The usual introductions

[Mister Agenda]

Welcome, Grazer. The 'I used to be an atheist' line is a bit of a cliche' around here, it's used by pretty much everyone whose preacher told them anyone who drinks alcohol and has pre-marital sex is an atheist. When we hear atheist, we think 'rational skeptic' and want to know what great evidence or line of reasoning persuaded a skeptic like you. If there is a God, we really want to know about it. Then we find out the person is one of those people who checks yes for both 'are you an atheist?' and 'do you believe God is real?' in surveys.

So I hope you don't take the doubt too personally, it starts to get frustrating after the first few hundred times that it's merely a tactic to claim some kind of special 'I was like you, once' gravitas. Unless you didn't believe in God for the same reasons you don't believe in alien abductions, ghosts, fairies, or the Loch Ness monster; you weren't really like most of us at all.

[Strongbad]

People here have a hard time believing that people can change their beliefs don't they?

No, people here have a hard time believing that a person can go from total non-belief in the claims made by religious folk to zeroing in on one of the multitudes of religions on offer and then proudly proclaiming that they have made the correct choice.

If something smells like bullshit, it is almost inevitably...bullshit.

[Minimalist]

The 'I used to be an atheist' line is a bit of a cliche' around here

Yeah.

[Minimalist]

Aw, WTH...let's throw a little coal on the fire.

[Norfolk And Chance]

Hi, and welcome!

What is it exactly you're hoping to get from this forum?
And what were you before those three years?

Hope you'll find what you're looking for!

I'm looking to see and understand more about why people believe what they do. Before I was a Christian, I considered myself as an atheist.

So you "found" god did you?

---

I'm looking to see and understand more about why people believe what they do. Before I was a Christian, I considered myself as an atheist.

Welcome to the forum.

*opens can*

So when you were an atheist, you:

• Believed that ALL religions were contrived by men, and ALL were works of fiction
• Could not accept the claims made by religious people or their “holy” books
• Believed that religious people, of all “faiths” were misguided at best, and delusional at worst
• Believed that physical reality was all that there was, and stories of “creation”, deities, spirits, angels, demons, souls, etc., were merely fantasies

And then somehow you became convinced that Christianity was no longer to be grouped as a falsehood with all other religions, because it is actually the one religion that is true. That the god you now “believe in” is in fact real, and that he really did create the universe, and that he really does rule over it. That angels, demons, spirits, etc., are truly real. And that after your death you will be resurrected and you will live forever in the presence of this god.

For some reason, I don’t believe you were ever an atheist, and you are making that claim as some lame attempt at an appeal to authority. I say bullshit.

*closes can*

And that sums up why it is almost impossible for an atheist to become a theist.

I just don't believe these "I was an atheist but then I found god" stories 99% of the time.