Ever wonder why you're atheist?

[laustecoz]

So, I'm probably posting this in the wrong section, I'm new to this site and having a hard time navigating so I apologize.

But, this is a serious question. Have you ever wondered why you ended up atheist? When there are other highly intelligent, logical people out there who are also highly religious?

I am one of 5 siblings, we were all raised going to church, my parents and grandparents and all my friends were religious. I never truly felt like I believed in any of what I was fed. I tried praying, when that failed it further fueled my idea that it was all fake. As I became a teen I rebelled and refused to go to church as did my other siblings. I continued to grow up around others of religion even after I stopped associating with those that I went to church with. I believe my dad was never really religious and only did what my mom wanted, after their divorce I don't think he ever went to church or talked about god/religion in any sense.

My other siblings followed the same path as I for awhile. My eldest brother briefly visited satanic stuff, but I think that was just part of his rebellion. I have never believed or worshiped anything. My younger brother was deeply religious for about 8 years or so and recently decided it was all a sham. My sister has never shown interest in religion until she married her husband, and I'm pretty sure she fakes it.

So anyway, that was a long explanation. My eldest brother recently questioned my dad and asked him how we ended being so anti-religious after being raised christian and had no real devastating reason to believe it was all made up, other than the obvious.. logic.

My dad's answer was, you are half me. I am logical, smart, and free-thinking. Therefore as my offspring, so are you. But as a free-thinker, an intelligent, college educated woman.. I have to wonder, is there more to the story? I know many other intelligent, logical people who do believe in god and I just have to wonder.. why? Why do they believe? They're not stupid, they're not uneducated.. Do they really believe, or are they faking it to be part of something? I used to want to believe, so I could be a part of a group, feel included and such, but I couldn't force myself to pretend. I felt too.. stupid.

[Plu]

Welcome to the forum. You're smart and you ask difficult questions. I like you already.

I'm not even really sure how to answer it, though. My mind skips around, mostly between things like "not accepting authority, only arguments" and "not wanting to belong if it means not being yourself". I'm guessing the answer perhaps lies somewhere in that direction; it takes a lot of willpower to claim you don't want to be part of a big group and I think a lot of groupmembers have their doubts but are either scared or unwilling to part with what they consider their community.

Maybe (lack of) fear of change is also part of it. Many (maybe even most) people would prefer being uncomfortable over actually doing something about it that'll be harder at the start.

I'm not sure. This gives me something to think about I guess :) You'll probably get plenty more answers from other people.

[AllPurposeAtheist]

You were chosen by the invisible spaghetti monster. Don't question it. If you do Big Spooky aka god will fill you with the hole of spirits.  :-$

[AllPurposeAtheist]

Above was my easy answer, but I kind of went through the same thing.  I tried to buy into it. Every time it all came back to the same thing. It was like tossing pennies in a well and making a wish. I knew those pennies were scraped up sooner or later and just put in someone's bank account and my wishes were just in my head because there really are no shopping mall wishing well fairies working for spare change and teh good lawd probably doesn't have much use for punny human trappings such as change in the tithing basket. It's merely a money making enterprise and a way to get your favorite asshole in political office.

[laustecoz]

Thank you for the welcome and I appreciate your answer, even if you felt like you weren't sure how to go about it. You hit the nail on the head though when you said "not wanting to belong if it means not being yourself". I 100% feel that way. As far as authority goes.. it may be why i turned away from religion in my teen years, but now.. no authority figure (unless you count feeling accepted vs rejected) is telling me one way or the other. I don't however disclose my atheism openly, I'm somewhat of a closet atheist because like many communities, mine is full of Christians and I have had too many in the past ask me if i worship satan, they tell me they'll pray for me, or occasionally "aren't you afraid you will go to hell". I'm not insulted, it just makes me laugh inside and roll my eyes that people can be so closed minded and completely misunderstand the meaning of atheism. But generally I stay out of religious conversations to preserve my dignity and avoid the hate crowd that comes along with being open about that sort of thing around here. I rarely meet other atheists, but when I do, I pick their brain. :)

Welcome to the forum. You're smart and you ask difficult questions. I like you already.

I'm not even really sure how to answer it, though. My mind skips around, mostly between things like "not accepting authority, only arguments" and "not wanting to belong if it means not being yourself". I'm guessing the answer perhaps lies somewhere in that direction; it takes a lot of willpower to claim you don't want to be part of a big group and I think a lot of groupmembers have their doubts but are either scared or unwilling to part with what they consider their community.

Maybe (lack of) fear of change is also part of it. Many (maybe even most) people would prefer being uncomfortable over actually doing something about it that'll be harder at the start.

I'm not sure. This gives me something to think about I guess :) You'll probably get plenty more answers from other people.

[laustecoz]

Thanks for your comment. I agree that is just a money making enterprise.. I still can't believe that churches are not taxed. It seriously infuriates me. Separation of church and state should not mean that the church should not abide by the laws that the rest of us do. Our country could be saved if churches were taxed (and also the tax evading bigbiz but thats a whole other bag of worms) - they make an unbelievable amount of money and they're on every street corner. Also, I can't wait until we get someone into office that is atheist. We had many presidents in the past that were and they did great. An atheist in office... I could only imagine the accomplishments.

Above was my easy answer, but I kind of went through the same thing.  I tried to buy into it. Every time it all came back to the same thing. It was like tossing pennies in a well and making a wish. I knew those pennies were scraped up sooner or later and just put in someone's bank account and my wishes were just in my head because there really are no shopping mall wishing well fairies working for spare change and teh good lawd probably doesn't have much use for punny human trappings such as change in the tithing basket. It's merely a money making enterprise and a way to get your favorite asshole in political office.

[Hydra009]

I wonder that as well.  The factors seem to be:

1) natural inclination towards religious doubt
2) upbringing/society (religious doubt encouraged or discouraged)
3) education
4) exposure to other religious beliefs (cosmopolitanism tends to blunt religiosity)
5) exposure to texts/videos critical of religion

Atheists' questionnaires to go in awfully predictable ways - atheists tend to describe themselves as logical, analytical, skeptical, willing to accept hard truths, individualistic, nonconformist, etc.  And INTP.  INTP everywhere.  As such, one's tempted to wonder if there might be certain personality traits that may be predictive of atheism.  Unfortunately, it's not as simple as simply being intelligent, hence intelligent theists.

Though to be honest, the more I look at it, the less atheism (and theism) is a choice and the more it is the end result of factors that one has little/no control over.  After all, who chooses to be who they are?

[AllPurposeAtheist]

There's always the alternative. Toothfarianism! The Tooth Fairy is the only deity I'm aware of who pays cold, hard cash...to children nonetheless.  =D>
Don't tell the creationism crowd,  but dinosaur bones? Made from ground up kids teeth. :-$

[Plu]

I actually think (and I've mentioned this before but you american lot usually ignore it :P) that you shouldn't look at atheism as being the exceptional part. The exceptional part is being willing to go far outside the norm. In the Netherlands, where almost everyone is atheists, just about everyone eventually becomes an atheist, because that's the norm and most people just follow that norm.

It tend to be the smart and outspoken ones who have the guts to stand up for what they believe over what their community believes. I wouldn't be surprised if we have closet-theists here in the Netherlands. Most people in cities and other atheist areas seem pretty quiet about their beliefs, and I think at least part of that is the community attitude towards religion. Down here, it takes the same guts to be openly religious as it does to be openly atheist in the US.

Most of the atheists here would've been theists if they were raised in a more religious area. And most of the theists in the US would be atheists if they were raised here. Not because they truly believe either way, but because they just do what needs to be done to fit in. Most of the talk on this forums goes about atheists would choose atheism despite their community, and it blurs the picture quite a lot imho.

[PickelledEggs]

I don't really wonder why I became an atheist. I know the exact moment my religious world got flipped upside down and the gears started turning.

I know many other intelligent, logical people who do believe in god and I just have to wonder.. why? Why do they believe? They're not stupid, they're not uneducated.. Do they really believe, or are they faking it to be part of something? I used to want to believe, so I could be a part of a group, feel included and such, but I couldn't force myself to pretend. I felt too.. stupid.

I can relate to this on every level.

In the back of my mind, I always think. "There is NO way they actually believe this stuff." It just baffles me. Even when I was religious, I never actually believed that stuff. At most, I believed that Jesus was a real person that healed other people. But then you go to middle school and high school and learn science and math and all of that sounds ridiculous.

On any note. Welcome! :)

[laustecoz]

This is the best answer thus far, thank you for your wisdom.
I am inclined to believe what you said at the end - its not a choice but an end result with which we have little control over. It takes away my hope of ever being able to convert a religious person to an atheist though. I'm not like bible thumpers and try it, but it'd be cool to help someone cross over one day.

I wonder that as well.  The factors seem to be:

1) natural inclination towards religious doubt
2) upbringing/society (religious doubt encouraged or discouraged)
3) education
4) exposure to other religious beliefs (cosmopolitanism tends to blunt religiosity)
5) exposure to texts/videos critical of religion

Atheists' questionnaires to go in awfully predictable ways - atheists tend to describe themselves as logical, analytical, skeptical, willing to accept hard truths, individualistic, nonconformist, etc.  And INTP.  INTP everywhere.  As such, one's tempted to wonder if there might be certain personality traits that may be predictive of atheism.  Unfortunately, it's not as simple as simply being intelligent, hence intelligent theists.

Though to be honest, the more I look at it, the less atheism (and theism) is a choice and the more it is the end result of factors that one has little/no control over.  After all, who chooses to be who they are?

[Hydra009]

Most of the atheists here would've been theists if they were raised in a more religious area.

Imagine being raised in Mississippi.  

And most of the theists in the US would be atheists if they were raised here.

Heck yes.  Probably be a lot less abrasive about it too, since that only comes with dealing with evangelical theists and the preponderance of religion in the culture, often in truly vile ways.  (Though it's a stereotype that atheists are angry people, what's often overlooked is why they're frustrated/unhappy)

I hereby propose an atheist moon base to help figure out the nature/nurture question.  And an array of railguns capable of destroying the Ea--- incoming asteroids.  Wanna stay safe out there.

[AllPurposeAtheist]

I suppose if the Tooth Fairy became really popular in the Netherlands you might become exceptional,  but it's doubtful that will happen any time soon.
I don't feel in the least exceptional here in the US merely being an atheist. I occasionally feel left out of the money making thing, but here that's what the whole fucking thing is about anyway. I have serious doubts that any of these "holy" cocksuckers or cocksuckees really buy into it either. I think the vast majority only go to church with the hope of making some new financial contact or getting laid.

[Atheon]

I grew up in a non-religious family in a fairly non-religious part of the US. Religion rarely registered a blip in my childhood, except during visits to my grandparents' house, where I experienced the boredom and pointlessness of church and prayer. I guess you could say I was an "apathetic atheist" - no god belief, but didn't give the issue much thought or care. I just lived then, as I do now, as if there's no god.

When I became old enough to formulate my own considered opinions on the topic of religion, I called myself an agnostic. In my late 20s, I researched the topic (perhaps inspired by a friend of mine who called himself an atheist) to find out what atheism actually is, and I relabeled myself as an atheist. Throughout my life, my position on religion has barely changed; I'm just more knowledgeable about the subject now.

[Plu]

Heck yes. Probably be a lot less abrasive about it too, since that only comes with dealing with evangelical theists and the preponderance of religion in the culture, often in truly vile ways.

They'd be just as abrasive an atheist as they are now christians, I guess. I only know of one person who refers to themselves as atheist in common conversation, and she's a colleague of mine and kinda poor at talking socially in general. If you take her out of the picture, the word "atheist" would probably come up one a year at most and it'd be probably in relation to something silly a religious person did.