Why are you are an atheist

Originally posted by Ghost of a Duke
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.

Which dictionary does that definition come from? So you did believe in God at some point in your life? Also if what you are saying is true and all people are born atheists, why are there so many religious people, and why do such a small percentage of the human race retain their atheism?

Originally posted by Ghost of a Duke
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.

So man made God in his own image?

I can see where a man might decide this and even secondarily decide that it is indeed a profound thought. But the word around the campfire is that it just ain't so.

Originally posted by Fetchmyjunk
...why do such a small percentage of the human race retain their atheism?

What do you claim is this "small percentage" you have mentioned?

Originally posted by FMF
What do you claim is this "small percentage" you have mentioned?

Studies on the demographics of atheism have concluded that self-identified atheists comprise anywhere from 2% to 13% of the world's population...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_atheism

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?

I was born an atheist*, with two atheist parents, in the largely secular UK, where I have
remained an atheist my entire life.

I remain an atheist because I believe in only believing things for which there is sufficient
evidence to justify that belief.

There is no evidence that any gods exist, and plenty of evidence that all the claimed gods
are man-made inventions.
There is no evidence for any spirit, souls, afterlives, or the supernatural in any form, and that
all claims of the same are also man-made inventions.

I therefore do not believe in the existence of any gods [which makes me an atheist] and I also
go farther and believe in the lack of gods [which makes me a strong atheist] and indeed for
many claimed gods [such as the Judeo-Christian god] I would claim to know that those gods
do not exist [which makes me a gnostic atheist with respect for those gods].


*As was everyone else, an atheist is a person who lacks a belief in the existence of a god or gods.
Babies have no idea what a god is let alone believe in the existence of one [or more] and are thus
atheists. Atheism is thus the default position and the question becomes not "why are you an atheist"
but "why are you a theist?"... In most cases it's because people were indoctrinated by their parents
and society into believing in the god/s of whichever religion is popular in that area/region.

Originally posted by googlefudge
I was born an atheist*, with two atheist parents, in the largely secular UK, where I have
remained an atheist my entire life.

I remain an atheist because I believe in only believing things for which there is sufficient
evidence to justify that belief.

There is no evidence that any gods exist, and plenty of evidence that all the claimed gods
a ...[text shortened]... nd society into believing in the god/s of whichever religion is popular in that area/region.[/i]

So did your parents in any way influence you to be an atheist? So are you saying that every single thing you believe in is based on evidence?

Originally posted by Fetchmyjunk
Studies on the demographics of atheism have concluded that self-identified atheists comprise anywhere from 2% to 13% of the world's population...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_atheism

The problem with your figure is that it talks about "self-identified atheists". What about atheism among "self-identified" Protestants and Catholics for example?

From the article you cited: "A majority [53%] of Canadians believe in God. What is of particular interest is that 28% of Protestants, 33% of Catholics, and 23% of those who attend weekly religious services do not." What if a similar reality lies behind the "2.4 billion" stat for Protestants and Catholics the world over?

Then there are perhaps tens of millions of atheists in the country where I live (Indonesia), for example, who dare not "self-identify" as atheists for fear of the social and possibly legal consequences of doing do.

I think your figure of "2% to 13%" might well not reflect reality.

Originally posted by Fetchmyjunk
So did your parents in any way influence you to be an atheist?

Only in that they didn't teach me about/try to indoctrinate me into any religions.
They didn't 'indoctrinate me' as an atheist, and indeed I went to the local
Church of England [CofE] infant and primary schools. Neither of which convinced
me that any gods exist.

Originally posted by Fetchmyjunk
So did your parents in any way influence you to be an atheist?

Do you believe that you came out of the womb having Christian beliefs?

Or is it rather that you were "braught [sic] up in a Christian home and went to church every Sunday since [you] can remember" and that was the source of your Christian beliefs?

Originally posted by Suzianne
Actually, it is true.

No it isn't.

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?
No trigger. I just realised one day that it wasn't true. And it was a realisation, not a decision.

Originally posted by Fetchmyjunk
So are you saying that every single thing you believe in is based on evidence?

I believe in being rational.

Rationality has two foundational planks.
The relevant one being that "only true information about the world has value, and false information will
lead to bad/wrong decisions"

The consequence of this is a belief that one should maximise the number of true things you believe
and minimise the number of false things. The best way known to do this is to apply the methods of
science and scientific skepticism.

However these methods, while the best thing we have, are not perfect and neither are the human beings
trying to apply them.
So there are some things I believe that are wrong and not supported by evidence.

Unfortunately I don't know which of my beliefs are false and/or not supported by evidence, otherwise I
would have already stopped believing them.

So I have a commitment to test my beliefs as an when they come up [as well as exposing myself to
new and/or opposing ideas] so that if and when I come across a belief I hold that is wrong I will
change that belief. Which is one of the reasons I hang out here. I am always challenging my beliefs
and seeking out people who will challenge my beliefs, and if and when they successfully challenge
a belief I change it. Conversely, the more a belief is challenged and yet still stands up the more
confident I can be that it is actually correct... In simplistic form that is how science works.

If you can show me evidence and/or reasoning that shows a belief I hold to be wrong then I will change that
belief.


However, the support for my lack of belief in gods and the supernatural, and indeed for my belief in the
lack of gods and the supernatural, is so strong and well tested that I am really really confident that those
beliefs are indeed true and well grounded in evidence.

Originally posted by Fetchmyjunk
Which dictionary does that definition come from? So you did believe in God at some point in your life? Also if what you are saying is true and all people are born atheists, why are there so many religious people, and why do such a small percentage of the human race retain their atheism?

😕

Your OP asks why 'I' am an atheist. If you're not interested in that and only want a dictionary definition then why ask?

You say (like Suzianne) that your Christian faith goes back to Sunday school. Now, unless you were born in Sunday school, prior to that you were without religious belief, you were an atheist.

The world is a big scary place. It seems endemic to mankind to fashion themselves a God to make sense of it all. Perhaps that's the mortal price we pay for sentience. It doesn't change the fact however that when you breathed your first breath in life you had no God in you.

Originally posted by Fetchmyjunk
An atheist is someone who denies the existence of God.

atheist means not-theist [the prefix 'a' meaning not] and thus an atheist is a person who is not a theist.

A theist is a person who believes in the existence of a god or gods.

Therefore a 'not-theist' or atheist is simply someone who lacks a belief in the existence of a god or gods.

Originally posted by Ghost of a Duke
The world is a big scary place. It seems endemic to mankind to fashion themselves a God to make sense of it all.

I disagree. Gods or other supernatural entities are common beliefs throughout the world, but the concept of a single God is not so common and has largely spread from one single source. The need for explanations and the subsequent imagining of hidden intent behind life's happenings is endemic to mankind, but not the concept of God. The God concept is just one of the more popular imaginings. Astrology is another popular one. Where I come from Witchcraft is a very popular one.

Originally posted by twhitehead
I disagree. Gods or other supernatural entities are common beliefs throughout the world, but the concept of a single God is not so common and has largely spread from one single source. The need for explanations and the subsequent imagining of hidden intent behind life's happenings is endemic to mankind, but not the concept of God. The God concept is just ...[text shortened]... maginings. Astrology is another popular one. Where I come from Witchcraft is a very popular one.

Seems likely that GoaD couched his response within the framework of "a God" since that's been the prevailing context of the discussion. Likely he conceived of it as extending to all "supernatural entities". But perhaps that's too abstract a concept for you.