The World's Largest Coalition of Nontheists and Nontheist Communities!

What made you become atheist?

Title pretty much says it all, but I became one because:

-Catholicism's ideology just didn't make sense

-I had some major issues with their core beliefs

-my Confirmation program at my church made me really think about what I was believing

-I just don't think that this God that I was brought up with exists.

-My mom constantly imposing on me made me realize that a life with religion was not a life I wanted to live at all

-I believe man created God, not the other way around.

I am interested in your experiences :) so do tell!

0 members like this

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Dustin Scott on June 20, 2010 at 11:31am

Well i'm sure my story isn't special really in any way, but I suppose, i'm in the mood to go into details. Please forgive its length.

Even as a child, i never really cared much for religion, of-course there were the ages below 10 where I pretty much took my parents opinion on everything.
For example the night I was so called "saved" I was probably around the age of 7 or 8 and i went to mom's room crying "Oh what's wrong honey? nightmare? Thats the devil's work if you ask Jesus into you're heart he'll make them go away". Needless to say i believed this since my mom said it was true. Of-course, i still had nightmares from time to time, but its not something I'd notice right away, I rarely dream.
Even though that may have been the beginning of me realizing my parents bullshit.

My skepticism on the things they told me were probably a result of my parents in ability to keep their word. That and their inability to actually explain why i was punished most of the time. Ex: "Why am i in trouble?" "YOU KNOW WHY" "...no i don't?" "QUITE LYING YOU KNOW WHAT YOU DID DON'T DO IT AGAIN *spanks*".

There was also my exposure to what i'd call a religious brainfuck of a person. One particular experience that i will never forget is when me and my cousin where at his grandma's house (The religious brain-fuck in question). We were playing yoshi story. If you're not familiar with it, it's a child's video game for the nintendo 64 and when i say its a children's game, i don't think a game can be more of a child's game than yoshi story.
There we were minding our own business playing a game in between the two church meetings we were forced to attend on sunday, when i failed to make a jump and fell in a pit. Upon said fall i said "Crap, I died", apparently my cousin's grandma was in the other room listening to us, which prompted her to say "*gasp* You can die in that game? Dying is satan's work!" She forced us to cut off the game saying it was too violent, or unchristian i can't remember exactly and then she confiscated it. Apparently Yoshi's story was to violent for us. We spent the rest of the day being miserable. Being a quiet awkward kid that i was, i didn't socialize well, so taking away my entertainment doomed me to sitting somewhere quietly waiting for time to pass. And thus one of the many causes of my resentment toward Christianity in particular as a child.
At this point i was already agnostic, I knew what they believed in couldn't be "right" if people like my parents and my cousin's crazy grandmother were so hypocritical and fake. The skepticism i developed as a result of my parents, kept me from believing anything that wasn't obviously true. Not to say this was bullet proof, they somehow convinced me to be pro-bush and republican in middle school....(i don't know that i've ever thought of a better scenario in my life as to how parents manipulate their kids).
My lack of faith in what my parents believed would remain unmentioned for quite a long time.

A month after graduating high-school the biggest shit storm in my life so far, well hit me.
My senior year had already been miserable, due to me dating a very attractive and also quite insane chick.
Not that bad really, but to add to that my dad died of a heart attack randomly while getting ready for work,about a month after my high-school graduation. To add insult to injury the crazy bitch i was dating cheated on me 2 weeks after my dad's funeral.
This only served to confirm my suspicions that there either was no god, or he didn't give a fuck about me or anyone else.
With each passing year, i leaned more and more toward no god, as i grew more critical of everything around me. By the second half of my junior year of college (about 8 months ago), i was a full-fledged atheist.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Sonny Mobley on June 20, 2010 at 2:36pm

'twas inevitable for me. Too naturally inquisitive and irreverent.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by shiloh shambaugh on June 20, 2010 at 3:58pm

well it started with my brother when he confessed to being fundamentalist. i just could not see how he could take the bible literally. that stared me on a course to be curious about other peoples religion. so i decided to ask people what they believed. it varied but they were mostly christian obviously. then one time i asked a few people at one of my jobs what they believed and most of them were fundamentalist. oh yeah i was living in Indianapolis, Indiana at the time. anyway they had gotten together for breakfast communicating about the bible and had read a little of the gospel. then interpreted it afterwords or during. all were inconsistent which did not help my belief in god. they disagreed with each other on the details. some would even agree on contradicting terms. at that time i realized that no fundamentalist really ever took the bible literally. they were no better than anyone's belief in god including mine which put my belief into question. my reasons in believing were no better than theirs. though i did not stop believing it was just hard. then i was talking to my friend at my other job (he is an atheist) i had told him that i believed because i was afraid to die. he stated simply that when i die i die and that friends and family will remember me. i did not find it comforting but it felt true. so after that i slowly drifted to the dark side. ha ha ha!!!

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Becca on June 20, 2010 at 4:12pm

Nothing made me become atheist. I chose to become atheist because there is no reason to think that god exists and there exists no evidence in god's favor.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by dr kellie on June 20, 2010 at 4:22pm

I spent several years letting go of god, due to being brainwashed since early childhood. It was hard. But one of the things that really polished it off was the realization that xtians will believe anything, even if it makes no sense. This is evidenced by the email I get from my religious family. Do they really believe that you can unlock a car with a tennis ball and that Obama is the antichrist, etc? Don't expect me to give respect to your calls on my skepticism if you believe all that hooey AND Noah's ark, and all those other fairytales.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Adia Lynette on June 20, 2010 at 7:54pm

I actually studied it. Not just the Holy Books themselves, but their histories. Going to a Jesuit university meant that I read the works of Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, The Lives of St. Frances and Anthony, Monasticism versus Scholasticism, and a million other things I can't remember. I once heard someone say that if you want to make an atheist, send them to the Jesuits. It's so true!!!

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Hendra on June 21, 2010 at 7:35am

1) used to be religious Buddhist

2) history of religions and science

3) joined christian Bethany,bible study, tried Scientology (the most stupid things i ever did in my life)

4) constant religious conflict in my country

5) Richard Dawkins

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Sameer on June 23, 2010 at 5:49am

That is the easiest question ever in my view...Simple.....
I was an atheist since i was 16 or so, i think. Its not like before 16 i was strictly religious.I dont know what was going on that time.I stopped praying after that.Its not like, i prayed a lot before.I prayed,but very less.Never had interest to do that.Just i prayed some as the family use to do.So iam an atheist always. I didnt changed myself to atheist by seeing any website or someone told me to....Its easy to understand these. For everything there should be a Proof. And there ain't no proof that there is a GOD.

So GOD created everything ...for religious people(But he wont show himself / Wont do anything ..very nice) GOD is in everywhere(Buildings,sky ?Ever),,,Alright...
So GOD is watching the the bad people who are enjoying themselves(rape,killing etc..so on) and will only punish them after they are dead and reaches him.And why he have to wait that long ? Does this makes any sense ?

Why he has to allow bad people enjoy here ?
How he can create a Bad Human being ?

Theists talk about the Holy book as proof always...Bible, Quran..?Ever .God gave it ..like that. There is a limit for anything...this is too much.
So where is that Manly God...who can see and talk ? Where ?
Any book is written by a Human being only.....

Theists always talk like they have seen GOD in real.But they have not seen anything...just by reading tales from a book.

Many good people are dying daily in many ways(Accidents,Natural disasters,Human killing Human,Animal killing Human,etc...so on).
Why cant the GOD stop it from happening.So he is enjoying it ? So he will create a living thing & destroys whenever he wants ?
Its not like that.Actually he cant do anything,because he never exists.
Human beings discovered many things and also that religion / God stuff. Some of the Early Humans created the Religion thing to take control of others.

The things i said above came to my mind long before and i changed. Simple.....

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Secular Forces 2013 on June 24, 2010 at 3:18am

art, pot, meditating amongst mangroves/reefs, love, death, taxes, driving, near death experiences, youtube, hang-overs, science and did I mention cheaters that never prospered only in their jockish-corporate-dramalayden-über xtian-jewish spit on the little guy attitudes at my many jobs... that bottom line is a drag; oh and my many many ex-satanic friends (ok, so I went through too many years of screw faces from the posh priests and their annoying sheeple)

payce!

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Gold Guy on June 24, 2010 at 9:38am

God!

Sorry, couldn't resist the bad joke.

Seriously though, I think it was an unavoidable outcome of my early fascination with science and science fiction. As a kid I loved dinosaurs and space travel and would spend my recess period in the library reading the encyclopedia. I was raised Southern Baptist ("free will," fundamentalist) and even was baptized at age 12. Within a year I had rejected all religion and set out on a quest to judge everything rationally and live my life through logic. Until very recently I called myself an agnostic because of the argument that we can never know for certain. Now I embrace the term atheist because nothing is certain and the existence of god clearly falls into the extremely improbable range, along with all fairy tales.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by JayBarti on June 25, 2010 at 11:14pm

As a kid I loved dinosaurs and space travel and would spend my recess period in the library reading the encyclopedia.

Dinosaurs were the best thing ever, I am still fascinated by them, in my own life time the brontosaurus became extinct, and birds became dinosaurs with feathers.