Those who never believed in a God

[Minimalist]

Dad was a catholick who never went to church.  Mom was some kind of protestant... I never asked and she never mentioned it.  Dad was delighted when he could get my older brother to drive us both to church so he didn't have to do it.

When I was 13 my brother joined the navy and dad asked me if I wanted to go to church or sleep in on Sunday.  I chose sleep.  He looked relieved.

You can tell they were real serious about that bullshit.

[Astonished]

Dad was a catholick who never went to church.  Mom was some kind of protestant... I never asked and she never mentioned it.  Dad was delighted when he could get my older brother to drive us both to church so he didn't have to do it.

When I was 13 my brother joined the navy and dad asked me if I wanted to go to church or sleep in on Sunday.  I chose sleep.  He looked relieved.

You can tell they were real serious about that bullshit.

Reminds me how a few people I knew growing up, while they were indoctrinated, had parents who pumped them full of so many mixed messages, that by the time they grew up, their faith was completely irreconcilable with that of their parents. Kind of hard to instill beliefs when you're basing it on a framework full of contradictions and you're only willing to be wishy-washy and half-assed about it anyway.

[KevinM1]

I grew up in a mostly non-practicing Catholic family. I've been to church maybe 10 times in my 37 years of existence, and hated it every single time. My mom and older brother definitely believe, with the brother being a semi-regular at his church. My oldest brother believes in something, but it's a loose, generalized spirituality.

[mordant]

My oldest brother believes in something, but it's a loose, generalized spirituality.

It's useful to remind ourselves now and then that we have some sampling errors with the theists we get in places like this. They seem to be 90% fundamentalist or some really eclectic roll-your-own dogma, maybe an occasional conservative Catholic, but worldwide, most pew-warmers are just that. They hold their faith relatively loosely.

I just finished a conversation on another forum with a guy who thinks we atheists straw-man Christians sometimes. He seems to be more or less a liberal Christian who believes in the golden rule, thinks the Bible is a flawed book intended to teach general principles, and is pretty much a live-and-let-live type. He used to watch US televangelists and thought it (and a few fundies he's encountered in his earlier life) was some insane fringe. He also had some really odd and naive ideas about his own faith, for example, that the god of the OT and the god of the NT were two completely different gods. But his main contention was that what Christianity seems to be to us, looks like the product of ignorance and indifference. He didn't realize he had his own ignorance and indifference, and hadn't bothered to learn about his own faith enough to understand at least in general terms all the different theological camps. It didn't help that he'd lived in Europe most of his later adult life, where he fit in better, never encountered fundies, and it's considered bad form to ask people about their religion. And he seems to studiously ignore Catholics.

[downbeatplumb]

Those are some questions to the ones who never believed in a God. Did your parents or guardians tell you anything about religion? How were your relationships with other kids (or grown-ups for that matter)?

I was made to go to Sunday school by my mum who was religious, I apparently asked too many questions and they asked her not to take me back. I just found the whole thing ridiculous I think they got as far as Cain and Able and I was like "wait a minute......".

I didn't mind I preferred the Warner Bros cartoons on Sunday Mornings to that shit.

[Ben Davis]

[Astonished]

Those are some questions to the ones who never believed in a God. Did your parents or guardians tell you anything about religion? How were your relationships with other kids (or grown-ups for that matter)?

I was made to go to Sunday school by my mum who was religious, I apparently asked too many questions and they asked her not to take me back. I just found the whole thing ridiculous I think they got as far as Cain and Able and I was like "wait a minute......".

I didn't mind I preferred the Warner Bros cartoons on Sunday Mornings to that shit.

Isn't it absolutely amazing how a child can completely demolish their entire argument like that? That any of this goes beyond childhood is heartbreaking.

[Samash]

My family were a collection of religions, Jehovah's Witnesses, Spiritualists, Church of England, Catholic, et al.  Though my Dad is an agnostic, and my Mum an atheist (she used to be a spiritualist, and in some ways still is, as she thinks my StepDad is watching over her from beyond the grave.

My parents never spoke to me about religion, but my maternal granddad (who is a Jehovah's Witness), used to make us read the bible.  I just thought it was a collection of stories, I never believed that any of it ever happened, or that god really existed.  I also had to sing hymns and listen to the vicar every Friday morning in primary school.

I never hid the fact I didn't believe in god/s, but kept mostly to myself, so it probably wouldn't have affected how I got on with people any way, I didn't have any friends in school.

[Shell B]

My mom used to talk about religion a lot. She didn't go to church, but she'd say stupid shit like "lightning is god taking your picture." It was a cute way to get kids to calm down, but it really helped me realize she was just telling stories. My father never talked about religion. He talked about science a lot. I know one doesn't preclude the other, but when I realized my non-belief was called atheism, I assumed he was an atheist too because of his interest in science and seeming lack of interest in religion. I was right.

I got along with other people as well as most children do. I had friends. I had bullies, etc.