Why are you an Atheist?

[Tomorrows_Child]

This is coming hot off the trail of my thread about the God Delusion, where I've had some interesting discussions with regards to atheism and what it takes people to become atheists and who they read, listen to, take info from etc etc. So I'm curious, to all the atheists out there, why are you an atheist? Is it based on science? Neglect and/or dislike of religion? Or something else?

Fire away and I won't really be commenting on this thread as I am looking for reasons why people are atheists and don't want to pressure them into discussions, so feel free to post any reason you like/want.

 

[McBell]

Lack of convincing evidence for the existence of a deity.

 

[fantome profane]

Lack of convincing evidence for the existence of a deity.

ditto

 

[Laika]

Honest answer: I had a major personal crisis age 19. At that point my only contact with religion was about two years in primary school when I was a theist in the vaguest possible sense. The reason I rejected God then was because I was lonely and praying for a best friend didn't mean it happened. Talking to myself/God was what I did to pass the time as I had no one to play with. So when nothing changed That was my "proof" God didn't exist. (Sad but true). The only reason I knew about God at all was only because we were made to sign hymns about God and Jesus in school assembly.

For the rest of my childhood religion was not a factor in any form. All my friends at secondary school were atheists or agnostics and religion was simply "taboo" amongst the company I kept. I was really interested in science then and that gave me a heavy naturalistic bias. It came with a fair amount of anti-religious bigotry based on thinking science could explain everything- what I later learned was known as "scientism". Reading about history introduced me to communism about age 14 and communism appealed as a (pseudo-)scientific worldview. When I hit my personal crisis at age 19- it was communism that I turned to and not a religion.

The next two years are an ugly mixture of mental illness, fanaticism and political indoctrination. I basically swallowed communism whole without really thinking about it. That came to an end when I got up the courage to have a reality check and read about its atrocities. Four years of deep introspection and thought is what eventually brought me to RF because it wanted to explore and know more about religion. the rest is getting to know different faiths here (deist, atheistic left hand path and Islam have been periodically of interest). One thing I can say is the better I have understood communism, the more I realised how little I know- particularly about the religions which are supposed to be "wiped out" by it. So I have become steadily more open and tolerant of religion as I faced my own doubts. For now atheism is where I stand but the ground shifts daily as I try to figure out whether I am a gnostic or agnostic atheist. It is hard to tell whether My beliefs were built on very shakey foundations or I have grown up to reach a point where I don't measure conviction by fanaticism. In practice, Belief and unbelief are now almost indistinguishable from each other and I understand "religion" by relating it to my own beliefs, feelings and experiences even though I am not religious.

This is a bit long but the answer is "I don't know". It's just how my life turned out and I'm relatively happy with it that way.

 

[LuisDantas]

I find the concept of deity extremely odd. I can see the artistic and inspirational use of the idea, but it all goes downhill once someone sees fit to think of them as literal entities.

I have always been an atheist, far as I can tell, and it has always been a bother to meet people who think of the idea as something that should be "believed on". It is just so pointless, such an unwelcome distraction. And it is IMO harmful to religion above everything else.

I was definitely not "taught" atheism. I was born one, or as close to it as to make no difference I can recall. It was a considerable shock when I eventually figured that people took those deity matters so darned seriously. It was just odd, so very odd.

 

[Subhankar Zac]

The concept of Abrahamic deities are hard for me to believe in, especially with their texts.
But I do believe that the cosmos (potentially infinite number of them) are working under a universal consciousness (combined with energy) that is impersonal and source of all living and non living things.

So, does that make me a theist or atheist?

 

[ArtieE]

This is coming hot off the trail of my thread about the God Delusion, where I've had some interesting discussions with regards to atheism and what it takes people to become atheists and who they read, listen to, take info from etc etc. So I'm curious, to all the atheists out there, why are you an atheist? Is it based on science? Neglect and/or dislike of religion? Or something else?

I am a weak atheist (not a theist) simply because I have found no reason to become a theist.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

Lack of convincing evidence for the existence of a deity.

Same here.

And not for lack of looking.

 

[ArtieE]

The concept of Abrahamic deities are hard for me to believe in, especially with their texts.
But I do believe that the cosmos (potentially infinite number of them) are working under a universal consciousness (combined with energy) that is impersonal and source of all living and non living things.

So, does that make me a theist or atheist?

One definition of a god is "A being of supernatural powers or attributes, believed in and worshiped by a people, especially a male deity thought to control some part of nature or reality." http://www.thefreedictionary.com/God
You decide if what you believe in fits that description.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

The concept of Abrahamic deities are hard for me to believe in, especially with their texts.
But I do believe that the cosmos (potentially infinite number of them) are working under a universal consciousness (combined with energy) that is impersonal and source of all living and non living things.

So, does that make me a theist or atheist?

Do you consider that a god (or gods)?

 

[Subhankar Zac]

One definition of a god is "A being of supernatural powers or attributes, believed in and worshiped by a people, especially a male deity thought to control some part of nature or reality." http://www.thefreedictionary.com/God
You decide if what you believe in fits that description.

This universal consciousness is thought to be Krishna by few, Shiva by others and just a timeless indestructible concept that exists between time and space by some.
I do not worship him but believe in its existence throughout the cosmos and in other universes.
I will say it's not a personal deity like Allah or Jesus, "supernatural" powers are laws of physics and I meditate on myself... So, no God, I guess.

Do you consider that a god (or gods)?

Nope, just an impersonal unchanging indestructible unborn and timeless consciousness upon which energy creates matter and shapes the universe.

 

[Koldo]

This is coming hot off the trail of my thread about the God Delusion, where I've had some interesting discussions with regards to atheism and what it takes people to become atheists and who they read, listen to, take info from etc etc. So I'm curious, to all the atheists out there, why are you an atheist? Is it based on science? Neglect and/or dislike of religion? Or something else?

Fire away and I won't really be commenting on this thread as I am looking for reasons why people are atheists and don't want to pressure them into discussions, so feel free to post any reason you like/want.

The more I looked into it the less I believed. The more I looked into it the more it seemed to be made up by humans.

 

[Aquitaine]

This is coming hot off the trail of my thread about the God Delusion, where I've had some interesting discussions with regards to atheism and what it takes people to become atheists and who they read, listen to, take info from etc etc. So I'm curious, to all the atheists out there, why are you an atheist? Is it based on science? Neglect and/or dislike of religion? Or something else?

Fire away and I won't really be commenting on this thread as I am looking for reasons why people are atheists and don't want to pressure them into discussions, so feel free to post any reason you like/want.

I don't mind being pressured in to discussion on this topic.
Though I'm technically Agnostic, I believe (until credible evidence demonstrates otherwise) all religions are the product of human imagination. They all seem to be designed to massage the egos of the believers i.e that the entire universe was created just for humans.

I could go in to a lot more detail, but the number one reason was so easily and efficiently summed up in one single sentence by Mestemia below:

Lack of convincing evidence for the existence of a deity.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

Nope, just an impersonal unchanging indestructible unborn and timeless consciousness upon which energy creates matter and shapes the universe.

Then I'd say you're an atheist.

 

[Subhankar Zac]

Then I'd say you're an atheist.

What if one believes that the Universal consciousness incarnates in personal form after every age to assist various species in their issues?
As in the consciousness pervades everywhere with energy working under it making the universe but also has a personal form that can interact with humans in its human incarnation?

 

[LuisDantas]

Then it seems to me that you are some form of theist. I see elements of henotheism, panentheism and even deism in there.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

What if one believes that the Universal consciousness incarnates in personal form after every age to assist various species in their issues?
As in the consciousness pervades everywhere with energy working under it making the universe but also has a personal form that can interact with humans in its human incarnation?

What about it?

You said that you don't consider this to be a god, so unless you believe in some other god you haven't mentioned, you don't believe in any gods. Someone who doesn't believe in any gods is an atheist.

 

[Revoltingest]

This is coming hot off the trail of my thread about the God Delusion, where I've had some interesting discussions with regards to atheism and what it takes people to become atheists and who they read, listen to, take info from etc etc. So I'm curious, to all the atheists out there, why are you an atheist? Is it based on science? Neglect and/or dislike of religion? Or something else?

Fire away and I won't really be commenting on this thread as I am looking for reasons why people are atheists and don't want to pressure them into discussions, so feel free to post any reason you like/want.

I became an atheist immediately.
I started off not believing in gods.
And once I heard about them, I continued not believing.
There was just no reason to start believing in unverifiable fanciful stories.
Science didn't play a role in this.

 

[Altfish]

Lack of convincing evidence for the existence of a deity.

Ditto, although the word 'convincing' is probably surplus to requirements.

 

[Willamena]

This is coming hot off the trail of my thread about the God Delusion, where I've had some interesting discussions with regards to atheism and what it takes people to become atheists and who they read, listen to, take info from etc etc. So I'm curious, to all the atheists out there, why are you an atheist? Is it based on science? Neglect and/or dislike of religion? Or something else?

Fire away and I won't really be commenting on this thread as I am looking for reasons why people are atheists and don't want to pressure them into discussions, so feel free to post any reason you like/want.

It's more about coming to an understanding about myself. Or, rather, my "self." We live (or "live") in a world of contrasts, a world formed by the words and corresponding ideas that we hold about the world--and we don't just hold them about, we lay them about, weigh them about, and toss them about the world. Willy-nilly! They become the world, and their presence is so comforting and shiny that we forget that there is a world that they're about.

I am an atheist, out and about, in the world.