Opinions on my drive to be an atheist

[FatAndFaithless]

If Matt said that most atheists can't explain why they're atheists, but that sinning is likely the biggest factor, then he's an idiot. Again, if he said that (I'm too lazy to look).

I'll save you some time: he didn't. He was saying that "you just want to sin" is a common thing said about atheists, and that you can easily turn that 'accusation' around to be a "so what if I do?" kind of thing.

Atheism, invariably, is non-belief stemming from a lack of evidence. That non-belief runs the spectrum (see: gnostic atheism vs. agnostic atheism), but that's it. But, no, we didn't go, "Man, you know what's awesome? Sex. And divorce. And not going to church. Screw god, we're gonna do what we want to do!"

I dunno if I'd say that's invariably what atheism is. Just the lack of belief in god is atheism, the justification for it can be evidential, emotional, simple ignorance (never having considered the concept for example), or other things.

Which is to say that, yes, while a lot of us say "fuck god", that was not the start of our journey, but rather an expression of what we've come to realize at the end of it.

You're looking for a way to get off the hook for divorcing your wife. You certainly don't seem like you've come to any kind of new, fundamental understanding of your beliefs, but rather that you're looking for a way to worm out of the rules without sacrificing your core beliefs. But, please, stop pretending you know what atheism is or is not. Your faux turn is really disingenuous, IMO, and frankly a bit insulting since you're attempting to co-opt something you're really not as an excuse to do what you want.

Be honest: do you believe in god or not? If so, you're not an atheist. You may no longer want to be a JW, but there's a huge difference between wanting to leave your sect and deciding there's no credible evidence for god, and that believing in it is utterly illogical.

Agreed.