I didn't always know atheism was an option

[JonDarbyXIII]

I didn't grow up with any religion other than my mother's desire to instill the Golden Rule into me. Yet I still believed in God, simply because I did not know that there was any other option. Sure, I knew of other world religions, but I really didn't see any of those as anything other than 'what those backwards people on the other side of the globe believe.'

In high school and college, I knew a few people who claimed to be atheists, but these were generally people who were more anti-establishment. At the time, I still didn't particularly see atheism as anything that was a serious logical claim.

It wasn't until the first time I came across an atheist book in a bookstore that I thought, "Holy shit! There really are people who have logical reasoning for this--enough so that there is an entire book on the subject.

I have spent the past decade studying all religions, reading everything from the Bible, to the Qur'an, the Tao Te Ching, the Book of Mormon, et cetera, and I have come to the conclusion that they are all complete crap. I have now even written my own book on the subject with the goal of making sure that no one else has to grow up knowing that atheism is an intellecually tenable position.

What I want to know is.. was I naive as a child, or are there other people who just didn't know they had options?

[robvalue]

Awesome! Welcome

I've been getting into ripping religion apart recently, but it seems I'm in the presence of a master.

I was not raised religious, but I've heard enough atheists talk about their experience to know that what happened isn't uncommon. Religion tries its best at an early age to try and get things like "the bible is true", "jesus is the lord" stuck in your head as undeniably true. Not everyone comes out of that brainwashing with much ability to reason left.

Atheism is a relatively new thing, and it's again not uncommon for people to not have heard of it or take it seriously. I have heard wonderful stories of people coming out of religion and meeting up with others who have had the same experience, and realizing they are no longer bound by some arbitrary arcane rules.

Welcome to the real world!

[abaris]

Welcome.

Thinking back, I never really was religious. Sometimes I was afraid of eternal punishment, but that's about it. I stayed with my religious upbringing because it was the traditional thing to do, but I never gave it any thought to be honest.

I probably was an atheist from the get go, but it took a very long time to call myself that. I saw no need to formally reject something I didn't believe in anyway.

[JonDarbyXIII]

Yes, the eternal punishment concept is something else that i just don't understand. I know this is still a huge fear for a lot of people who are coming out of religion, and I sincerely feel for them though I personally can't relate. As I've heard more and more stories from people, this is one of the things that makes me the maddest about religion--it seems to be the final tie of psychological abuse to keep adherents from defecting.

[Mister Agenda]

Welcome. I was definitely an adult before it even occurred to me there might not be a God.

[LastPoet]

Enjoy the forums.

[rexbeccarox]

Welcome

[TheRealJoeFish]

What I want to know is.. was I naive as a child, or are there other people who just didn't know they had options?

Welcome!

These are not mutually exclusive propositions. A lot of people (like myself and I'm sure many on this board) were naive as children and young adults, but that's excusable. When all you get from your parents is one slant, it's hard to realize that there are other possibilities out there.

When I told my father I was an atheist, I tried to give him some of my thinking and reasons. I told him it was to try to help him understand where I was coming from. He said "you can talk until you're blue in the face and I won't understand where you're coming from. If you told me you were struggling with Christianity, or didn't know what religion you believed, I could understand." A lot of parents think like this, and that's why a lot of children know they have options but don't realize that atheism is one of them.

[robvalue]

That's right, because they have been victims of the brainwashing too. They can't conceive for a second they could be wrong. It's really sad the grip it gets on people.

Yes, I wouldn't say you were naive, just not given a fair representation of belief (or non belief). Your parents are meant to teach you what you need to know.

[JonDarbyXIII]

I definitely consider myself fortunate in that my mom is very supportive in my intellectual quests. She calls herself a Christian, but really only believes in a god to the extent that 'this all had to have come from somewhere.' We always say that is is better to teach your children how to think instead of teaching them what to think, and I think I was lucky to have a "Christian" mom who felt the same. I may not have been given all the options from the start, but I was never prevented from taking any course on which my journey led me.