How do you become an Atheist?

[Rev. Rye]

First of all, I would like to hear what idea, concept, proof, or experience brought each of you personally to be Atheist. I know that you all profess that the burden of proof is on the person making the claims, you explained that to me quite well, but the "burden of proof" viewpoint is an assumption that Atheists make, so it would most likely be something you arrived at after deciding there is no God. I think most of you agreed with me that no one could argue a Christian out of faith, and that everyone will tend to believe what they believe until they are given sufficient reasons to change. So what I'm asking is what is it that made you decide to that you were firmly atheist? Or if you were raised in an Atheist home, what is it that made you decide that you personally were going to continue in your parent's (or parents') tradition?

Well, I think the first seeds of doubt that led to my becoming an atheist came, oddly enough, when I heard John 3:16. I'm pretty sure that you know the verse. "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have eternal life." It's widely considered to be the entire Gospel covered in a single verse of 25 words. The seeds of doubt came when I realised that
it could be halved into this: "God sacrificed himself to himself to change a rule he made himself." I mean, after all, God is omnipotent and benevolent and, if he is angry with his creation, he should at least be able to forgive them without waiting (at the very least) 4000 years for people to execute one individual so that he can apparently take away some of the effects of what angered God, and only for some people. Eventually, I would read the Bible and find more problems with it; Look here for more fridge logic I found with one part of the Bible that particularly bugged me: The first few chapters of Genesis (Chapter 3 in particular). By the time I was in my early teens, I was looking into the work of Bertrand Russell, and it was his essay "Why I am Not a Christian" that had killed off the last vestiges of belief in me.

[BleakandDead]

First of all, I would like to hear what idea, concept, proof, or experience brought each of you personally to be Atheist.

I was raised Christian, then later I began to start questoning my faith due to the fact that deities like Horus were fundamentally the same as Jesus, that Christianity, and religion as a whole, had no proof, and that, instead of help the world as it claimed to, it generally went about destroying it (Holocaust, Three Crusades), and most other members of my faith attacked me because I'm bi. I began to look at atheism and I realized it had more proof, was more morale as a whole, and didn't attack my sexuality NEAR as much.

[HeyItsZeus]

You just have to open your eyes.

[Strappado]

First of all, I would like to hear what idea, concept, proof, or experience brought each of you personally to be Atheist. I know that you all profess that the burden of proof is on the person making the claims, you explained that to me quite well, but the "burden of proof" viewpoint is an assumption that Atheists make, so it would most likely be something you arrived at after deciding there is no God. I think most of you agreed with me that no one could argue a Christian out of faith, and that everyone will tend to believe what they believe until they are given sufficient reasons to change. So what I'm asking is what is it that made you decide to that you were firmly atheist? Or if you were raised in an Atheist home, what is it that made you decide that you personally were going to continue in your parent's (or parents') tradition?

I'll cut and paste from a different thread:
I remember when I was four or five or something, my grandmother had instilled in me the belief in God. So I told my father that I believed in God. He replied that he didn't but it was all right if I did. I then realized that God's existance was not settled once and for all, and stopped believing.

I wasn't really raised atheist though, since my mother wasn't an atheist, but I have remained unconvinced of religious claims.

[krazedkat]

OK, in the last thread I started I saw that the atheists here cite "burden of proof" as to why they do not believe in God. The atheist is not making any claims about the supernatural and therefore those that do make claims about the supernatural have the burden of proof. I also saw a lot of references to a belief in scientific thinking, and one person stated that their belief in science superseded belief in God. It was a surprisingly unanimous opinion and I found it to be fascinating, especially in how exactly it lined up with Modern thinking. I was hoping you could help understand a few more things.

Shoot away

First of all, I would like to hear what idea, concept, proof, or experience brought each of you personally to be Atheist.

I would like to first say I was born a Christian. After many years I converted to my Grandmother's religion (Judaism) and was quite devote for a long time. This past summer I watched many videos about atheism and was intrigued. I suddenly was facing the fact that there is no evidence towards a God. That's really it... That's how I'm atheist now.

I know that you all profess that the burden of proof is on the person making the claims, you explained that to me quite well, but the "burden of proof" viewpoint is an assumption that Atheists make, so it would most likely be something you arrived at after deciding there is no God.

Evidently

I think most of you agreed with me that no one could argue a Christian out of faith, and that everyone will tend to believe what they believe until they are given sufficient reasons to change.

Indeed, Christians are usually very thickskulled about their beliefs.

So what I'm asking is what is it that made you decide to that you were firmly atheist? Or if you were raised in an Atheist home, what is it that made you decide that you personally were going to continue in your parent's (or parents') tradition?

Previously stated.