I am curious what some compelling reasons are for becoming an atheist. What are some reasons that have been the deciding factor?

Not believing in deities is all you need to be an atheist.

(May 17, 2016 at 3:52 pm)The Valkyrie Wrote: Not believing in deities is all you need to be an atheist.

Right, but what made you personally decide that God did not exist, and the arguments for atheism were ultimately outweighing all other arguments.

"An atheist" is just someone who doesn't accept the claim that a god(s) exist. The more accurate question is why should someone believe in a god?

(May 17, 2016 at 3:54 pm)sk123 Wrote:

(May 17, 2016 at 3:52 pm)The Valkyrie Wrote: Not believing in deities is all you need to be an atheist.

Right, but what made you personally decide that God did not exist, and the arguments for atheism were ultimately outweighing all other arguments.

Atheism isn't claiming that a god doesn't exist...it's simply being unconvinced that he does.

(May 17, 2016 at 3:51 pm)sk123 Wrote: I am curious what some compelling reasons are for becoming an atheist. What are some reasons that have been the deciding factor?

"Becoming an atheist"?  Most people don't choose it deliberately.  They just look at a belief system and realize that they can't believe the claims.  

Read through the forum threads.  Do a Google search on atheist books.  The End of Faith by Sam Harris, or God, the Failed Hypothesis by Victor Stenger.  I liked Joshua Kelly's "Oh Your God", and am reading The Atheist Manifesto by Michael Onfray.  (I don't like the title, but he writes well.)  Do a Google search for "reasons for atheism" and just read and decide for yourself.

There wasn't a deciding factor for me. It was just the result of years of questioning and looking into things for myself. I was never religious but I always said I believed in god in a general sense without really knowing why. When I started to question why, the idea of god fell apart.

An atheist isn't necessarily claiming that they know no gods exist. They just don't believe in any.

Me personally, I won't claim to know what I can't possibly know, but I don't believe either. I've never seen a sufficient reason to do so. I'm comfortable enough with the unknown to leave it at that instead of replacing those unknowns with beliefs.

Dearth of evidence.

The mean kids at school were gonna put bugs in my hair if I didn't stop believing in God, so I stopped believing in God.  So, you know, they wouldn't put bugs in my hair.  The mean kids.

(I'd give a more serious answer, but the OP positively reeks of eau de troll).

Boru

This question comes up a lot on atheist forums.

First of all, which god or gods are your referring to?

My reasons for being an atheist is, that no theist has ever been able to support their claims that a god exists. All I require to believe a god exists, is to be convinced. What will convince me, is demonstrable and falsifiable evidence, reasoned argument, and valid and sound logic.

My atheism is a provisional position, not a dogmatic one.

Ancient texts, anecdotal evidence, personal experiences, philosophical arguments (Kalam, ontological, teleological, etc are all flawed), etc are not good evidence.