When, Where, How and Why did you become Atheist?

[robvalue]

That's a very healthy view! It is indeed so sad that the word has been loaded really heavily through propaganda.

Some people (even on this very forum) seem to believe atheists are simply evil, and it's as simple as that. I can only assume such people either barely ever meet any atheists, happen to run into a few nasty ones, or else start fights with atheists and then complain about the reaction. Of course there are going to be good and bad atheists, but to think they are all bad is ridiculous.

Atheists are just people, and those theists that think they go around murdering and raping because they have "no reason not to" are living in a total fantasy land. Most people have a reason not to do horrible stuff built into them, their conscience. It's an evolutionary result, but often gets mistaken for magic by those not willing to do some actual learning.

[RobbyPants]

The closest I've been to being an atheist was just a big bout of agnosticism that lasted for around a year when I was younger. So I don't know how you guys see things. How did the whole atheist revelation come to you?

It took around two years for me, and happened in my late 20s/early 30s.

It started as a combination of gradual doubts, things not making sense, and me wondering if I really believed in certain aspects of the religion (i.e. "did the flood really happen?"). So, once I realized this was more than a few lingering doubts, I actively started fighting against my disbelief. I realized after a while that I couldn't make myself believe. In order for me to believe, it had to make sense. The more I tried to make sense of it, the less sense it made. The more I tried to read the Bible, the less sense it made. The more I looked for God, the less I saw him.

Then, there was a period of me being somewhat angry at God. Both that I was going through this and also the standard "why let bad things happen to good people?" sort of questions. After well over a year after this all started, I pretty much knew I didn't believe, but I still feared hell. I spent a good six months wondering if this was all some sort of weird test that I'd failed. There was a lot of depression for me during that time.

After those six months, I got to a point when I realized that I'd never lost any sleep over not believing in any of the other religions. I didn't see Christianity bringing any more evidence to the table than the other religions I didn't care about. I wondered why I was worried about that one hell I didn't believe in, but not any of the others. That line of thinking was when I was able to let the vestiges of my religious beliefs go. I felt a tremendous relief during and after that time.

Of course, then began the phase of my life when I had to reevaluate my stance on pretty much everything, once I'd gotten rid of that core aspect of myself.

[The Valkyrie]

I was pretty lucky growing up. My mother's a very devout Catholic while my father is a confirmed atheist (and a GP).

I went with my mother to church every Sunday and was quite devout myself. Then, one day, around age 8 years old I started questioning and, honestly, I really stopped believing around then.

I stuck with it, mostly for my mother's sake, until I was 12 or 13 and then, frankly, couldn't take it any more.

That's when I told her and the family that I'm an atheist.

[Edwardo Piet]

Did you dad support you Beccs?

[The Valkyrie]

Did you dad support you Beccs?

Completely.

It was one of the agreements the wrinklies came up with: We got to make up our own minds.

[Edwardo Piet]

That must have been nice.

[RobbyPants]

Yeah, I wish it were that easy with my wife and me. She's raising the kids Christian with the idea that I wouldn't try to stop her. If my older daughter asks me questions, I tend to answer her neutrally. Of course, it's still a problem for indoctrination of the kids realize that this is all optional.

So, as of two months ago, my wife wants me to not talk about it in front of them until they start confirmation.

[Edwardo Piet]

Oh dear......

Indoctrination sucks. Dawkins argues it's child-abuse...... it is miseducation and kind of wrong at the very least.

[bambi_swag]

Oh dear......

Indoctrination sucks. Dawkins argues it's child-abuse...... it is miseducation and kind of wrong at the very least.

Oh please. There is a point in which somethings like "miseducation child-abuse" sound ridiculous a I must start replying. I mean, if a parent honestly thinks that the moon is made of cheese and noses parted the read sea and teaches what he believes is truth to his children, you have no business interfering and giving your two shits on what you think is the truth.

[TheRocketSurgeon]

Oh dear......

Indoctrination sucks. Dawkins argues it's child-abuse...... it is miseducation and kind of wrong at the very least.

Oh please. There is a point in which somethings like "miseducation child-abuse" sound ridiculous a I must start replying. I mean, if a parent honestly thinks that the moon is made of cheese and noses parted the read sea and teaches what he believes is truth to his children, you have no business interfering and giving your two shits on what you think is the truth.

Except they didn't say "miseducation child-abuse". Are you a deliberate liar, or just semi-literate?

They said "Dawkins argues it's child abuse" and then, later, made a second statement: "it is miseducation and kind of wrong at the very least."

If you wish to argue that it's okay for parents to teach them things that may harm them or cause them to have psychological problems, such as the concept that there are demons in the world and they are seeking to twist our minds, which may instill paranoia and delusional thinking in that child as they grow. That is why Dawkins likens it to abuse, and part of why Sagan wrote The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark.