Why I am an atheist.

[Spiral Galaxy]

Hi TeabagSalad, I'm an atheist too. My atheism is a defined by the question, "Do believe that god(s) exist?". My answer is "No."

 

[Midget01]

I joined these forums a couple of weeks back but due to having a couple of really busy weeks I haven't really had a chance to post anything. Fortunately things have calmed down a bit now so I thought that I would post something detailing the main reasons as to why I am an atheist. This is by no means a complete list of all the reasons but I've tried to summerise the main reasons and I've tried to put them in the same order as I encountered them through my life.

A little background:

I was born in the late 70s and raised in the UK as a Church of England Christian. Of the children and teenagers in the small town in which I lived I was one of the very few kids that was active in the local church. I attended Church every Sunday with my family and by the time I was in my mid teens I was confirmed and a very active member of the church. I did reading and talks in the Church and helped my Mum out for the few years that she ran the Sunday School. It was said on a couple of occasions by my fellow church goers that if I wasn't so completely tone deaf I could have made a good vicar.

My de-conversion began when I left home to go to University where I read Physics...

Pascal's Wager

I remember either reading (or possibly figuring out) Pascal's Wager a couple of years before I went to University. At first I thought that it was a very powerful reason for believing in God. It sat well with my mathematical mind. Then, at University I encountered people of different faiths (Muslims, Jews etc) and found that they could make exactly the same argument for their Gods. This rather undermined the entire wager. This additional understanding started to create real doubts about my faith.

The nature of the universe

As I continued my study of physics at university I started to gain a much deeper understanding of the nature of the universe. Lots of things that I believed about the nature of things started to be unravelled as they just didn't match up with the evidence. I tried to reconcile these differences but no matter how hard I tried I just couldn't. And I couldn't deny the evidence as it was right in front of my face.

Problem of evil/contradictory nature of God

I remember a friend at University bringing up the “Problem of Evil” in a late night discussion over a couple of drinks in the Students Union. While I tried to argue against it I found it really blew my concept of a perfectly good God out of the water. It also led on to other contradictions in the nature of God that I just couldn't reconcile with the world around me. The traditional facets assigned to God (all knowing, all powerful, all loving) actually contradict each other when compared to observation of things around us.

When I left University I still considered myself a Christian and I still went to Church but I had many, many questions and my faith wasn't as strong as it once was. I had many long conversations with other Christians at my church but none of them were able to counter the arguments I had encountered and quite often they would just chose to ignore things or “hand wave” things away.

Over the course of many years I thought a lot about things and by the time I was in my mid-twenties I discovered that I no longer believed in the Christian God. For a while I was a deist but eventually I had to own up (to myself and others) that I really just didn't believe in God...hence I am an atheist.

I haven't gone into a lot of detail on things and this certainly isn't a complete list of the reasons why I lost my faith but I think that it covers the major points. I'd love to hear what other people have to say and to discuss any of the points I have raised.


Kindest Regards,

TeabagSalad

 

[Midget01]

while I hear where you are coming from; I don't agree with your sources as a way to determine your belief. We shouldn't chose all the negative places to prove there is something if we know ahead of time they will lead us away. But when we are younger we seek the sources that appear to be available to us. We tend to watch adults in our arena, we listen to the teachers in schools High School and College. We look at people whom we view as wise and the list goes on. I don't know if you have sense discovered it but a lot of college professors have their own agenda to prove to students and they are not necessarily scholars when they do this. If no one challenges their opinions then most of us accept their view as right and it might not be a truism. In ancient times it was not the young intellectuals that others turned to but the elders who had much experience in the world. So too with our faith. We don't seek out people in other fields to prove a truth that is not obvious to them. This is merely their opinion with no deep basis for truth. The Scientists and Philosopher's of today have strayed very far from the original truth that they can not be seen as people to turn to for reality right now. They merely have opinions; some are educated on this topic but many are viewed as scholars just because they bare a title of Professor. I would not expect them to be a gourmet cook, do speeches' on politics or perform a solo at an Opera house. But some people hear a title and believe those people are experts on everything. One should turn to someone who appears to be practicing their faith. Sometimes we learn knowledge not by memorizing it but by watching how those who have it put it into play in their lives. We tend to do what comes natural to us easier then to put into practice; a learned behavior for it is over time that this behavior becomes a functioning one which stays with us through our lives. Our parents taught us how to use silverware. But today we don't think about all the work and time that is took for our parents to guide us into using those tools. It is normal and natural for humans at certain ages to question religion God and life. If we don't see the action or get the answers that we want as teenagers we tend to think something is wrong here. So your role models were not true to the faith that you were seeking and your evaluation was that this is phony or wrong. A bad assumption. If one burns the edge of a wonderfully well put together tasty pie and you only view the burnt section then one could assume that the whole pie is bad and after tasting it one could discover that an error had been made because only that tiny burnt corner was bad. We tend to do this a lot now. If things appear a certain way we tend to think the whole thing is messed up and we should toss it out such as the baby with the bath water. There are people who spent their whole life invested in believing. They went as far as to sacrifice their whole life for what they believed. Were they fanatics? Perhaps a few but there are too many to classify all of them in that category. When someone finds themselves questioning a belief in something we think if we find more people who believe the same way I am being led then I must be right. This is not a clear indication because it is possible that the premise you place your views on could be faulty and then if that is the case you are being led to believe an untruth and unless you challenge yourself to keep perusing the issue you may end up in left field completely lost. Just because there are others there with you does not make your choice a truthful one. While our Creator made us in His image and likeness, He also loved us to much that He gave us many gifts; such as curiosity, free will, love, wisdom, right judgment etc. He does not control us like a puppet but at the same time He does provide for us. Look at all we have on this earth. Modern Science while it alters many things through genetics did not create the original thing it altered. we have come to a better understanding of our world but we also box ourselves in a corner when we believe we have arrived and we know everything. This was the sin of Adam and Eve. They ate the apple because they believed the devil when he told them God was holding back something from them. That if they ate the apple they would obtain His knowledge. Well it didn't work. Instead of living cozily with God in a Paradise where He took care of everything early man finds it's self in cold world where we feel pain and have to do things for our self. If it's just a story then why was Jesus so convinced that He needed to come to this earth and save us from the sins we found our selves in. All Story I think not. I appears that you have an analytical mind. I believe rather than preaching to someone who needs to know more detail you should read more books such as Science Before Science by Anthony Rizzi. He does a much better job of pointing out the mistakes of the past views and then brings one up to date. let me know what you think of his views. Good Luc- Peace and Prayers my dear brother. If I haven't convinced you to at least consider going deeper then I have failed. My thoughts are not to convert but rather to help you seek a more fuller view because I see you on a narrow path heading the opposite direction.

I'm an atheist because God isn't real. Something has to be proven before it can be real. God doesn't exist because I say he doesn't. And if God doesn't like what I'm saying then he will blast me down.

Like the name though, but don't invite me for dinner

 

[Midget01]

hey Teabag,
If one believes in the existance of angels, one must have a problem with one's beliefs.
I guess the belief in God and his cohorts must follow.
Clouds and lightning all dissapear, the winds blow forever.
Believing in the natural beauty all around is the realism of life.
Trust your inward gnosis, remember....Life is Stuff.
~
Welcome to the threads, but beware the dark creases between the posts.
~
'mud

Yes life is stuff created by someone larger than you. Psalm 139. Think about it seriously. You didn't just happen on this earth. You have a reason even if to be a thorn in someone elses's side.

 

[`mud]

Cheeeeeeeeeesuuuuuuuuuweeeeeeeeeez !
~
'mud

 

[Jeff Strehlow]

TeabagSalad;

Though I was raised Christian, I never had a strong belief in God. I eventually came to understand that there are different meanings to "God". The vast majority of Christians understand "God" to be a supernatural being, but I have come to understand that word also has deeper meanings. At this point, I totally reject the idea of God as a supernatural being, but think that the deeper meaning might be valid.

 

[Sapiens]

Francis Collins is a top scientist and almost half of the scientific world believes, so it is not a problem.

This is naught but the logical fallacy of an appeal to authority, authority that neither exists, nor which is deserved. Take a look at Sam Harris take on Collins: The Strange Case of Francis Collins : : Sam Harris and

 

[Cephus]

Francis Collins is a top scientist and almost half of the scientific world believes, so it is not a problem.

Francis Collins is an excellent example of the ability of intelligent people to believe in irrational things. He was an atheist until one day he went into the woods and saw a waterfall frozen in three parts and suddenly, he's a Christian. He applies the scientific and skeptical method to everything in his life except his religion. It's about the best example of cognitive dissonance around, how one can be delusional and well educated at the same time. It shows what can be wrong with people, not what is right.