Atheism, what led you?

[Raven]

Whether your an atheist or agnostic etc, what led you to what you believe in today? Also, why do you believe in what you believe in?

OK, here goes: I don't believe that there is anyone here but us, so to speak.
I reject the notion of there being any sort of omnimax deity such as you get in the Bible. I was raised in the Catholic church, historically one of the most corrupt and hypocritical institutions ever known to humankind. Leaving the institution itself aside, the belief system just did not work for me. The thing that really did in any belief in a god was what is often referred to as the argument from evil. I'm defining evil here as anything that is harmful, period. So that would include disease or natural disasters. I am aware there is no intent involved with natural forces, but my point is that people still get hurt. With all of the evil you have in this world, God, if he existed, was not doing his job.

Those nuns and brothers in school never wanted to address that. How many times can you be told "God moves in mysterious ways" or "Humans are not capable of understanding God's plan" before you want to scream? He is supposed to be our heavenly father, right? Jesus said that "Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care.b 30And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows." That may be true, but what good does it do any of us? People still suffer and he still does not do anything about it. Why are innocent children born blind, or otherwise disabled? If a god does indeed exist then he is not doing a very good job. So what good is he? Furthermore, the god of the old testament is just plain malevolent, as can be seen in bible story after bible story.

So eventually I had to come to the conclusion that either god did not exist or that if he did, he wasn't a god I had desire to have anything to do with.

There are, of course many other arguments against the existence of a deity. The sheer lack of evidence should be enough, I would think. But when someone gets raised in a given faith, then they are not getting out easily or soon. Especially when you've been through 12 years of religious schools, had a fanatical mom, a sister who became a Sunday school teacher and another who became a nun.

So, for whatever it is worth there you are.