Why are you an Atheist?

[paarsurrey]

Lack of convincing evidence for the existence of a deity.

Does Atheism has any evidence of truthfulness? I don't think it has any from religion or from science. Are they mythical?
Regards

 

[Subhankar Zac]

Does Atheism has any evidence of truthfulness? I don't think it has any from religion or from science. Are they mythical?
Regards

What's truthfulness?

 

[Unveiled Artist]

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 think you'd learn a bit more about the context of my answers with a discussion; since, for me personally, that is the best way I can answer questions.

I didn't refer to myself as an atheist and never knew it until I came to RF. Then the thought just dawned on me, "oh, that's whatcha call em'!"

It's not based on science: I believe in the supernatural; so, evidence and science would be defeating the purpose of what belief in god is.

It's not based on lack of evidence: I don't know any physical evidence one can logically give about the supernatural (hence the name) other than our experiences, claims, and what we do in relations to our faiths.

It's not based on critical thinking and analyzing. I pretty much "got it" when I read it in the dictionary and talked with other people who did not believe in deities without agnostic view or "maybes" (that always confuses me). It was more an "ah ha" moment. "I knew I didn't believe in deities but I didn't know there was a name for such a person. How can you analyze (outside of an idea of) a non existent being?" and it meshed.

It wasn't talking to people and reading books. There are so many definitions of atheism, its silly. So, I keep with no belief in deities of any religion. I just have a pet peeve with the Christian deity, that's all.

It's always been there. I wasn't raised religious. I came to religion only because my mother was trying to have a perfect christian family (two kids, a labor dog, picket fence, in a christian environment. I'm not kiddin' That was my mother's envision). I studied the Bible. Read it in full. Became an adult. Read the Bible, became Catholic, and said oooooooh THAT is what they mean when they say god (and Jesus). Then I left and stayed an atheist and accepted my position of how I see Jesus and left it alone.

It's common sense. Think about it. When you were too young to talk and make sense of the world, what was your religion? The only religion between that age is a mother's love and her child. From then on, it's the environment and people who raised you not an internal belief. I never got that; so, I stayed a "child". Why am I atheist? Because I don't want to force myself to believe in something I know does not exist.

I have others... give me a sec. (Don't hold your breath. )

 

[Lyndon]

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.

The beginning of your story is very similar to mine, but I was raised Christian, fundamentalist Seventh Day Adventist, I prayed and prayed and nothing changed, I became agnostic, not atheist, then I learned about Hindu and ended up a Buddhist for most of my years, but I came to believe in a God, but not the same God as portrayed in any world religion I know of except maybe the Tao in Taoism, now my prayers are continually answered, I never go broke, I always have money for food, cigs, and rent, I don't waste money, and spend most of my income building up my small violin shop I own. I came to the realization the the reason my prayers weren't being answered Is I didn't know what GOD was or is and was praying to nothing really. My parents taught me to pray TO Jesus, not God, big mistake, Jesus is not God. You can't come to appreciate GOD until you come to the realization of what GOD really is, atheists obviously haven't come to that realization, or maybe in some way they do appreciate the real GOD, they just don't know its GOD they are following.

 

[McBell]

Does Atheism has any evidence of truthfulness? I don't think it has any from religion or from science. Are they mythical?
Regards

I have no idea what you mean by "evidence of truthfulness"

 

[Ouroboros]

So, does that make me a theist or atheist?

A transtheist. You're beyond the artificial dichotomy.

 

[Subhankar Zac]

A transtheist. You're beyond the artificial dichotomy.

I like that.
Bhagavad does teach about transcending everything on this planet.

 

[Twilight Hue]

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 pretty simple in my case.

I never met or interacted with God(s) or angel(s) in any direct sense of the word.

It's always been presupposition.

I figured it best after several insights and observations throughout my years spent as a Christian to chuck away all those introduced beliefs, and resumed the same disposition that was naturally there at my birth.

I figured it best to remain silent and neutral and see and observe whatever comes out of the woodwork on a basis of pure neutrality, leaving human born opinions and spectulations out of the equation.

 

[Laika]

The beginning of your story is very similar to mine, but I was raised Christian, fundamentalist Seventh Day Adventist, I prayed and prayed and nothing changed, I became agnostic, not atheist, then I learned about Hindu and ended up a Buddhist for most of my years, but I came to believe in a God, but not the same God as portrayed in any world religion I know of except maybe the Tao in Taoism, now my prayers are continually answered, I never go broke, I always have money for food, cigs, and rent, I don't waste money, and spend most of my income building up my small violin shop I own. I came to the realization the the reason my prayers weren't being answered Is I didn't know what GOD was or is and was praying to nothing really. My parents taught me to pray TO Jesus, not God, big mistake, Jesus is not God. You can't come to appreciate GOD until you come to the realization of what GOD really is, atheists obviously haven't come to that realization, or maybe in some way they do appreciate the real GOD, they just don't know its GOD they are following.

That may actually be true in a sense. If God is man, it is in seeking to realise our own humanity that we realise what could be considered "divine"; our thoughts, feelings, etc.
it is strange but in experimenting with gnostic atheism I am much more alike to the religious members of the forum than the agnostic atheists. Some would say that it because it is based on faith. In a very limited sense that is true as you cannot claim omniscience or absolute truth without implicitly believing in yourself as a deity with perfect knowledge, rationality and objectivity. But the unravelling of my own ignorance is very much a religious experience (with the "inner" world of thoughts and feelings).

Marxists have a phrase for it known as "God-building" in which materialist-atheism takes on the role of fulfilling those impulses that were satisfied by religion (such as building new ethical systems which draws a lot of influence from Nietzsche in which man creates morality). So in my own way I am trying to find God- but as man and nature rather than something "beyond" it. I have learned to appreciate religion in that sense because it can be a good reference point for what has been tried before and "what works" spiritually/psychologically. I still am resistant to exploring religion because I don't want to find God but find man instead and look beyond the religious explanation. I don't have the self confidence to think the task can be fulfilled without resorting to explaining things in terms of divinity. I haven't learnt the "language" to see religion wholly in terms as a product of human beings. I am still a bit agnostic basically.

 

[Lyndon]

I think of God as as big as multiple galaxies if not the whole universe, to think of God being a man is to belittle and marginalize God, let alone take away all of her power, God is a being, but not a human being IMHO

 

[Tomorrows_Child]

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.

Don't worry about it being long, it's a great answer and I hope things are better for you. Thank you for all the detail.

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:

Is saying that the entire universe is just for us, humans, really that bad? If so, what is so bad about?

Btw, Islam doesn't necessarily teach us that the universe is simply for humans and Allah reveals three of his intelligent/sentient creations as humans, angels and jinn. But I am curious as to why you think a universe for humans is a bad idea.

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.

The most rhythmic of all the answers lol

I think you'd learn a bit more about the context of my answers with a discussion; since, for me personally, that is the best way I can answer questions.

I didn't refer to myself as an atheist and never knew it until I came to RF. Then the thought just dawned on me, "oh, that's whatcha call em'!"

It's not based on science: I believe in the supernatural; so, evidence and science would be defeating the purpose of what belief in god is.

It's not based on lack of evidence: I don't know any physical evidence one can logically give about the supernatural (hence the name) other than our experiences, claims, and what we do in relations to our faiths.

It's not based on critical thinking and analyzing. I pretty much "got it" when I read it in the dictionary and talked with other people who did not believe in deities without agnostic view or "maybes" (that always confuses me). It was more an "ah ha" moment. "I knew I didn't believe in deities but I didn't know there was a name for such a person. How can you analyze (outside of an idea of) a non existent being?" and it meshed.

It wasn't talking to people and reading books. There are so many definitions of atheism, its silly. So, I keep with no belief in deities of any religion. I just have a pet peeve with the Christian deity, that's all.

It's always been there. I wasn't raised religious. I came to religion only because my mother was trying to have a perfect christian family (two kids, a labor dog, picket fence, in a christian environment. I'm not kiddin' That was my mother's envision). I studied the Bible. Read it in full. Became an adult. Read the Bible, became Catholic, and said oooooooh THAT is what they mean when they say god (and Jesus). Then I left and stayed an atheist and accepted my position of how I see Jesus and left it alone.

It's common sense. Think about it. When you were too young to talk and make sense of the world, what was your religion? The only religion between that age is a mother's love and her child. From then on, it's the environment and people who raised you not an internal belief. I never got that; so, I stayed a "child". Why am I atheist? Because I don't want to force myself to believe in something I know does not exist.

I have others... give me a sec. (Don't hold your breath. )

No worries, keep em coming

Btw, the last point is purely a matter of perspective and I'm sure you can appreciate that.

 

[Unveiled Artist]

Don't worry about it being long, it's a great answer and I hope things are better for you. Thank you for all the detail.



Is saying that the entire universe is just for us, humans, really that bad? If so, what is so bad about?

Btw, Islam doesn't necessarily teach us that the universe is simply for humans and Allah reveals three of his intelligent/sentient creations as humans, angels and jinn. But I am curious as to why you think a universe for humans is a bad idea.



The most rhythmic of all the answers lol



No worries, keep em coming

Btw, the last point is purely a matter of perspective and I'm sure you can appreciate that.

Tomaato, tomato?

 

[LuisDantas]

Does Atheism has any evidence of truthfulness? I don't think it has any from religion or from science. Are they mythical?
Regards

There are people who are atheistic, and there is no God telling them to behave or anything. I would say that is evidence enough.

 

[Aquitaine]

Is saying that the entire universe is just for us, humans, really that bad? If so, what is so bad about?

Btw, Islam doesn't necessarily teach us that the universe is simply for humans and Allah reveals three of his intelligent/sentient creations as humans, angels and jinn. But I am curious as to why you think a universe for humans is a bad idea.

I don't necessarily think the concept of a universe created entirely for humans is bad, I just think it speaks of arrogance. I mean it's basically saying the universe revolves around us.
We are a miniscule element of the vast, complex and wonderful universe. We "serve" the universe, not the other way around: humans simply are not that special.

At least that's my take on it.

EDIT: If you have 3 minutes to spare and are up for watching a video, check this star size comparison out. As Carl Sagan said: "Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark".

 

[gsa]

Hmmm.

When I was a child I wanted to believe in things ranging from angels and god to the eastern bunny and santa clause. I spoke as a child, saying that these things were real. I understood as a child, and thought as a child, that these things were given. And then I became a teenager, and it was difficult to buck the trend, and I thought I would be happier if I believed these things. And I felt that way off and on when I was a young man. But then eventually, we all have to put away childish things. Including gods and monsters, and spirits and souls and the like. It is a hard and uncomfortable reality to face the cards we've been dealt with, but in the end I think we will do better as a species when we make peace with it. Also, we have no choice, unless we want to become savages again.

 

[Valjean]

Does Atheism has any evidence of truthfulness? I don't think it has any from religion or from science. Are they mythical?
Regards

Atheism is the default position. The various theological assertions are the extraordinary claims. It's they who have the burden of proof.

We're born not believing in God, the Easter Bunny or Santa Claus. We're taught these at a young age, before we develop any firewalls, reason, critical or analytic faculties. As we mature we're told the latter two are imaginary, but society keeps re-inforcing the notion of God. Despite a complete lack of evidence, He can be hard to erase.

 

[psychoslice]

I don't believe in any god's but I also don't label myself as an atheist, just don't like labels.

 

[Valjean]

An alabelist?
Shocking!

 

[psychoslice]

An alabelist?
Shocking!

It certainly is.

 

[Willamena]

"He who thinks that God is not comprehended, by him God is comprehended; but he who thinks that God is comprehended knows him not. God is unknown to those who know him, and is known to those who do not know him at all." (source unknown)