did you ever truly believe?

[J.D.]

Atheists, do you remember a time in your life when you actually believed in the existence of a god? What was this like?

I remember being taught the usual bullshit as a child but my family aren't religious so it never really sunk in as important to me. I went through a rough phase at high school when I turned to christianity, but I think I was always kidding myself, in the back of my mind I always felt it was all ridiculous. I don't think I've ever truly believed in anything other than, stuff that makes sense. (Santa claus made sense to me when I was 5).

Are there atheists here who have actually truly believed at some point or is there a sense in all religion followers of trying to convince themselves it is true?

I am very much like you. I did not grow up in a religious home and I had no pressure placed on me by my parents to believe in anything. It wasn't I was in my early twenties that I became interested. I was embarrassed about being so illiterate about the bible.

I mean there are so many biblical references that I just didn't understand, so I took a class at a community college on the New Testament as literature. It was really one of the most interesting classes that I ever had.

At this time in my life, I had a lot of tragedy in my family as well as personally. To be blunt, I was an alcoholic and my life was crazy for about five years, so when I couldn't take any more, I started going to AA.

This was the first time in my life that I associated with people who practiced a "spiritual way of life". I felt like I lacked the ability to believe in God, but over time I found myself praying and talking about a God who was personal to me. Inwardly, I felt that I was being dishonest as I really did not believe, but I saw that instead as a spiritual struggle.

Sorry, this is a long story that played out over the past 23 years. A little over six years ago, I got married and my wife is an atheist, and without pushing me, she got me thinking. I decided that I was in fact an atheist, that my struggle with faith was in fact nothing more than not being able to reconcile spirituality with reality.

I started reading Hitchens and Hawkins and other sources on the Internet, and now I realize that I never really believed, but there was a time for many years that I wanted to believe.

In my opinion, even the most devote religious practioner knows deep down that there is no god, but they continue on with the game.

[Abracadabra]

In my opinion, even the most devote religious practioner knows deep down that there is no god, but they continue on with the game.

I don't know if I'd go that far.

A lot of people can believe in it by simply ignorant the things that don't make sense, and pretending that some of the things that seem to make sense can somehow be justified.

However, I do believe that a lot of hardcore preachers and proselytizers know full well that it's a crock of bull, but they love to use is as a means of spreading hatred toward non-believers, as well as supporting their own bigotries.

It's extremely easy to use Jesus as a hate-doll to beat people over the heads with. And being able to do what whilst actually being supported by Christian sheep in the process, is a huge magnet for hate-loving egos.

What better pretense to spread their hate, then to pretend that they are doing it in the name of Jesus.

I seriously do believe that the religion is highly attractive to egotists who would love to have "God" supporting their egos in the name of Jesus.

[KichigaiNeko]

Short answer is no...just a whole lot of people trying to feel "special" at my expense... meh

[Ace Otana]

Atheists, do you remember a time in your life when you actually believed in the existence of a god?

Nope. When I was made aware of such idiot beliefs I questioned it heavily. The more I learnt the more absurd the idea became. To think we are some how the purpose of the entire universe is just complete arrogance, madness and filled with the desire to feel special. I found that it took more will and effort to try and convince myself of the existence of some god rather than be in complete disbelief of it. Just found the whole thing really really really hard to believe.
No credibility, no evidence. All I got was "just have faith" or when you translate it - "just take my word for it".

Reality isn't as convenient or easy as people like to think it is. We are biological entities bound on a small planet hurtling through the deep dangerous and vastness of space and a result of the universe not the purpose of it.
Not everyone can handle the thought of that. They either forget or do not grasp just how small we really are.

[Michelle_Patton]

Yes.
When I was little, I was devastated that my mother didn't believe in god because that meant she was going to hell
I didn't have much to do with religion for a large part of my life, but I always believed in 'something' Then in my early 20's I was converted - I was at a very vulnerable stage in my life, and I needed something to hold on to. And like so many people, the more I learned about it, the more it made no sense until finally I had to admit that I'd been fooling myself. Between Derren Brown, Stephen Fry, Richard Dawkins and forums like this, I've learned more about religion in a short time than I ever did when I was part of it. I'm now a little embarrassed that I ever believed in any of it, but I did.

[AthiestAtheist]

Part of me becoming atheist was realizing that no, I never truly did believe in God.

[Heathenous]

I wish I had some deep involved insight on this question. I really do.

I never subscribed to the religious views I was exposed to, but I suspected a deeper meaning to it all, and perhaps a deity that is the source of the bastardised versions man created.

Once I realised "I Don't Know" is a valid answer, and it rapidly disappated any views in deism. So I suppose I was a deist until I realised that I don't need to know why, but instead came to the conclusion that the invention of supernatural agency to explain something does not make it valid.

Yeah, that.

I was raised by a very religious southern baptist woman, but I didn't receive any formal education in religion beyond "this is what we say before bed." No church, no Sunday school, etc. So my religious exposure was fairly limited, but what I was exposed to, didn't really add up for me. The older I got, the harder I had to make myself believe in god, and by the time I was 14 I'd decided I was most definitely atheist.

[Hamany]

Atheists, do you remember a time in your life when you actually believed in the existence of a god? What was this like?

I remember being taught the usual bullshit as a child but my family aren't religious so it never really sunk in as important to me. I went through a rough phase at high school when I turned to christianity, but I think I was always kidding myself, in the back of my mind I always felt it was all ridiculous. I don't think I've ever truly believed in anything other than, stuff that makes sense. (Santa claus made sense to me when I was 5).

Are there atheists here who have actually truly believed at some point or is there a sense in all religion followers of trying to convince themselves it is true?

I believed in god most of my lifetime because of fear and the constantly brainwashing machine in my place,I used to go to Mosque every friday.just like sunday church

cant believe how much time people wasting on these mosques.its requires for Muslims to pray 5 times a day every single day ( without the friday gathering) so alot of muslims.stop whatever they do and go there its countless wasted hours of their lifetime whats even more silly and pity is they say the same words they do the same exercises every day in these 5 prays.


but for the last 10 years at least in my place.we are seeing less and less people going to mosques 5 times a day.people getting less interested and probably bored : P


i kind got out of the topic.sorry for that .I will just leave it to there

[KichigaiNeko]

Any religion you care to name...ALL stupid

[Xavier]

I don't think I ever really believed in it.
I have very religious parents and went to a Protestant school, so I wa forced to go to church with my parents and pray in school.

I can remember being around 7 or 8 and thinking "this is all stupid. where is this invisible God I'm supposed to be praying to and how do I know he exists,"

I think I'd say I was more agnostic when I was really young and there was still some part of me that thought this might be true but completely atheist by the time I was about 11.

I can't relate to Christians.
I just don't understand why they don't come to the same conclusions as I did when I was very young, and the more you learn about Christianity the more ridiculous it seems.