When Did You Become a Non-Believer?

[ImmortalFlame]

My mother was raised protestant and eventually became an agnostic, my father was raised catholic and eventually became an atheist. So, you could say that they were always arguing over which religion I wasn't going to be brought up in.

Seriously though, my parents were very open about beliefs and basically let me and my brothers choose for ourselves what we wanted to believe. Having Religious Education lessons in the UK helped a lot as well, but my earlier memory of becoming aware of my atheism was actually in nursery. I was sent to a small, catholic nursery that wasn't too heavy on the Bible-bashing but would still sit us around in circles and sing all kinds of catholic carols. I remember one day they sat us all down and told us about Jesus and "all the wonderful things he did", and I remember listening to it all, completely entranced by what they were saying.

That evening when I got home, I walked up to mum and asked her "Mum, do we believe in Jesus?". To which she simply responded "No". I distinctly then remember saying "Good" with a genuine degree of relief.

 

[no-body]

5 years old same time I discovered there was no Santa. Dad is an atheist my mom is a lapsed catholic. I'm glad my dad kept my mom from putting me through the catholic thing.

I had a change of heart a couple years ago when I discovered spirituality could be completely separate from organized religion.

 

[dust1n]

My mother was raised protestant and eventually became an agnostic, my father was raised catholic and eventually became an atheist. So, you could say that they were always arguing over which religion I wasn't going to be brought up in.

Seriously though, my parents were very open about beliefs and basically let me and my brothers choose for ourselves what we wanted to believe. Having Religious Education lessons in the UK helped a lot as well, but my earlier memory of becoming aware of my atheism was actually in nursery. I was sent to a small, catholic nursery that wasn't too heavy on the Bible-bashing but would still sit us around in circles and sing all kinds of catholic carols. I remember one day they sat us all down and told us about Jesus and "all the wonderful things he did", and I remember listening to it all, completely entranced by what they were saying.

That evening when I got home, I walked up to mum and asked her "Mum, do we believe in Jesus?". To which she simply responded "No". I distinctly then remember saying "Good" with a genuine degree of relief.

Haha, I remember when I was young, maybe 10, I asked my Dad if God exists, and he said 'no.' I didn't really think too much about it, just kinda went on with my life.

Edit: Well until the incident mentioned above.

 

[Forkie]

I didn't really become a non-believer. I never was one.

The big moment for me was not ceasing to believe in God, but realising that everyone else did believe (that is, everyone in my class. Year 5 of middle school, so aged 7-8).

We always learnt scripture at school and heard the stories of Moses and the burning bush, the plagues, Noah's Ark, Adam and Eve etc., but it never even occurred to me that these were being told as actual historical events. I assumed that they were stories that were just told to tell how to be good, like "The Boy Who Cried Wolf" was told to show why you shouldn't lie etc.

It was only when I got into an argument with 3 of my friends about whether God was real or not, that I realised that some people believe the stories actually happened. None of my family are religious, so it was never a topic of heavy discussion.

Going to Hell, as far as I was concerned was on a par with, "be good or the Bogey Man will get you". It was a whimsical warning to remind you to be good.

 

[The_Evelyonian]

I suppose, on some level, I was always a non-believer, but there were times that I really, really wanted to believe in god.
I was raised in an ultra-fundie household and had god drilled into me on a daily basis. I was given the "turn-or-burn" speech so many times that I could probably recite it on command. For some reason though, my mind simply never latched on to the concept of god.
I used to consider this a failing on my part, saying that "I was born with a skeptic's mind" and calling it "my curse".
I used to think that, maybe, if I just tried a little harder, prayed a little more, read more of the Bible; I'd get it. It never happened. In fact, i found that doing these things only made my skepticism stronger.
It's only been recently that I've stopped trying and come to terms with the fact that there's nothing to get.
The sad part is though that, even though I've accepted the fact that god doesn't exist, I still feel guilt over saying it or even writing it out. I guess I'm damaged goods
Part of the upbringing I suppose. I'm hoping that, with time, it'll get easier.

 

[uwontchange]

the more I hanged out with Christians, the more I questioned religion and God. They judge everyone, think they have a free pass to heaven and think non-Christians will rott in hell. That, coupled with the thousands of ridiculous stories in the bible

 

[secularsimon]

I went to a youth group when I was 12. I guess I believed then because everyone else did and if I didnt I was going to hell (ha..). My dad stopped me from going coz he didnt like the idea of it.
Never thought about it again til highschool. Fed the same ******** as always, and I rejected it because...well...its ********.
Then never really thought about it again til last year; read a couple of books highlighting a few of the many flaws in various religions, and I learnt a lot about evolution, the big bang, and philosophy (not at collage/uni or anything).
And I can say I am atheist. Very strongly atheist. And I thoroughly enjoy listening to both sides of the argument.

 

[Raithie]

This really sums it up:

Why I don't believe

 

[muxi2K]

I started questioning my parent's belief in my teens but it wasn't until my mid twenties that I finally came out of it.

 

[Penumbra]

So, at what point in your life did you lose your belief (if you ever had any) and what caused you to not believe?

I was about 14 when it could be said that I was no longer a theist. It's more of a gradual change than a moment, though.

Basically I had been raised liberally Catholic. I never particularly believed in things like Satan, trinity, hell, exclusivity, etc. I just kind of believed in a sort of loving monotheist god that was not affiliated with any particular religion. So at a certain point I just couldn't go to church and nod my head and say creeds that I don't agree with. I read the Bible all the way through for the first time and realized I agreed with probably less than 5% of it and felt that the rest was either inaccurate, unethical, or both. I read other holy texts like the Qur'an and the Bhagavad Gita, and some Buddhist texts, but didn't believe them so much either (though I liked the Gita a lot).

I realized that my god was just cherry-picked from my culture and my parents. There was no rhyme or reason for believing what I did other than that was how I was raised by my parents. If I had been born in any other part of the world, I would have likely been raised with different beliefs. So I no longer believed in deities and such since I saw no reason to.

-Lyn

 

[jarofthoughts]

I've never really been a believer.
I was Christened as a baby, since it was a tradition and I did the confirmation part when I was 14 but that was mainly to please my grandmother. You could say religion and I went separate ways after that.
Mind you, it is easy to both be and become an atheist in Norway. Religion doesn't really play that much of a role for most people and on the polls some 70% profess to being atheist/agnostic. It is quite simply one of the most secular countries in the world.

I admit that I didn't really think much about it until I came in my mid-twenties. It wasn't really that important to me and I just got on with my life and my education.
As of late though I have spent quite a bit of time debating the subject of religion, both on and off-line and the reason is that lately religion has become a menace. I'm not one to dictate what people should and shouldn't believe in the privacy of their own homes, but when religion starts to have an impact on the educational system, medicinal science, biological science, politics and the judicial system I feel they have gone too far. Hence I have gone from being a non-involved atheist to being a rather outspoken atheist.

So theists, you brought this on yourself.

 

[gnostic]

I became a non-believer sometime when I was very young, at a time when a Sunday School teacher explained to us that God is up in the clouds, watching us, every moment of everyday, spying on every single thing we did. I found the idea horrifying and it made me paranoid.

I'm no longer a non-believer, but I would still find the idea horrifying.

For a moment there, I thought you were going to say that you were scare of heights....you know siting on the clouds, and f-fa-falling....

 

[Wandered Off]

For a moment there, I thought you were going to say that you were scare of heights....you know siting on the clouds, and f-fa-falling....

Don't be silly. She was scared that God would fall and squish her and her little dog too.

 

[evolved yet?]

I was ten and I read about evolution and thought, there would never be a god that didn't interact with the universe( which would be intelligent design/ creationism) and since it was obvious that evolution was true...

 

[YmirGF]

So, at what point in your life did you lose your belief (if you ever had any) and what caused you to not believe?

Hmmmm. How to answer this one.........

To be honest, I never stopped believing after I met my personal vision of god. The thing is, the encounter was so different from what the world's religions portray that I cannot, in all seriousness, support the common god concepts. In THOSE terms, I most certainly do not believe in "god". More specifically, I do not believe in the god outlined in ANY of the world's religions.

My thought is that as long as I don't define what I perceive as being "god", as others understand the term, then they cannot accuse me of being supportive of their ludicrous thinking. Plus, to be brutally honest, I don't know that it really IS "god", so it would be a bit presumptuous of me to trot about babbling on about a god that I am no expert on. The point is, however, that even though I cannot prove what I perceive to others that doesn't really change my perception.

I am just leery of supporting the incredibly moronic and limited god-concepts that are circulating these days. Seriously. Did I say that I don't buy into revelation either? I am a pretty strong supporter of realization though.

So, in that sense, I am certainly a "non-believer" as I do not believe in the relatively primitive god-concepts of others. Further to this, I am never going to believe in the gods outlined by man's religions ever again. One can only delude themselves for so long.

 

[Revoltingest]

When Did You Become a Non-Believer?

August 27, 1953.

 

[Scarlett Wampus]

Hmmmm. How to answer this one.........

To be honest, I never stopped believing after I met my personal vision of god. The thing is, the encounter was so different from what the world's religions portray that I cannot, in all seriousness, support the common god concepts. In THOSE terms, I most certainly do not believe in "god". More specifically, I do not believe in the god outlined in ANY of the world's religions.

My thought is that as long as I don't define what I perceive as being "god", as others understand the term, then they cannot accuse me of being supportive of their ludicrous thinking. Plus, to be brutally honest, I don't know that it really IS "god", so it would be a bit presumptuous of me to trot about babbling on about a god that I am no expert on. The point is, however, that even though I cannot prove what I perceive to others that doesn't really change my perception.

I am just leery of supporting the incredibly moronic and limited god-concepts that are circulating these days. Seriously. Did I say that I don't buy into revelation either? I am a pretty strong supporter of realization though.

So, in that sense, I am certainly a "non-believer" as I do not believe in the relatively primitive god-concepts of others. Further to this, I am never going to believe in the gods outlined by man's religions ever again. One can only delude themselves for so long.

It sounds like you're kind of an agnostic for practical reasons then.

When Did You Become a Non-Believer?

August 27, 1953.

Is this your birthday?

 

[Revoltingest]

Is this your birthday?

Yah, yoo betcha!

 

[St Giordano Bruno]

It took a few natural disasters such as an earthquake in Peru on May 31st 1970 which caused me to serious question my theistic beliefs. I just felt the most comfortable way to explain all that pain and suffering such as in the event of natural disasters, famines and wars was to just simply take God out of the equation.

 

[touggstore]

I was pretty much convinced that the Christian God didn't exist. In my mind, the arguments against the existence of God were much stronger than the arguments for His existence.