I'll answer this thread, considering myself a quasi-atheist. At least I'm an atheist with regards to the god of Islam and Christianity, so I'm sure this thread pertains to me.
I was born a deist. I realized I was one after reading Thomas Paine's "The Age of Reason". Before then, I'd mislabeled myself "agnostic". Church never had any appeal to me. It was hard for me to understand why God would want to be worshiped. I experienced more of the sublime learning about the universe in science class, visiting a planetarium or seeing a documentary on the human brain than I did in any church I visited. I was raised in an agnostic and anti-religious family, so I managed to escape any indoctrination and was taught to think critically.
I finally started attending church to meet women. That didn't pan out so well but I did start to learn some specifics about Christianity. God sending himself down to earth to sacrifice himself to himself because that was the only way he could convince himself to forgive us for our rib-woman ancestor eating a magic fruit after speaking with a talking snake. I started to look into this religion and the whole thing seemed "barking mad" to me, as Dawkins has said.
Some moderate Christians, my sister included, have suggested that I need both church and science to fully understand God. Why? Religions offer no guidance, either moral, spiritual or intellectual. It serves no purpose at all. At best, it represents a huge waste of time, money and other resources.
I was born a deist. I realized I was one after reading Thomas Paine's "The Age of Reason". Before then, I'd mislabeled myself "agnostic". Church never had any appeal to me. It was hard for me to understand why God would want to be worshiped. I experienced more of the sublime learning about the universe in science class, visiting a planetarium or seeing a documentary on the human brain than I did in any church I visited. I was raised in an agnostic and anti-religious family, so I managed to escape any indoctrination and was taught to think critically.
I finally started attending church to meet women. That didn't pan out so well but I did start to learn some specifics about Christianity. God sending himself down to earth to sacrifice himself to himself because that was the only way he could convince himself to forgive us for our rib-woman ancestor eating a magic fruit after speaking with a talking snake. I started to look into this religion and the whole thing seemed "barking mad" to me, as Dawkins has said.
Some moderate Christians, my sister included, have suggested that I need both church and science to fully understand God. Why? Religions offer no guidance, either moral, spiritual or intellectual. It serves no purpose at all. At best, it represents a huge waste of time, money and other resources.
Atheist Forums Hall of Shame:
"The trinity can be equated to having your cake and eating it too."
... -Lucent, trying to defend the Trinity concept
"(Yahweh's) actions are good because (Yahweh) is the ultimate standard of goodness. That’s not begging the question"
... -Statler Waldorf, Christian apologist
"The trinity can be equated to having your cake and eating it too."
... -Lucent, trying to defend the Trinity concept
"(Yahweh's) actions are good because (Yahweh) is the ultimate standard of goodness. That’s not begging the question"
... -Statler Waldorf, Christian apologist
