Atheists/agnostics, why did you become atheist/agnostic

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When you're not raised religious, when you first hear of it you think people are joking. It all sounds so unbelievable, hypocritical, unreal.

And then the more you learn, the more that's all confirmed!

I never "became" atheist. I have never been anything else. Religion is learned.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When you're not raised religious, when you first hear of it you think people are joking. It all sounds so unbelievable, hypocritical, unreal.

And then the more you learn, the more that's all confirmed!

I never "became" atheist. I have never been anything else. Religion is learned.

That's what I thought when I'd hear about religious beliefs different from my own. Then I thought "wait a minute..."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When you're not raised religious, when you first hear of it you think people are joking. It all sounds so unbelievable, hypocritical, unreal.

And then the more you learn, the more that's all confirmed!

I never "became" atheist. I have never been anything else. Religion is learned.

+1

The rules of various religions are definitely learned, but religious tendencies i.e., thinking/feeling that there's "something out there" (or not) seem to be innate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When you're not raised religious, when you first hear of it you think people are joking. It all sounds so unbelievable, hypocritical, unreal.

And then the more you learn, the more that's all confirmed!

I never "became" atheist. I have never been anything else. Religion is learned.

+1

The rules of various religions are definitely learned, but religious tendencies i.e., thinking/feeling that there's "something out there" (or not) seem to be innate.

That's just Curiosity. It's not necessarily "religious." And, perhaps ironically, curiosity about "what's out there" is what got Eve (and in turn the rest of us) in trouble.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When you're not raised religious, when you first hear of it you think people are joking. It all sounds so unbelievable, hypocritical, unreal.

And then the more you learn, the more that's all confirmed!

I never "became" atheist. I have never been anything else. Religion is learned.

+1

The rules of various religions are definitely learned, but religious tendencies i.e., thinking/feeling that there's "something out there" (or not) seem to be innate.

That's just Curiosity. It's not necessarily "religious." And, perhaps ironically, curiosity about "what's out there" is what got Eve (and in turn the rest of us) in trouble.

Exactly.

Maybe some people felt like they needed an answer so they made one up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When you're not raised religious, when you first hear of it you think people are joking. It all sounds so unbelievable, hypocritical, unreal.

And then the more you learn, the more that's all confirmed!

I never "became" atheist. I have never been anything else. Religion is learned.

+1

The rules of various religions are definitely learned, but religious tendencies i.e., thinking/feeling that there's "something out there" (or not) seem to be innate.

That's just Curiosity. It's not necessarily "religious." And, perhaps ironically, curiosity about "what's out there" is what got Eve (and in turn the rest of us) in trouble.

Assuming there was an Eve.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I never really bought into it. It always just sounded like bullshit to me.

+1. Dont know why it’s s struggle for others to get here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I never really bought into it. It always just sounded like bullshit to me.

+1. Dont know why it’s s struggle for others to get here.

different personalities, different experiences

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I never really bought into it. It always just sounded like bullshit to me.

+1. Dont know why it’s s struggle for others to get here.

maybe because when you give up religious belief, you give up the possibility for eternal life, too

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I never really bought into it. It always just sounded like bullshit to me.

+1. Dont know why it’s s struggle for others to get here.

maybe because when you give up religious belief, you give up the possibility for eternal life, too

Seriously? That’s really a thing for people?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You don't "become atheist." That's the default position we're all born with. You have to be indoctrinated to believe otherwise. Some parents don't send their kids to church, and some just think religious belief is irrelevant. Science, yes. Philosophy maybe. Religion, no. But it is fascinating, theology. Like I do find the King James version of the Bible beautiful as literature.

Developmental psychologists have provided evidence that children are naturally tuned to believe in gods of one sort or another.

• Children tend to see natural objects as designed or purposeful in ways that go beyond what their parents teach, as Deborah Kelemen has demonstrated. Rivers exist so that we can go fishing on them, and birds are here to look pretty.

• Children doubt that impersonal processes can create order or purpose. Studies with children show that they expect that someone not something is behind natural order. No wonder that Margaret Evans found that children younger than 10 favoured creationist accounts of the origins of animals over evolutionary accounts even when their parents and teachers endorsed evolution. Authorities' testimony didn't carry enough weight to over-ride a natural tendency.

Recent research by Paul Bloom, Jesse Bering, and Emma Cohen suggests that children may also be predisposed to believe in a soul that persists beyond death.

That belief comes so naturally to children may sound like an attack on religious belief (belief in gods is just leftover childishness) or a promotion of religious belief (God has implanted a seed for belief in children). What both sides should agree upon is the scientific evidence: certainly cultural inputs help fill in the details but children's minds are not a level playing field. They are tilted in the direction of belief.

https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/quote/255/20209883.page

The opposite is true. Children exhibit a propensity to a belief in a Creator.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/belief/2008/nov/25/religion-children-god-belief

Out of the mouths of babes
Justin L Barrett

Do children believe because they're told to by adults? The evidence suggests otherwise

Correct link

Haven't checked the link to see how scientists could determine that babies believe in a creator -- but even so, they could not believe in Jesus or the Christian God, or the God of any religion. You have to be taught that.

But even if babies "believe" in a creator, that doesn't make it so. Bables also believe they are the center of the universe and all their needs should be met.

Babies are so selfish, wanting to be fed and diapered and cared for? Is it your position that babies should not have their needs met? You are seriously disturbed. Twisted af. Gross.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When you're not raised religious, when you first hear of it you think people are joking. It all sounds so unbelievable, hypocritical, unreal.

And then the more you learn, the more that's all confirmed!

I never "became" atheist. I have never been anything else. Religion is learned.

+1

The rules of various religions are definitely learned, but religious tendencies i.e., thinking/feeling that there's "something out there" (or not) seem to be innate.

Agree ... I'm non-religious and my DW is Christian ... We've been married 25 yrs and I can tell you it's pretty hard-wired in with her ... If I projected my own temperament onto everyone, I'd assume there are a lot of religious fakers out there ... but I've known enough people who believe it all to their core ... that I have to agree some ppl just have the faith tendency. I say this respectfully since there are many great folks on both sides of the divide.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When you're not raised religious, when you first hear of it you think people are joking. It all sounds so unbelievable, hypocritical, unreal.

And then the more you learn, the more that's all confirmed!

I never "became" atheist. I have never been anything else. Religion is learned.

+1

The rules of various religions are definitely learned, but religious tendencies i.e., thinking/feeling that there's "something out there" (or not) seem to be innate.

Agree ... I'm non-religious and my DW is Christian ... We've been married 25 yrs and I can tell you it's pretty hard-wired in with her ... If I projected my own temperament onto everyone, I'd assume there are a lot of religious fakers out there ... but I've known enough people who believe it all to their core ... that I have to agree some ppl just have the faith tendency. I say this respectfully since there are many great folks on both sides of the divide.

No, I disagree. What's common is trying to explain things we can't understand. "The God of the gaps". That's why there are so many different religions, all with different explanations for the same thing -- many of which we now know to be untrue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When you're not raised religious, when you first hear of it you think people are joking. It all sounds so unbelievable, hypocritical, unreal.

And then the more you learn, the more that's all confirmed!

I never "became" atheist. I have never been anything else. Religion is learned.

+1

The rules of various religions are definitely learned, but religious tendencies i.e., thinking/feeling that there's "something out there" (or not) seem to be innate.

Agree ... I'm non-religious and my DW is Christian ... We've been married 25 yrs and I can tell you it's pretty hard-wired in with her ... If I projected my own temperament onto everyone, I'd assume there are a lot of religious fakers out there ... but I've known enough people who believe it all to their core ... that I have to agree some ppl just have the faith tendency. I say this respectfully since there are many great folks on both sides of the divide.

No, I disagree. What's common is trying to explain things we can't understand. "The God of the gaps". That's why there are so many different religions, all with different explanations for the same thing -- many of which we now know to be untrue.

Exactly. Some people fear the unknown and are uncomfortable with uncertainty. They are quick to accept an easy answer for everything unknown.

Example:
Why make planets?
It’s a god thing - you wouldn’t understand.
Oh ok.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When you're not raised religious, when you first hear of it you think people are joking. It all sounds so unbelievable, hypocritical, unreal.

And then the more you learn, the more that's all confirmed!

I never "became" atheist. I have never been anything else. Religion is learned.

+1

The rules of various religions are definitely learned, but religious tendencies i.e., thinking/feeling that there's "something out there" (or not) seem to be innate.

That's just Curiosity. It's not necessarily "religious." And, perhaps ironically, curiosity about "what's out there" is what got Eve (and in turn the rest of us) in trouble.

Exactly.

Maybe some people felt like they needed an answer so they made one up.

And have been making lots of other answers up ever since - otherwise, there wouldn't be so many different religions and denominations.