freaked me out, when I started to realize I didnt believe anything I was being taught in church, and I got scared that if I didnt force myself to believe I would go to hell and suffer for all eternity!
I tried to force "god" in my life for about a year to a year in a half, then one morning I woke up happy, because I had come to realize, it was all bull shit!
I was then the most happy I had been in a long time, I started doing my research of evolution, so I could understand better what was happoning to me. I didnt know what I was, or what I was called until I was 12 years old.
But in the end I dont think I chose to be this way, I just think I was too smart to believe the BS that they were trying to shove down my throat.
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