How Did You Become An Atheist?

NewChapter

Since there seem to be a number of threads in this spirit, I'd like to ask how others became atheists. For myself, I learned some things that made me understand the Bible wasn't true. I looked deeper, and it became even more unlikely. Well if not the Bible god---who? My goodness this world is full of gods and belief systems. All culturally specific---all changeable---all very limited. And when I looked at science, I saw that a god was not acutally necessary. I mean---how could all this exist without a god? Science showed me it could.

Then I paid attention to how believers expressed themselves. I saw with everyone of them a kind of denial to evidence---a certain amount of acrobatics their brains did to force everything to fit into their belief systems. It was uncomfortable to watch and continues to be.

Of course, this all seemed to happen in less than a minute, for me. But when I broke it down, I realized I had been doing this for about 2 years before I concluded there was no God. I, as a believer, was also doing mental gymnastics to frantically make everything fit, and in that moment it no longer fit anymore. That was when I was really able to solve the puzzle.

NC

MC RubberMallet

I can see where you're coming from.

Right now, my thoughts are, when I pray, does God listen? Even if something works to my favor, can I say it was God?

What about the children literally being eaten by birds because they are too weak to defend themselves? Why can't God give them food instead of answering my relatively selfish requests. Children, CHILDREN, who have done nothing but was born into a chaotic situation can't even eat. If I had the power, that would be HIGH on my list to fix. Why hasn't God done it? (I do have problem with the Bible being the Word of God so I don't use it as a spiritual reference.)

But when I see order, from the nucleus of a cell to the wonders of the universe, I don't believe it all came about by accident on it's own.

So I'm in limbo.... But if I become atheist, that would be a reason. Not the only one, but an important one nonetheless.

ammo

So you've solved the puzzle.... to life..... yet you're still here day after day after day after day.......hmmmmm interesting

MC RubberMallet

What?

LostGeneration

JWs poisoned all other religions/Gods.

Once their God was ruined as well, there was nowhere else to go.

Ammo, where does NC assert she has solved the puzzle to life?

NewChapter

Not all puzzles Ammo---but some very specific questions were answered that used to nag at me all the time. I'm going to answer something RMM just said, and it is one of the questions I answered---puzzled solved (just one). Please don't extrapolate my comment to mean that I have found all the answers. Thank you.

Right now, my thoughts are, when I pray, does God listen? Even if something works to my favor, can I say it was God?

This was actually my first very real struggle. I would say to people I no longer understood prayer. If I received what I prayed for, then God had answered. If something bad happened, then God was not to blame. God does not protect us. But then why pray. I was told that because I had a good job and had bought disability insurance, God had blessed me. Really, I asked. But nearly everyone that works with me bought that insurance, they also have very good jobs, they worked hard for them. And they made a wise decision---yet many of them are not believers. However, if they get sick, they will have the same protection that I have. So was it God, or was it just me working hard and making good decisions? What would you say if I didn't have a good job or had not bought the insurance?

I would also ask why I should thank God for good things, but never blame him for bad things?

It just no longer made sense. When I realized there was no god, it all made sense. Shit happens. Sometimes we make good decisions that can protect us, and sometimes we don't have the circumstances to do so. Prayer does not change the equation in any way.

Knowsnothing

I'm not religious. I believe there may be a god. Functionally, I am atheist. How did I get here? Religions don't seem to hold the answers I seek. Objectivity is a big thing for me. However, I still feel like I would like there to be a god that cares, something more to this life. That doesn't mean I have any proof, and at the end of the day, it doesn't really matter. I don't push my "possibility" on others, it just comforts me.

I like discussing god concepts as I stated on another thread, as a conceptual reality. It helps me organize my thoughts on life and the universe better, I find. Kind of like when Peter Griffin, Bill Gates, and Ted Turner were in a football field staring at the night sky and wondered something about god.

Knowsnothing

Prayer does not change the equation in any way.

I disagree. Prayer, I believe, certainly doesn't get answered by god, but it might motivate a person to act a certain way. It depends. Prayer might help a person meditate, and thus change the equation. It's just not by injecting the supernatural or the divine.

NewChapter

Oh I agree knows---but not because PRAYER changed anything. Just thinking did---and that can be in the context of prayer or otherwise. This may be a bit of semantics, but for prayer to work, it would be supernatural interference. But if we are just talking about gathering our thoughts and focusing on our problems, prayer offers nothing special---all of us can and should do this.

MC RubberMallet

Notice how many times you all say "I" or "me" when talking about a God. Shows how selfish you all are...

Sometimes it takes a yearbook experience to see how God blessed a family far away with a little yellow book explaining another book that has been copied and translated and copied and translated from a dead language... That's proof!

How Did You Become An Atheist?

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