Why are you are an atheist

I am trying to understand why people become atheists. I have not heard of anyone who born an atheist. So simply put, what convinced you to become an atheist?

Originally posted by Fetchmyjunk
I am trying to understand why people become atheists. I have not heard of anyone who born an atheist. So simply put, what convinced you to become an atheist?

People become atheists for the same reason they become theists ... they become convinced by some sort of evidence.

Originally posted by BigDoggProblem
People become atheists for the same reason they become theists ... they become convinced by some sort of evidence.

Thanks for your contribution. Are you an atheist?

Originally posted by Fetchmyjunk
I have not heard of anyone who born an atheist.

When you say you have not heard of anyone who born an atheist, are you talking about them being (or not being) "an atheist" according to biodata on birth certificates or identity documents etc. or are you suggesting that all humans are born as theists?

Originally posted by FMF
When you say you have not heard of anyone who born an atheist, are you talking about them being (or not being) "an atheist" according to biodata on birth certificates or identity documents etc. or are you suggesting that all humans are born as theists?

I am not suggesting anything. I am merely asking a question. If an atheist was born into a family where both parents were atheists and they were raised that way then I guess you could say they have been an atheist all their life. I am not saying this is can never be the case. Most atheists that I know have had some negative experience with religion which has put them off. Are you an atheist?

Originally posted by Fetchmyjunk
Thanks for your contribution. Are you an atheist?

No.

Originally posted by Fetchmyjunk
I am not suggesting anything.

So when you say "I have not heard of anyone who born an atheist", rather than suggesting something about what people 'are' when they are born, you are referring to your own lack of life experience and interaction with atheists?

Originally posted by Fetchmyjunk
Are you an atheist?

No.

Originally posted by Fetchmyjunk
I am trying to understand why people become atheists. I have not heard of anyone who born an atheist. So simply put, what convinced you to become an atheist?

Being an atheist is the default position. Everyone is born an atheist with no awareness of God.

People decide to become a Christian, not the other way around, so the question really is, what convinced you to become a Christian? (And move away from the normal state of being).

Originally posted by Fetchmyjunk
I am trying to understand why people become atheists. I have not heard of anyone who born an atheist.

I was born an atheist, then subsequently brought up as a Christian then at about the age of 12 I realised it just didn't make sense. It wasn't because of some 'negative experience' with religion. It was because I realised it wasn't true.

Originally posted by Fetchmyjunk
I am trying to understand why people become atheists. I have not heard of anyone who born an atheist. So simply put, what convinced you to become an atheist?

Psssssst... they will tell you that everyone is born an atheist.

Originally posted by twhitehead
I was born an atheist, then subsequently brought up as a Christian then at about the age of 12 I realised it just didn't make sense. It wasn't because of some 'negative experience' with religion. It was because I realised it wasn't true.

Actually, it is true. So there couldn't have been a "realization". You made up your mind it wasn't true.

So what exactly was your "realization"? You just decided one day that it wasn't true? There must have been some "trigger factor" in that decision, so what was that?

Originally posted by Ghost of a Duke
Being an atheist is the default position. Everyone is born an atheist with no awareness of God.

People decide to become a Christian, not the other way around, so the question really is, what convinced you to become a Christian? (And move away from the normal state of being).

In my case, it was simple exposure. Like any other learning experience, once you confront a fact, you learn it and there it is, indisputable.

I will concede that in my case, much groundwork had already been laid in advance. I already believed in the Bible as truth since my Sunday School days.

It's just a short trip from there to full-blown Christianity.

Originally posted by Ghost of a Duke
Being an atheist is the default position. Everyone is born an atheist with no awareness of God.

People decide to become a Christian, not the other way around, so the question really is, what convinced you to become a Christian? (And move away from the normal state of being).

An atheist is someone who denies the existence of God. I don't ever recall having done that since I was born.

I was braught up in a Christian home and went to church every Sunday since I can remember.

Originally posted by Fetchmyjunk
An atheist is someone who denies the existence of God. I don't ever recall having done that since I was born.

I was braught up in a Christian home and went to church every Sunday since I can remember.

No sir, an atheist is someone who doesn't have God in their life. I have therefore been an atheist since birth. God is a human construct and something I inconsequentially dismissed later in life when this human construct was put to me by other human beings.