Atheists/agnostics, why did you become atheist/agnostic

[Anonymous]

I realized that I never believed. We sat in church, bored, every Sunday. My Dad didn't go.

I tried different churches as an adult. Nothing. If anything it made me uncomfortable.

[Anonymous]

I got disgusted with overbearing, arrogant know it alls who purported to know more than the rest of us (two different religions and religious schools from elementary school into h.s.) and decided that Karl Marx was right —> Opiate of the Masses.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you grew up with a religion

Why? Tired of judgement. Tired of idiots. Tired of abuse. Tired of lies. Tired of controlling men.

I think that covers it.

It doesn't cover how those things add up to the absence of god. God may be tired of those things too and that's why he encouraged (or allowed) humans to form other religions that don't have those features.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Let's see sexual abuse protected by the Catholic Church. Worst ever still awful.

Racism in the Catholic Church.

Way women are treated in the Catholic Church.

Everyone should be judged by the Catholic Church????

Abortion NO PRO CHOICE when all Catholics become medical doctors come back to me.

Babies born with sin, NO!

Ok, so the Catholic church is corrupt. That doesn't mean there's no god.

No, but it starts you down that path. For me, the institutional sins of Roman Catholicism -- especially the long-running, worldwide, institutionalized abuse of children and subsequent attempts to cover it up -- made it seem obvious to me that my Church was no longer in God's favor. And from there it was a much shorter path to concluding that the easier explanation was that God probably doesn't exist. Which pains me every day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Let's see sexual abuse protected by the Catholic Church. Worst ever still awful.

Racism in the Catholic Church.

Way women are treated in the Catholic Church.

Everyone should be judged by the Catholic Church????

Abortion NO PRO CHOICE when all Catholics become medical doctors come back to me.

Babies born with sin, NO!

Ok, so the Catholic church is corrupt. That doesn't mean there's no god.

No, but it starts you down that path. For me, the institutional sins of Roman Catholicism -- especially the long-running, worldwide, institutionalized abuse of children and subsequent attempts to cover it up -- made it seem obvious to me that my Church was no longer in God's favor. And from there it was a much shorter path to concluding that the easier explanation was that God probably doesn't exist. Which pains me every day.

You wish that God existed? Why? What would the benefit be to you or to the world?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you grew up with a religion

Why? Tired of judgement. Tired of idiots. Tired of abuse. Tired of lies. Tired of controlling men.

I think that covers it.

It doesn't cover how those things add up to the absence of god. God may be tired of those things too and that's why he encouraged (or allowed) humans to form other religions that don't have those features.

If you were god, and you were "tired" of something, what would you do?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you grew up with a religion

Why? Tired of judgement. Tired of idiots. Tired of abuse. Tired of lies. Tired of controlling men.

I think that covers it.

It doesn't cover how those things add up to the absence of god. God may be tired of those things too and that's why he encouraged (or allowed) humans to form other religions that don't have those features.

If you were god, and you were "tired" of something, what would you do?

God is said to work in "mysterious ways" which could mean whatever would happen if there were no god.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Let's see sexual abuse protected by the Catholic Church. Worst ever still awful.

Racism in the Catholic Church.

Way women are treated in the Catholic Church.

Everyone should be judged by the Catholic Church????

Abortion NO PRO CHOICE when all Catholics become medical doctors come back to me.

Babies born with sin, NO!

Ok, so the Catholic church is corrupt. That doesn't mean there's no god.

No, but it starts you down that path. For me, the institutional sins of Roman Catholicism -- especially the long-running, worldwide, institutionalized abuse of children and subsequent attempts to cover it up -- made it seem obvious to me that my Church was no longer in God's favor. And from there it was a much shorter path to concluding that the easier explanation was that God probably doesn't exist. Which pains me every day.

You wish that God existed? Why? What would the benefit be to you or to the world?

At this point it's maybe going too far to say I "wish" he existed. Because I'm pretty firm in my conversion to non-belief. But I grew up fully indoctrinated in the typical ways: trust that bad people will get their due, there will be an eternal paradise where you'll get to see your departed parents and grandparents again, just follow these rules and God will provide for you, etc. That's all I meant by saying it pains me that I no longer believe. It's hard to give up the comfort that those beliefs once brought me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Let's see sexual abuse protected by the Catholic Church. Worst ever still awful.

Racism in the Catholic Church.

Way women are treated in the Catholic Church.

Everyone should be judged by the Catholic Church????

Abortion NO PRO CHOICE when all Catholics become medical doctors come back to me.

Babies born with sin, NO!

Ok, so the Catholic church is corrupt. That doesn't mean there's no god.

No, but it starts you down that path. For me, the institutional sins of Roman Catholicism -- especially the long-running, worldwide, institutionalized abuse of children and subsequent attempts to cover it up -- made it seem obvious to me that my Church was no longer in God's favor. And from there it was a much shorter path to concluding that the easier explanation was that God probably doesn't exist. Which pains me every day.

You wish that God existed? Why? What would the benefit be to you or to the world?

At this point it's maybe going too far to say I "wish" he existed. Because I'm pretty firm in my conversion to non-belief. But I grew up fully indoctrinated in the typical ways: trust that bad people will get their due, there will be an eternal paradise where you'll get to see your departed parents and grandparents again, just follow these rules and God will provide for you, etc. That's all I meant by saying it pains me that I no longer believe. It's hard to give up the comfort that those beliefs once brought me.

Thanks, I get it -- and think that the comforts of belief that you mention are probably what keep a lot of people believing, without examining their beliefs too deeply.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you grew up with a religion

Why? Tired of judgement. Tired of idiots. Tired of abuse. Tired of lies. Tired of controlling men.

I think that covers it.

It doesn't cover how those things add up to the absence of god. God may be tired of those things too and that's why he encouraged (or allowed) humans to form other religions that don't have those features.

If you were god, and you were "tired" of something, what would you do?

I'd get rid of it. Make it disappear in an "act of god" or "natural" disaster, like an earthquake or a flood or fire.

So the fact that idiots, abuse, lies and controlling men still exist, imples there is no god - or that god is not tired of these things -- maybe even likes them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you grew up with a religion

Why? Tired of judgement. Tired of idiots. Tired of abuse. Tired of lies. Tired of controlling men.

I think that covers it.

It doesn't cover how those things add up to the absence of god. God may be tired of those things too and that's why he encouraged (or allowed) humans to form other religions that don't have those features.

If you were god, and you were "tired" of something, what would you do?

I'd get rid of it. Make it disappear in an "act of god" or "natural" disaster, like an earthquake or a flood or fire.

So the fact that idiots, abuse, lies and controlling men still exist, imples there is no god - or that god is not tired of these things -- maybe even likes them.

Many people feel deeply that there is a God. They simply know in their hearts that there is a God watching over everything, even if he sometimes doesn't stop awful things from happening. This strong feeling of his presence gives them great comfort.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Many people feel deeply that there is a God. They simply know in their hearts that there is a God watching over everything, even if he sometimes doesn't stop awful things from happening. This strong feeling of his presence gives them great comfort.

What can't you believe with that standard?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Many people feel deeply that there is a God. They simply know in their hearts that there is a God watching over everything, even if he sometimes doesn't stop awful things from happening. This strong feeling of his presence gives them great comfort.

What can't you believe with that standard?

With the "If you believe it, it must be true" standard, anything is possible. Conspiracy theories, for example, that say the election was stolen. Facts are not needed and in some cases simply don't exist, but with a strong feeling and other people who feel just as strongly, facts are superfluous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I realized that religion is completely manmade.

I mean really when you think about it, what on earth makes Islam, Christianity, Judaism (etc) more plausible than Greek gods and mythology, or ancient Egyptian? Or why is monotheism any more plausible than polytheism?

The stories, the concepts of an afterlife, and so on are not any more believable (and in many cases, obviously borrowed and built upon).

People create and tell stories to have a sense of order. To structure what they feel is chaotic in the universe. Which is fine... but it's just a story in the absence of (or before) scientific understanding. Or to give comfort. But it's all completely manmade.

This. Why would it be true that homo sapiens only discover the true religion in the last 2000-4000 years when they've been around on Earth for hundreds of thousands of years worshipping sun gods, moon gods, sea gods, animal gods. Who is to judge that Christians have the right idea but that Buddhists and Hindus don't?

Like others I studied history and learned about sales of indulgences, married popes and creation of saints and all manner of hypocrisy (as summarized by Martin Luther). Once you've learned all this, belief in religion seemed pretty close to belief in the tooth fairy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I realized that religion is completely manmade.

I mean really when you think about it, what on earth makes Islam, Christianity, Judaism (etc) more plausible than Greek gods and mythology, or ancient Egyptian? Or why is monotheism any more plausible than polytheism?

The stories, the concepts of an afterlife, and so on are not any more believable (and in many cases, obviously borrowed and built upon).

People create and tell stories to have a sense of order. To structure what they feel is chaotic in the universe. Which is fine... but it's just a story in the absence of (or before) scientific understanding. Or to give comfort. But it's all completely manmade.

This. Why would it be true that homo sapiens only discover the true religion in the last 2000-4000 years when they've been around on Earth for hundreds of thousands of years worshipping sun gods, moon gods, sea gods, animal gods. Who is to judge that Christians have the right idea but that Buddhists and Hindus don't?

Like others I studied history and learned about sales of indulgences, married popes and creation of saints and all manner of hypocrisy (as summarized by Martin Luther). Once you've learned all this, belief in religion seemed pretty close to belief in the tooth fairy.

Yet there are people who know all this and still believe in god. Maybe not the god of the Bible or of the Catholic church, but still a supreme being.