(June 1, 2021 at 9:10 am)johndoe122931 Wrote: I know there is a list a mile long as to reasons why people do not believe and that’s great, but I am more interested in hearing from the individual as to why they personally do not. What lead you to become an atheist? Were you a believer before you became an atheist? What happened to cause you to turn away from your faith? What religion or God did you follow before you became an atheist if any at all? When you turned away from God what did your friends and family say or do?
I find agnostic atheism to be the most defensible and rational position based on what I've observed in life and after examining the arguments. I've examined many arguments for theism and (for the most part) found them to be pretty weak. But I still love discussing them. It never gets old. Religion fascinates me.
The best arguments I've encountered in favor of theism are the pragmatic arguments of William James. He is very sympathetic to the skeptical position, but still manages to muster some solid arguments for belief.
I never really "turned away" from my (Catholic) faith. I more so just explored other points of view and found them more compelling. There was a little bit of drama from my sister (who was fairly devout) when it became obvious I didn't believe. But nothing serious.
