How I became an atheist (Jesus, priests, rituals, moral)

[Booko]

Sheesh, I was an atheist for many years, but it had nothing to do with wanting to do anything the religion I was raised in forbade.

I simply did not believe it. Well, I thought the underlying ethics were sound enough, but didn't see any reason to bring God into the picture in order to follow the ethics.

If I "rebelled" against anything, it was the overt racism and support for oppression at the time. That denomination did, after all, provide the theological underpinnings for Apartheid in South Africa. While the effects were more diluted here in the U.S., there was certainly an apartheid mentality in evidence.

And quite frankly, the demand that I completely reject observations and reason in some areas in order accept some truly fantastical ancient stories only for their literal meaning didn't do much for me either.

[Jeremiah]

Originally Posted by Booko

Sheesh, I was an atheist for many years,

You should unconvert back, our numbers are small and our mojo is weak.

[Booko]

Originally Posted by Jeremiah

You should unconvert back, our numbers are small and our mojo is weak.

Oh, I don't think my switching back would make much difference, and atheists are created every day when people observe some of the foibles done in the name of religion.

And there's nothing wrong with your mojo neither.

I'll compromise with you, though. Theism or no, I promise to retain my skepticism.

[shadow_fire]

Are you sure you don't want to unconvert back to Atheism? we have cookies

[Eraser Salad]

The theists claim to have ice cream, but no one's ever seen it.

[shadow_fire]

The theists have ice cream?.... :O ....... *becomes a theist*

[Autodidact]

Well, if you don't mind me horning in on your thread, I'll try to describe my journey a little bit.
I have never been Christian.
I did not reject religion.
I did not become an atheist because of any doctrinal or policy problem of any organized religion, because I did not belong to one.
My spiritual journey was entirely personal and mostly intellectual.
For most of my adult life after leaving my family and my Jewish upbringing I asked myself what was the nature of God. My answer to that question changed as I changed and learned different things about the world, so it went from Adonai to a matriarchal Goddess to a nature-based paganism to panentheism.
Separately, I began to think in a skeptical and scientific way about various subjects, and decided that was a good way to learn the truth about many things. From skeptic to freethinker. Then I realized that since a freethinker questions everything, I should ask myself whether I thought there was a God, a question I had never thought of. I guess I assumed there was a God, and tried to determine His or Her or Its nature.

In thinking about this question, my first step was to define my terms. Without doing any reading or talking to anyone, I just thought about it. And the definition that came into my mind was a powerful spiritual being, a Creator of some kind, who cannot be perceived with the senses. Almost immediately I thought that a thing that cannot be perceived is defined as something that, for all practical intents and purposes, does not exist. Unless It might have some measurable effect that can be perceived. So I looked around for such an effect.

Does intercessory prayer work? It does not. Hmmm. Are religious people more moral than non-religious? They are not. Hmmm. Well, what about this amazing universe? Well, it's starting to look like science has some pretty good ideas about that, cosmology, biology, anthropology, seem to be developing some pretty good ideas that are not dependent on any God.

Then I started noticing things. Like how religions come and go. And the amazing coincidence that most people happen to believe the religion they were raised with. And that religious people don't believe because of evidence, but because they were raised to believe, or converted out of emotional need. And anthropology and psychology even have some pretty good explanation for that. And how religious people always tell you what's going to happen after you die, when they obviously have no way to know any more than I do.

Then I started noticing the manipulative techniques that religions use to persuade, such as threats and promises. If they had any evidence, they'd just present it--they wouldn't tell you you're going to burn in Hell if you don't buy it.

And as I go along, everything I observe, and especially the many, many hours I've invested or wasted discussing or arguing with theists, mostly Christians, on the net, have confirmed my hypothesis. Their apologetics all seem to be either circular arguments, special pleading, or a combination of the two.

And so my atheism is confirmed.

Not that you asked.

[MidnightBlue]

Originally Posted by Autodidact

Not that you asked.

No, but thank you for sharing. It's nice to know that not everybody who gets here has to take the same kind of circuitous route I did.

[rojse]

To us atheists, you might as well change the word God to Zeus, Thor, or the Flying Spaghetti Monster. I don't believe in your God, nor do I believe in any of the other gods that I mentioned.

I have no issue with what you worship. I believe that everyone should be free to worship whatever they please, but it is not for me.