Atheists/agnostics, why did you become atheist/agnostic

[Anonymous]

If you grew up with a religion

[Anonymous]

Realized that religious people are hypocrites. The higher up the religion ladder, the more hypocritical they were. Also I do not like the exclusionary aspect of religions aka ‘my way is the way of enlightenment.’

[Anonymous]

Funny enough, I had spent years studying theology and decided to delve deeper into more general and traditional philosophies in order to place my beliefs more firmly in the context of a wider scaffolding. My intention was to strengthen my faith. Eventually I had an aha moment in relation to faith and why so many religions prioritize it over knowledge. It was unexpected, and kind of rocked my world. I didn’t go looking for it, but there it was. I called myself agnostic for a while but eventually stopped kidding myself and acknowledged that I was an atheist.

[Anonymous]

High school history class. Learned about the Church and how it’s all a crock. Grew up quasi Catholic.

[Anonymous]

I was raised Catholic by abusive parents during the 90s, when all that stuff about the pedophile priests came out. Realized no one “knows” shit and that organized religion is often just a method to wield power over other people.

I met members of other faiths as I got older and my position mellowed— I saw how fulfilling a shared spirituality was for many of my friends and appreciated how it connected them to their families and in some cases their home countries. I even considered converting to Judaism in my 20s because I became very involved with a Jewish community and spent some time studying the religion. But ultimately I knew I’d always be an outsider and it would never quite give me what people who are raised Jewish get out of it, especially given my lack of personal connection to the oppression Jews have faced. I still have a lot of love for it though.

So I am agnostic, with a lot of antipathy towards the Catholic Church, but generally respectful of what others believe. None of us knows. I don’t think you should try to control other people. That’s about it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Funny enough, I had spent years studying theology and decided to delve deeper into more general and traditional philosophies in order to place my beliefs more firmly in the context of a wider scaffolding. My intention was to strengthen my faith. Eventually I had an aha moment in relation to faith and why so many religions prioritize it over knowledge. It was unexpected, and kind of rocked my world. I didn’t go looking for it, but there it was. I called myself agnostic for a while but eventually stopped kidding myself and acknowledged that I was an atheist.

Wait, tell us what your revelation was!

[Anonymous]

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

[Anonymous]

I don’t think I ever really truly believed. I gave it a honest go...when I was a teenager I became really worried during alter calls and that I was going to hell b/c even though I’d done all the stuff you’re supposed to do (saved, baptised, rededicating). And then I did it all again But the reality is that underneath it never felt real, I was always acting.

Eventually I was just honest with myself and others and things fell into place.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Funny enough, I had spent years studying theology and decided to delve deeper into more general and traditional philosophies in order to place my beliefs more firmly in the context of a wider scaffolding. My intention was to strengthen my faith. Eventually I had an aha moment in relation to faith and why so many religions prioritize it over knowledge. It was unexpected, and kind of rocked my world. I didn’t go looking for it, but there it was. I called myself agnostic for a while but eventually stopped kidding myself and acknowledged that I was an atheist.

Wait, tell us what your revelation was!

It’s obviously more complex than this, but for me it boiled down to faith is frequently used as a gaslighting or coercion tool. The importance of faith can’t be overstated in many religions, and why is that? It’s a patch that covers the weakest parts of religious doctrine, so the leaders and architects of that doctrine convince people that very bad things will happen to them if they mess with it. Why would a benevolent god give us brains that allow us to reason away points of faith, yet condemn us to hell if we do that?

So there’s that, plus the realization that most of the authors of the narratives that made it into the Bible and other religious texts had agendas. Dig into their angles and what they were trying to achieve, and it can be difficult to view them as divinely inspired.

[Anonymous]

For me it was also the more I read up on it and the more knowledgeable I became. The new testament gaps- 2nd and third story accounts written so long after the events and with a propagandist purpose. The hypocrites. etc.

Most of all, though, were the detailed descriptions of things we couldn't know. The levels of hell. All the angels and their purposes and what they looked like. So some old guy can just make this fantasy stuff up and people are killed over it? It's not even good fantasy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For me it was also the more I read up on it and the more knowledgeable I became. The new testament gaps- 2nd and third story accounts written so long after the events and with a propagandist purpose. The hypocrites. etc.

Most of all, though, were the detailed descriptions of things we couldn't know. The levels of hell. All the angels and their purposes and what they looked like. So some old guy can just make this fantasy stuff up and people are killed over it? It's not even good fantasy.

If you are talking about Dante, you realize that's not supposed to be a description of reality right? It's a poem. A beautiful poem that discusses metaphysical truths through a fantastical story. The truths are real. The story is fantastical. That's how mythic structure works.

[Anonymous]

I was raised religious. I don't understand some people who say "religious people are such hypocrites/a**holes so I don't believe." Perhaps I misunderstood and this was merely what originally got them questioning. But, the behavior of people or what is written in a book has nothing to do with the probability of a higher power existing - certainly not when there are various religions and even non-religious people who believe in a higher power. However, I do not.

For me, it was studying probability theory, statistics, and the scientific method in grad school that really made me realize both the flaws in the arguments for the existence of a higher consciousness as well as the extremely, extremely low probability that something like that exists. It also, as Richard Dawkins pointed out, only makes any explanation of how the universe began even less plausible, because to posit a higher power requires an explanation of how the higher power came to exist. I have no ill will toward religious people except when they do violent things in the name of their religion or try to control my life. But irrespective of that, it just makes no sense for a "god" to be floating around out there.

[Anonymous]

I was raised Catholic and I questioned the notion of God from the time I was a child. I remember thinking that there either wasn’t a God, or if there was one, he wasn’t very powerful or very loving. Otherwise, he would do something about all the suffering in the world. I am a very practical, rational person. I tend to be skeptical and question things instead of believing something just because I’m told. I just never could wrap my head around the notion of a God.

[Anonymous]

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

Same!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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

Same!

Fascinating! were either of you from religious families? e.g., went to services/Sunday school regularly? Did either of you tell your parents of your views as children? If so, how did they handle it?