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I fall under "agnostic", does that count? :)

I pretty much came by way of religion. Went through 16 years of Catholic schools and they turned out a good little agnostic. :P Interestingly enough, it was their own fault. If they'd have not tried to change their "story" along the way, they might not have lost me.

See, when you tell a 2nd grader one thing, then by the time they're in 12th grade the story has changed, they start to wonder if you're changing the rules so they fit your current agenda better. The specific example is the Pope. In 2nd grade, the Pope only spoke for God in certain, very specific conditions (I've since forgotten them now). By the time I was in 12th grade, *everything* that came out of the Pope's mouth was somehow "direct from God". I'm sorry, but it sure sounds like they were changing their story to "scare" their "followers". I started looking for other religions. It was later on that I realized that the Catholic church really was rewriting/covering up stuff that happened in the past to fit their current agendas. Most religions are just ways to control people. Lots of people. IMHO, it's all about power and money. The Catholic church's history proves a lot of that.

In the end, I make it up as I go along. I'm not quite certain there's a "higher power" however, I do believe there are things out in the universe that we lack the knowledge/technology to truly understand. I find far more communion with $dieties on my motorcycle than I ever did in a church.

For all of this, I don't criticize those who believe in a religion. If someone wants to believe/follow an organized religion that's fine. I do take offense to said people forcing it on me. Actually, I don't particularly like *anyone* telling me what to do. Just my $.02 :)

WR

i was raised in a religious household.  when i was very young, church was a regular part of life, and my parents were devout christians.  later on, my family became less involved with the church, but i had been inculcated with the ideas and morals of a christian.

during my teens and early 20's i drifted away from my faith. one reason for this was a moral outrage at the inconsistent ethics of the bible. another was a growing suspicion that i was somehow being fooled by religious thinking.

i began studies in philosophy, eastern religion, and the occult almost simultaneously. it wasn't long before i was a self-identified atheist. but just because i realized that religion was all an error of thinking, it did not mean that religion was something on which to remain neutral. if false, the idea of god is a great hindrance to the progress of mankind.

as an ethical and rational woman, i find that i must not only be an atheist, but an anti-theist as well. today i identify myself as an atheist to some, an objectivist to others, but primarily as a thinking person who rejects outright the idea of subjective truth, and the valuation of anything as higher than the life we live today.

--------

i hope david shelton doesn't mind this forum. haha ;)

also arrived by way of religion.

though once a believer, i now feel that many, many components of religion are not only false, but intentional lies perpetrated to confuse, hamstring, and ultimately control the masses.

i am especially offended by anyone trying to presume they know what will happen after death.

they know? what could they possibly know about that?

I was never intrested in religion or never brought up in a religious household.

I was always encouraged to find my own meanings in life and that does not include religion.

I admire deeply admire people who have placed their faith in an unseen and unproven being, but I never have and never will believe in mythical beings.

The whole concept of living life as you wish, they either repenting through a quick visit to confession or on your deathbed is something I have great difficulty in grasping as a concept.

Many years ago I had a good friend who was a Pentecostalist, she invited me to a "bring a sinners dinner'', which was to be a group of robbers, murderer's rapists, wife beaters and people who had once been bad, but had found God and had repented and become born again Christian's. I looked on in total amazement and simply said to my friend, I am not bad enough to be a Christian and believe in God.

Yes, always been an Aetheist.

Buffy

I was not brought up by religious parents, I was left to make my own mind up.

I'm an atheist simply because I cannot agree with plugging gaps in human knowledge or coping with fear & uncertainty by resorting to superstition.

Wherever possible, I try to live in peace with those who believe, as long as we don't foist our worldviews on each other, then it's live and let live for me.

I apologise for the next bit, as I know it will offend but I don't know how to be honest without risking offence here...

It amazes me that anyone capable of logical, rational analysis can believe in any of this stuff unless it is via parental indoctrination or other similar brainwashing method (insert cult of choice here).  The argument always comes back to "you can't disprove it" which, simply through the stating, demonstrates an inability to think logically.

Religious beliefs are, to me, the intellectual equivalent of wearing a baseball cap backwards :)

Never did like the term atheist because it implies a belief in and of itself - I think litterly to an atheist that Nothing really is sacred.  I'm much happier just copping to 'not knowing" or in the Greek, a+gnōsis, or agnostic.

Are we alone in the universe?  I have no proof, but its highly doubtful that we are the only sentient (if you even call it that) form of life.

Are the other life forms in the universe god?  No, but it is possible we may well see them that way.

Is there a 'divinity that shapes our ends'?  You mean this is the plan? 

Quote from: tekla on July 19, 2009, 10:53:02 AM
... You mean this is the plan? 

Yeah, kinda an amazing thing isn't it? :laugh:

Although what isn't funny is how the wild honey bee was targeted for extinction within a generation.

Had occasion yesterday to walk barefoot through a rather large patch of clover on an 11-mile bike-ride, dog-run upriver to Gatlinburg-on-the-Delaware.

I recall when I was a child being stung numerous times and being swarmed by wild honey bees and bumble-bees on a regular basis.

Nothing yesterday but small ground-bound hoppers.

Somehow I get the notion that the plan is being placed forward by more human rationality.

the plan is being placed forward by more human rationality

This is rational?  Somehow I would have hoped, sigh, that rational thought might have, you know, planned?

We see it in all sorts of things and places.  Your honeybees (and that is a HUGE crisis, as you know) or the disappearance of the salmon here on the Pacific Coast and up through the Pacific Northwest.  Or the opposite, non-native species the way Australia has trouble with rabbits, or how kudzu has all but taken over areas of the South.

Quote from: tekla on July 19, 2009, 11:58:38 AM
... how kudzu has all but taken over areas of the South.

Funny you shoud mention that. South of Philly in Chester County and further west: Lancaster, areas of Berks and Montgomery counties and yep, even up this way in central Country-Squire county we have a fair bit of kudzu. Not quite, yet, like South Carolina, central/west Tennessee and other areas south, but definitely enough to notice that the cows and horses are gone in the afternoon while they graze. :)

The rationality is the sarcasm part, luv.

All those spiffy renaissance men and women and other "rational" human beings who couldn't seem to manage an awareness of mutuality and interconnection much better than 8 kids in a candy-store with a hundred dollar-bill.

The rationality of nomads, hunter-gatherers and early citified peoples who were fortunate to live in their forties was much better in that regard than the rational scientific-types we seem beset with now who live into their mid-eighties.

Not sure how that all plays into "rational atheism," but for my coins give me a view of life and existence that makes me a part of what's around me, not the ruler, not the "intelligent designer," but a woman who understands that her Mother has many children, most of them unseen by me and that my acts have very real consequences for myself and for others I have never known.

I find atheistic, rationalist, objectivist and many religious povs as never quite understanding a very basic fact of life the universe and everything: know thyself. And in doing so to understand that some things are possible, but prolly best never done.   

my acts have very real consequences for myself and for others I have never known

Secular humanist thought, I'll have to sic the god squad on your if you keep that up.

Atheist although I agree with tekla about Atheism NOT being a religion.
My experience with conventional religion began with parents that sent me to church but didn't attend themselves. i went through all the catechism and dogma until I was confirmed in the catholic church. They told me I was an adult Christian.  I attended a retreat called teens encounter Christ. It was an intense experience with people breaking down and becoming saved. I wanted to be saved too but it never happened. Due to some trouble I was expelled from HS my Junior year and was forced to attend a parochial high school and be "taught" by sadistic Jesuits. I was slapped around and took it quietly until the last days of school when Brother George Patrick started smacking me for some stupid behavior. I flipped out and beat him down. Another teacher intervened and sent me to the headmaster. I just walked out the door..
I began my personal quest of finding a religion I felt I could embrace. I drifted and studied Budd ism which for a long while thought was my path. One day I was reading, The Way of Zen by Allan Watts and had a minor Epiphany.Watts described the path of zen as a devote' rolling a rock up a hill never to be let go, with a slim chance of reaching the top.
  Since then I have practiced transcendental meditation and found a hat to categorize my beliefs. Spiritual Humanism.
I found this when I was asked by my son and his fiancé to marry them. I went on line and found SH and became an ordained minister for only $19.95. What was strange was that when I looked further I found that SH most closely described my core beliefs. So for now that is what I call myself.
I totally admire people of faith and their convictions but feel more comfortable letting nature and science guide my perspectives. Of course that could change as I learn and live.

I always thought that the Jesuits did more to drive people away from religion than any other religious entity.  First by treating people as they did you, second by the people they did not treat that way actually getting what they were teaching. If you really lean Jesuitical logic you're most likely going to dismiss the entire Christian deal as not being logical.

Quote from: tekla on July 19, 2009, 12:31:14 PM
my acts have very real consequences for myself and for others I have never known

Secular humanist thought, I'll have to sic the god squad on your if you keep that up.

O, I really don't perceive that they will need your help. I already get angry-mad notes and ridiculous responses all over the webz. :)

So, my darlin'-friend, don't feel the need to hurry yourself in assisting them. They do quite well already, from both ends of the belief spectrum. :) The danger of 'the middle path," I suppose. It's between the clashing rocks on either side. :) 

Hey, I'm just trying to get on their good side so I can make piles of tax free money too.

Dja really think that MassResistance, West-bro, and Peter LaBarbera have mad cash to dole out to you? :laugh:

Hope you're working on Dobson, 700 Club, the Southern Baptist Convention, and Ralph Reed, etc. Now those guys ... yeah, they should be able to pay you well. Plus they can prolly give you tips on prostituting your education and actual knowledge to the service of propaganda and those neat lil ole prayer hankies for someone's grandma and grandpa.

Or, in your case, perhaps a trip back to your roots, ya know Rome, would offer even larger wealth-spinning instruction. :laugh:

Yeah as anyone who has ever toured the Vatican knows, walking through there while thinking 'vow of poverty' is a laugh riot.

and what about god being wrtiiten on every thing.
the pledge of allegence
our money
i think its just wrong and totally disses the separation of church and state thing

and what about god being wrtiiten on every thing.
the pledge of allegence
our money
i think its just wrong and totally disses the separation of church and state thing

That's all a very modern deal, the words 'under god' were added to the pledge in 1954, which is interesting, as a Protestant Minister wrote the thing in the first place without that very public prayer added back in 1892.

"In god we trust' was added in 1957.

Quote from: tekla on July 22, 2009, 02:36:44 PM
and what about god being written on every thing.
the pledge of allegiance
our money
i think its just wrong and totally disses the separation of church and state thing

That's all a very modern deal, the words 'under god' were added to the pledge in 1954, which is interesting, as a Protestant Minister wrote the thing in the first place without that very public prayer added back in 1892.

"In god we trust' was added in 1957.

It was the McCarthy error and they wanted to distinguish us different then the atheist Communists.

I was raised as a Catholic, but my family was never really super religious. We went to church occasionaly at easter or christmas kind of thing. But then I went to catholic schools and was an alter 'boy' too.

It actually took me quite a long time to stop feeling quilty about not believing (I was 14 or 15 when I broke free of that). I probably did believe until my teens, or at least just went along with it cause I did not know any better.  My main exiting thought was that there are so many religions in the world, how could I possibly say my one was the right one?  Now I feel kind of sullied by the whole experience.

In some ways I feel rather anti-religion, but I'm not going to tell someone they should not believe in a god(s), only that I don't. Looking back it seems bizare to me that I ever believed in it all and ate 'flesh' made of ice cream wafers and had some dirty ash crossed on my forhead, or handled that 'holy water' with any reverence, or prayed to some gaunt dead guy on a cross wearing thorns on his head and a loin cloth, I even won a cup at the end of year at school because of my 'religious knowledge' for debating in competitions against other schools the meaning of parts of the bible, how embarrassing. That belief certainly made movies like the omen and the exorcist that much scarier though. I did enjoy the singing in church, nothing like a good sing-along.

You can probably tell I feel a bit bitter about it. I'm not sure why. I think it is because that religion made me feel so guilty - guilty about being queer, guilty about masturbation, guilty about hating someone, furious that I could be bullied by so called catholics, angry that I grew up in a family where dad was manic depressive and often became violent yet that was ok cause we ate waffers on a sunday.

What's your story Nero?

QuoteWhat's your story Nero?

Oh, I'm not atheist. I'm not exactly sure where I fit. Agnostic Christian? Is that an oxymoron?  :laugh:

Like others I was raised a catholic. My parents rarely participated. I passively bought into the religion untill my thoughts and ideas began to conflict with the dogma. I had to many questions that weren't adequetly answered and in my teens began to look eslsewhere for answers. This began my spiritual quest which is still ongoing. I call myself an athiest because it's the only label that works. I don't embrace a diety but look to science, nature and inward to find a place I feel whole.
Meditation is my prayer and the crutch I use to sustain sanity ( at least my version).
I've always admired the faith of others and their beliefs and sometimes wished my mind worked in that way. When asked my religion, my response is, I am a spiritual humanist.
Although I never specificall taught my 2 sons they too hold science and nature in high esteem.

I was raised Catholic and sometime in my teens I really said the hell with religion. Now I don't practice, or follow any religion but I am very spiritual.

-Heather

I wasn't really raised in a religious family. We went to church when my mother was 'born again' which lasted for a few months at a time. I did always believe there was a god until one day about 15 years ago when I was in my own 'born again' moment. I was driving down the road listening to the bible on cassette and all of a sudden a whirlwind of things went through my head.  Angry god, jealous god, fallen angels, dinosaur bones, kill your children with stones...and on and on. At that very moment I felt enlightened and new god does not exist. And the guilt I had inside vanished into thin air. Sin does not exist.

How liberating that experience was.

My family was not big on religion but they did send us to Sunday school more to learn about morals. I had many questions in Sunday school that they could not answer but only told me I had to believe. I made my own mind up after much research.

My family went to church when I was really young, but soon stopped.  I've always been encouraged to make up my own mind about this kind of thing, and I just could not "get" major religions because there is always some kind of hypocrisy.  So while I was exposed to religion, I was never part of it and came to what I believe in through many discussions and a lot of introspection.

If you had to place me, I'm sort of a mix between atheist and agnostic.  While I don't believe there is a God in the sense most religions see him/her/it, I am not going to say there never was some kind of creating force behind the universe - whatever that force may be.  Was all that is out there always there?  Maybe.  Did it get created by some event?  Maybe.  I don't know.  I CAN'T know.  And I'm perfectly happy admitting that.

Religion was irrelevant in my household. It was only as I got older that I realized that people defined themselves by it. For us, it was about as important as whether you had a TV or not. I was taught to respect people's religion, that it was important to them (but I never ran into christianity or other religions till I was a teen), but we didn't define as "atheist" or anything like that. I did read the bible and was familiar with the stories, because they form the basis of much of western literature. Also, later in life I took a philosophy of religion course in my undergrad degree, which was probably more interesting for the emotional reactions of the students than for the actual course.

I remember seeing a documentary on TV about scientology and the belief that aliens came to earth and planted the seeds of perfection in humans. I was about 14 at the time, and had just met people who were openly christian. I said (about scientology) "that sounds pretty nuts". My parents said "taken objectively, is it any more crazy than the christian set of beliefs?" And put that way, I had to admit that it was not. The point was to respect even the more marginal religions.

I still don't bother defining myself in reference to religion. It's a little less relevant to me and my life than television (and I would estimate I watch an average of an hour a week of TV). Seems to me that most people who define themselves as "atheist" are actually in some sort of protest - ex-christians or ex-jews or something.

Dennis

My parents were devout Roman Catholics, in fact my dad ended up being ordained a RC priest by special dispensation from the Pope et al. I was sent to a Christian Brothers school, and was taught to think. I think I started questioning religion quite early, I couldn't cope with the fairy tale aspect and why one religon was right. I came out to my parents about the age of 13, it didn't go down well. I was told to go to confession to admit my sins, I didn't and gave up religion then and there.
I don't believe in deities, minor or major. I am utterly content in that. I respect peoples beliefs and would never belittle them. I tend not to get into religous discussions because of that.

Years after I left the Chritian Bros college, my Dad told me it was going Co-ed. I told him it had been ever since I was there, he never understood the comment :laugh:

Cindy

Religion featured very heavily in my youth, being one of two regular breaks from the endless farm chores I was allowed (school was the other.)  My father's approach to this was to demand I recite verbatim how he believed, rather the way one expects a school child to be able to recite their vocabulary or spelling terms.  Absolutely no questioning was allowed and was severely punished.  This, in the end, meant I had to find my own answers to those questions, and those answers were not in the church.

A significant portion of this was, however ironically, to prevent me from leaving that sect due to fears about it since we lived in a region where the majority of the population belonged to another.  I realized this once in college and I began dating a woman who had been raised in that other Christian sect and there was suddenly much more pressure from my father about religion.

Raised strict Roman Catholic. It didn't last long. I was 'asked' to leave 2 years after high school.

Quote from: LordKAT on December 21, 2009, 12:28:54 AM
Raised strict Roman Catholic. It didn't last long. I was 'asked' to leave 2 years after high school.

Yes, if you ask the hard questions you are excommunicated. But it is worth the look on their faces.

I'm not "really" an atheist, though that's more by choice than anything else, and I wasn't raised one.
I was raised protestant, like justabout everyone else in this country.
I was taught to pray, sent to Sunday school, etc...
And I don't think I ever believed in what I was taught.
It never seemed "right".

Quote from: lisagurl on December 21, 2009, 04:34:57 PM
Yes, if you ask the hard questions you are excommunicated. But it is worth the look on their faces.

To clarify a bit, I was asked to leave for giving answers, not asking questions.

To clarify a bit, I was asked to leave for giving answers, not asking questions.

Ahh, now that sounds like the Catholic schools I went to before high school.  I will have to cop to the notion that as I got higher (grade-wise, and in the 1970s California sense) that the teachers they gave me got better and better.  The Jesuits and the Dominicans (Dominus + Canine, literally Dogs of God - a little Catholic School Latin humor there) were very open minded, highly educated and far less interested in the answer per se (who really cares what a 14 year old thinks anyway?) than in the process you used to arrive at it.

For years it was pounded into my head that as Marcus Aurelius said "Of each particular thing, ask: What is it in (and by) itself? What is its nature?"  Which by some awesome act of god was the critical quote by Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs years later, which reminded me how close to serial killers (at least in the mental and imaginative ways) a lot of teachers (and most religion, to most people) wind up being.

So, even though everybody be all out there getting educated and all, the thing you have to look at is:  Are they educating me for my sake, for their sake, or for the sake of some institution? 

I don't consider myself an atheist because I don't believe in - not believing in something - and because I know I don't know everything.

So I consider myself an Agnostic.

I was raised Catholic and forced to attend church every week plus holidays.  I was forced to take various other religious classes including but not limited to Confirmation and Catechism.

My GID was the curse that would not go away, no matter how much I prayed so as I got older and left home I started exploring other churches because I figured that mine wasn't the "real" one, obviously "god" hated me and would not heal me until I belonged to the right church.

So I went from church to church, progressively seeking more fundamentalist and consequently "right wing" churches because I figured "god" had to be some sort of "hard-ass" who hated almost everyone, (since none of the churches I belonged to enabled me to receive his healing from my GID curse).

Eventually I ended up in a right-wing, whacko church that was all about the "end-times".  We met at a farm house way out in the boonies.  We grew a huge garden and canned our own food.  We stockpiled gold and guns and we were all about the return of Jezus because everyone else besides us was going to go to Hell and burn in a lake of fire.

But one day I looked around at my other church members.  A 12 year-old girl was trying to pull her father's shirt off so she could show her mother the hickey that she had given her dad.  I looked around... and I thought to myself... "These severely dysfunctional people who are wasting their time and their lives with this pathetic church... they are just as pathetic, miserable and dysfunctional as they were a year ago."

And then I started my own business.  I quit the church.  I quit tobacco.  And I began exploring transition.  Like any good addict I backslid and prayed once in a while but I eventually got over my cravings and addiction and now I am safely agnostic.  Perhaps there is an intelligence to the Universe but I am not going to pretend to understand it with something as primitive as "religion".  I am all about making the most of my life.  I have had a relatively successful transition, I am employed as a female, I am a female, I realize that I have always been a female.  I may have scars but I have always been a female.  I may have had to overcome great obstacles, one of the greatest being childhood brainwashing and indoctrination into religion but I made it to the other side and life is worth living, finally.

Seize the day. 

I wasn't raised particularly anything.  My dad is atheist (which I later learned is odd for being Mexican), and my mom is Christian, but I'm not sure she subscribes to a particular branch of Christianity.  Growing up she would occasionally bring me with her to church, but it's not like even she went regularly.  I don't know that I ever really started believing in god, but I definitely gave up on the possibility around the time I found out that Santa Claus wasn't real (which was pretty early).  I mean, there's about the same amount of evidence for Santa Claus being real as there is for God being real, which is to say, not really any.

QuoteSeize the day. 

Epicurus thought if there are gods they are too busy to bother with mortals. You will find many of his quotes in the NT but the church had banned his writings and school.

I don't consider myself an atheist but more agnostic.

I think I'm lucky in the sense that I was raised to have a pretty open mind about religion.  My mom is Pagan and while she taught me about the religion, she never forced me to believe in anything.  I was pretty young, probably about 6th grade when kids at school found out and they had a lot of ignorant ideas about the religion - thinking it's all about devil worshiping and evilness and other things.  So already at that age I was trying to educate people about it because I knew that wasn't what it was about, and had a somewhat tainted view on religion because of how judgmental people are about it.  My step-dad is Protestant and my mom and I went to church every Sunday with him for a couple years, but I was allowed to make my own decision and I didn't really see anything that religion had to offer me, so I stopped going.  My extended family is also Protestant and we celebrate Christmas and some other religious holidays but that's the extent of it for me.

I used to be anti-religion but I'm a lot less bitter about it now.  There are certainly very good people who use religion in a positive way and I'm happy for them, it's just not for me.

It was interesting re-reading this thread after I had read Dawkin's "The God Delusion". I recommend it too all;  I found it very comforting and thought provoking. However I think the people who need to read it never will.

Cindy

I was raised Methodist and had to go to church every Sunday  ::)
Probably about 8 years ago I began to question my religion whilst going through a tough spout of depression. Was athiest for a long time, but now I
think I'm more along the lines of Spiritual, perhaps agnostic (I still believe in the theory of evolution and all that, but I also believe in a sort of higher power, ie. Gaia Theory).

I believed that there was a god out there... Nearly to the age of 19.  When I was around 13 I became disillusioned with the Christian god, after going on a church mission trip.  But, I still believed.  Gradually, I began losing my faith.  When I was 19, I was all alone on Easter eating broccoli for dinner (I know, weird right??) and realized I was a total atheist.  Been that way ever since.  As a Biology major/Chemistry minor, it has hardened my resolve.  That being said, I look at the earth in a 'spiritual' way (according to my Evolution of Religiosity professor).  More or less this means that I have a reverence for the world in an awe-inspiring way.  I feel really content to be where I am right now in relation to religion.

raised. but even if i weren't i'd still be atheist.

I was raised Atheist.

QuoteI'm more along the lines of Spiritual, perhaps agnostic

I have never felt spiritual in my entire life. I went to Sunday school until 13 when they asked me to be confirmed and I told them I did not believe and they had no evidence to prove their theory. They told me I could not come to church and be a member I told them goodbye.

I do not believe in any God or non-God, but I do think there are things I do not know so that makes me an agnostic. 50 years later the situation has not changed.

I was raised Roman Catholic but not seriously I went to catholic schools but they wern't that religious. Never really belived as a kid but did get really religious when I was 12 that didn't last long though, I was 14 when I completly didn't believe in a god.

I'm an agnostic atheist now.

"I'm an agnostic atheist now."
==========
You can not be both. An atheist believes there is no God, and an agnostic does not believe in anything unless it is proven.

Quote from: lisagurl on June 03, 2010, 01:57:51 PM
"I'm an agnostic atheist now."
==========
You can not be both. An atheist believes there is no God, and an agnostic does not believe in anything unless it is proven.

Actually I can be.

An atheist lacks a belief in god and and agnostic isn't sure.

I lack a belief in god but I accept that I can never know for sure.

I was raised religious, my mother actually taught me to read with the King James bible, which while helping my vocabulary out immensely left me completely without the experiences of many other children; there was no Dr. Suess in my house or anything like it, I had never read a children's book until I was a teenager. My parents even went so far as to home school me for a time to prevent me from being 'damaged' by non-christian values.

Oddly enough, I did believe when I was younger but, I really hated god. I took it that he had done all of these horrible things to me, and gave me all of these horrible thoughts, and then he was going to send me to hell as punishment for being as he made me. On top of that, I had never asked to be created in the first place.

I had to keep such things hidden from my parents, I got paddled for asking why we should be thankful for being created when we never asked for it. Oddly my parents paddling me made me hate god more, when I suppose my anger should have been directed toward them.

This sort of thinking really drove me neurotic, especially with me being the wrong gender, I thought god was really enjoying  watching me suffer. By the time I was a teenager I had to let that hate go and just stop believing. It doesn't benefit anyone to blame their problems on some deity. Personally, life is much simpler without having this god fellow trying to make it worse.

Unlike my transgender feelings, when I left my parents at 14 I let them know that I had not been Christian for some time and that I was very unhappy with their uber-conservatism when I had been younger. At that though, my parents had no power over me legally or otherwise, and it was quite a liberating experience. To this day my mother wants me to keep the family bible, despite my refusal of religion.

I am happy that I avoided the indoctrination of religion by my anger (though had I not had transgender feelings I do wonder how it would have turned out). Whenever I have children I will not force them upon any specific path when it comes to god, I don't think that is the sort of thing that people should be subjected to. 

Quote from: Nathan. on June 03, 2010, 02:48:43 PM
Actually I can be.

An atheist lacks a belief in god and and agnostic isn't sure.

I lack a belief in god but I accept that I can never know for sure.

Lol, I had this very same argument. If you accept you can never know for sure, you are agnostic.

Great topic.

I was raised in a catholic household, and went to catholic schools. But we wern't heavy about it. Did not go to church that often.  I believed in god till around 13.

Now days I do feel like I have a spirituality. But I don't follow any organised religions or believe in a god.

My thinking is that if there was a christian god then they don't have our best interests in mind, only their own. Perhaps I am decended from lilith...  ;)

Raised a catholic in a very religious (and loving) home. My Dad ended up being ordained as a RC priest, yes it is possible. I gave religion away when I was told to confess my sin of being TG. I went to a Christian Brothers School, the only girl in an all male school, as far as I knew. I was the only pupil  banned from taking the Religion "O level" a fact that I am still utterly proud of.

I do not believe in Gods and I have no doubt, but I also don't wear labels.,

So I'm me

Cindy

Quote from: SilverFang on June 03, 2010, 05:41:38 PM
If you accept you can never know for sure, you are agnostic.

Yep, and I also lack a belief in god(s) so i'm an agnostic atheist. Agnosticism isn't a half way point between theism and atheism.

Google is your friend.

I was raised christian and was very strong in my belief when  was very little.

At 11 my dad started training to be a pastor and my family moved into a college of people similarly training. There was something about seeing all the movement and effort of people to become pastors - about the sheer energy expended that made it seem absurd - when I questioned the absurdity it seemed to come from the fact I no longer believed all those people were doing anything.

Now my belief has changed a little. I belief in the social utility of a good pastor. I even believe in God in a manner of speaking. I believe God is like friendship, love, stories - one of those odd reactions when you stick a self-concious being in an unconscious world. But as that belief is not of a real, God in the traditional sense, I consider myself atheist.

Quote from: Nathan. on June 04, 2010, 04:51:40 AM
Yep, and I also lack a belief in god(s) so i'm an agnostic atheist. Agnosticism isn't a half way point between theism and atheism.

Google is your friend.

Agnostics lack a belief in god. Dictionary is a better friend to me. It's not a halfway point, you seem to be the one that thinks that. Since they are opposing concepts, they cannot be combined.

Quote from: SilverFang on June 05, 2010, 04:32:15 PM
Agnostics lack a belief in god. Dictionary is a better friend to me. It's not a halfway point, you seem to be the one that thinks that. Since they are opposing concepts, they cannot be combined.

Agnosticism and (a)theism are not opposing concepts, atheism and theism are.

It goes like this - Gnostic theist, agnostic theist, agnostic atheist and gnostic atheist. Also known as strong and weak (a)theism.

I know this stuff, just google agnostic atheism.

Quote from: Nathan. on June 05, 2010, 04:58:07 PM

Agnosticism and (a)theism are not opposing concepts, atheism and theism are.

It goes like this - Gnostic theist, agnostic theist, agnostic atheist and gnostic atheist. Also known as strong and weak (a)theism.

I know this stuff, just google agnostic atheism.

Agnostic- Not committed to a belief.

Atheist- Committed to the belief that there are no gods.

I'm sorry, Google doesn't count. A lot of people can't define words, it doesn't make them right.

Atheism simply means without gods. You can lack a belief in something without being 100% sure.

Also atheism is not a belief. Thats like saying off is a TV channel.

Quote from: Nathan. on June 06, 2010, 05:28:44 AM
Atheism simply means without gods. You can lack a belief in something without being 100% sure.

Also atheism is not a belief. Thats like saying off is a TV channel.

Atheists believe there are no gods. That is a belief. A belief in something is not to worship it, it is simply an idea one holds to be true. That would make you an agnostic.

Quote from: SilverFang on June 06, 2010, 12:18:49 PM
Atheists believe there are no gods. That is a belief. A belief in something is not to worship it, it is simply an idea one holds to be true. That would make you an agnostic.

From Wikipedia.

Atheism, in a broad sense, is the rejection of belief in the existence of deities.[1] As strong atheism, atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities.[2] Most inclusively, atheism is simply the absence of belief that any deities exist.[3] Atheism is contrasted with theism,[4] which in its most general form is the belief that at least one deity exists.

Religion forced atheism to exist. Without any religion there would never have been an atheist.

Quote from: Dana Lane on June 06, 2010, 12:22:21 PM
rejection of belief in the existence of deities.[1]

People seem to think belief is a "religion word." Agnostics refuse to believe in anything specific (besides "we cannot know for sure.") Atheists believe there are no deities. If they were the same thing, we would not have different words for them.

Sorry for thread derailing.

Quote from: SilverFang on June 06, 2010, 12:18:49 PM
Atheists believe there are no gods. That is a belief. A belief in something is not to worship it, it is simply an idea one holds to be true. That would make you an agnostic.

So not believing in something is a belief  ??? lol

Meh, I'm done with this.

I was always told I can choose my own path.

My father is a strict Atheist while my mother is reading up on Wicca. My grandmother is a non-practicing Christian.

I'm agnostic - I don't believe there can't be a God, I just haven't seen one personally and I only believe in what I see. (I take visual recordings as seeing)

God said to Abraham, "Kill me that guy what looks like you."
Abe said, "Man, that's me. You're pointing at my mirror."
God said, "I wish I had a penny for every time I heard that because, then, I would have a penny."
But it was too late. Abe had left.

Quote from: ell on July 19, 2009, 12:15:30 AM
also arrived by way of religion.

though once a believer, i now feel that many, many components of religion are not only false, but intentional lies perpetrated to confuse, hamstring, and ultimately control the masses.

i am especially offended by anyone trying to presume they know what will happen after death.

they know? what could they possibly know about that?

I told them.   :P


Seriously, though. My parents went to church once
                                and never returned from it.

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Post Merge: June 24, 2010, 02:05:07 PM

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Quote from: Nichole on July 19, 2009, 01:44:24 PM
... yeah, they should be able to pay you well. Plus they can prolly give you tips on prostituting your education and actual knowledge to the service of propaganda and those neat lil ole prayer hankies for someone's grandma and grandpa.

I might prop a ganda, but I wouldn't prop a goose.

I once goosed a gander.

Quote from: Dana Lane on June 06, 2010, 12:22:21 PM
From Wikipedia.

Atheism, in a broad sense, is the rejection of belief in the existence of deities.[1] As strong atheism, atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities.[2] Most inclusively, atheism is simply the absence of belief that any deities exist.[3] Atheism is contrasted with theism,[4] which in its most general form is the belief that at least one deity exists.

Religion forced atheism to exist. Without any religion there would never have been an atheist.

If someone with a God Complex were to be an athiest, they'd be in big trouble.

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Post Merge: June 24, 2010, 03:32:14 PM

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Quote from: Pica Pica on June 24, 2010, 04:14:08 PM
I once goosed a gander.

Odd. I took a gander at your goose.


The existance of God is irrelevent. Believing or not believing won't put food on your plate. It's pointless to have a belief in an irrelevant concept or to waste energy in not belieiving in it.

I'm not a believer and neither am I rational. I am a humble simpleton and proud of it too. Except maybe for the hat.

Oh God said to Abraham, "Kill me a son"
Abe says, "Man, you must be puttin' me on"
God say, "No." Abe say, "What?"
God say, "You can do what you want Abe, but
The next time you see me comin' you better run"
Well Abe says, "Where do you want this killin' done?"
God says, "Out on Highway 61"

  some dylan guy, Highway 61 Revisited

Always like Fear and Trembling take on the whole Abe and Issac deal, which, you have to admit, is one really freaking twisted story.

I was raised by some rather religious folks that did a pretty good job at making me realize that all that religious stuff is a load of bunk  :P

Yeah, 12 rather intense years in Catholic school gave me an inoculation that's left me pretty much immune to all of it.  Then lots, and lots, and lots of science at big huge scientific schools, and working with it for real too, kinda made me doubt it even more.  Not that that are powers out there operating that we don't comprehend.  I'm sure there are, it's not like we're all that perceptive as humans yet.  But, there has been this big huge 'metaphysics' deal throughout all human societies and cultures - some of them freaking weird - and none of it has ever been proven, and it's time to call metaphysics imagination, which is what it really is.

I'm pretty sure both of my parents are atheist. My father doesn't believe in God from what I know, and my mother is more of a science person than a religion person. Plus she was raised in two different religions. My grandmother on my mother's side is a Japanese Buddhist, while her father was Catholic. My sister is Catholic, but she doesn't really practice it from what I know.

I mean yeah, we celebrate Christmas and Easter and all those holidays, but it's more of a social thing in my family where we cast aside our differences and just...get along for once. But I will never for the life of me understand why my mother forced me to go to Catholic summer school when she herself doesn't even believe in it. o_o; I mean one year just to introduce myself to the religion to see if I like it is one thing, but I had to go for three or four years. That place just scared me so much. I had nightmares about it.

As far as I go, I don't consider myself atheist at all. I'm not sure if I consider myself agnostic either. My beliefs are all over the place, yet I don't really worship anything or practice anything. The most I do is pay respects to my beliefs.

I grow up in a religious house and gone to a catholic school for eleven long years...

Maybe they talking so many times how sinfull one must be to want to be together with other person of the same gender make me hate religion.  Nowadays i just dont care anymore, i think that there is no god, to hate or love.

My mom's Christian, my dad's Catholic. I've been an atheist since I was about ten years old. There are a lot of aspects with the Bible that I just don't think a "perfect god" would say. Also, who's to say which God is the real one? Because Judaism came before Christianity. Christianity is based off Judaism. Jesus was a Jew. So why do Christians even exist, if they're supposed to be following in Jesus's path?

Also, something I've noticed recently: Religious people believe that I (and many others) are crazy for believing that the entire universe was created by the Big Bang, because there's no way something like that can just happen. They don't think that one second there's nothing, and the next there's something. Then how can they believe that God exists? Where did he come from, if things can't just appear out of nowhere? It's impossible for him to have always been there, seeing as everything must have a beginning.

And even if there is a God, I refuse to follow a religion that discriminates against homosexuals and black people. God can't say he loves everybody and then refuse to allow gays and black people into heaven.

Quote from: Robert F. on October 15, 2010, 11:28:53 AM
And even if there is a God, I refuse to follow a religion that discriminates against homosexuals and black people. God can't say he loves everybody and then refuse to allow gays and black people into heaven.

Good point. The OT does say that black people were condemned through Ham. A point that used to be used as justification for slavery and racism. That's always kind of bothered me. Of course, the Bible also seems to discriminate against anyone who isn't a white, Jewish male. But that's another thing that points to the Bible (at least the OT) as being the historical and (mythical?) record of one nation.

Not to talk about all the drama they made about stem cell research, animal rights, astronomy, teory of evolution... sometimes it´s appear that they simply hate science and equality.

My family is all catholic and until i had the chrism, i had to go to the church every single sunday at the morning. Also, i passed all the school and college years in a catholic school.
But i'm not a religious person since the 11's. Started to think by myself when i had 10 years old and found myself as an agnostic-atheist since 15's.
I guess all that catholic teaching is the reason for my mind being skeptical the way it is today  lol

It isn't skepticism  it is just the lack of a suspended reality. There is no Santa Claus, only the myth.Perhaps the book is still open on the tooth fairy or jumbies

I came by way of Catholocism. I became an apostate because I read the bible and studied it as literature. I became an areligious atheist when I realized that all religions had the same issues.

I was not raised Atheist, but I was thankfully raised in an open minded household.

I was very religious at one point. I wanted to be a preacher when I was younger and liked going to church. I also used to read this Children's Bible at night.

Many things happened in my life and in the world, and I just thought well.. all these bad things are happening and God isn't doing anything about them and I became skeptical. At school, I did hide my doubts of religion to fit in with everybody who believed in God. I'm not out to anyone that I'm Atheist yet but I accepted that I am about last year.

I think my mother was an atheist. She tried to teach me about God when I was a young kid, but as we grew older she confided in her skepticism.

I don't know what my father believed. He tended to be irreverent and make light of religion a lot, but I don't know what went on in his heart.

My first exposure to any kind of religious discussion was at public primary school. We had scripture class (now called religious education or RE), which, looking back, was quite weird for a non-religious state school (to my knowledge, all Australian state schools had RE). Who'd have thought a secular country like Australia would have such a thing, while in the highly religious United States such classes are shunned.

Anyway, I thought everything to do with RE was a ridiculous waste of time. I told my mother that I didn't want to attend these classes, so she wrote me a note and I was exempt. My parents were happy that I asked for an unprompted exemption, as they are both atheists.

So while RE was on, I would sit in the library and read far more interesting books. I started a bit of a revolution, actually, as I was later joined in the library by other students. Some teachers let it be known that they were not happy with me for being such an active unbeliever.

Kia Ora FA,

I guess I was raised 'agnostic' in the sense we(my family) didn't attend church (C of E)on Sundays and nor did we say any prayers at meal times...However we did attend weddings, funerals and jumble sales at the church...

In my pre-teens I did voluntarily attend Sunday school(which  could be liken to a form of free baby sitting for our parents-all my friends ended up going) we got free drinks(watered down orange cordial)  and biscuits plus the young adults running the classes used to tell ghost stories, but any biblical stuff just went in one ear and out the other (perhaps my short attention span had something to do with it  ::)  ;D) 

I don't think I ever heard my parent use the words god, Jesus, heaven or hell, except when swearing (cussing for you Americans)...

Metta Zenda :)

I was baptised when I was about one month old, thus I became the member of the Evangelical Lutheran church like many other Finns. But it was never because my family is super religious or anything, it's more like a tradition to give a child their name and/or announce it to other people. Because Finns are more like habitual church-goers, the only things Finns seem to need the church for are baptisms, weddings, confirmations and funerals, but since we have freedom of religion we also have non-religious equivalents for all of those.

Over the course of my life I learnt religious stuff like prayers and had my confirmation and all that jazz but when I turned 18 I resigned from the church because there was no reason for me to be a part of an organization that teaches things I don't believe in and financially support it through taxes (yes, we have a so-called church tax...).

So basically I wasn't raised atheist but I wasn't raised to be religious, either. More like I was always free to choose my stand on these matters. I suppose I was lucky in this matter.

I was baptised so technically am Catholic, but I never really believed in Catholicism. Maybe when I was like 5 years old since I went to a catholic school, but I don't remember that far!!!

In my opinion, people created religion to have something to believe in because many people find it hard to live life without having a "purpose" or "identity", and create religion to give their lives direction and purpose. They wanted to have a Creator or superior who made the world with some purpose. I would even go as far as saying some people believe their creator or god makes people with a kind of destined fate, giving them satisfaction because subconsciously they may believe their actions are not entirely their fault. So if people created gods and religion for this, in my opinion they can't be real.

And anyways, from the bit that I know about Catholicism, (I never cared much for religion, so I don't know that much.) "god" seemed to be kind of cruel anyways in some of the stuff he did. So believing in something like the god almighty who loves everyone seems kind of contradictory.

My mum is a catholic, my dad a protestant...but a Glasgow Celtic fan! I should have realised then that he was actually an atheist lol, but I didn't realise he was until I started rebeling against religion at a young age. When I was about 10 he admitted it.

I attended caholic schools and I'm honestly of the opinion that the best cure for religion is actually reading the holy books. They're horrendous books. Why anyone would believe in such gods honestly shocked me as a kid, but to WANT to believe in them was, in my mind, akin to willing servatude to an abusive master. If you don't follow everything he said, you're in for, not just pain, but the threat of eternal damnation! What a sicko!

So I agree with this:

Quote from: randomdude5 on March 11, 2014, 01:27:05 AMAnd anyways, from the bit that I know about Catholicism, (I never cared much for religion, so I don't know that much.) "god" seemed to be kind of cruel anyways in some of the stuff he did. So believing in something like the god almighty who loves everyone seems kind of contradictory.

I was 4-5 years old when I innocently asked why I should pray to such a horrible person. That didn't go down too well at church or school but I saw past everything to perceive it as nowt but proving god to be anything but worthy of praise. He killed his own son...who was actually him so it was suicide...but suicide is a sin. WHAT?? He had a man ready to murder his son in his name and then told him to stop after proving his faith. That is NOT cool!  There is no doubt that this particular story laid the foundations for the way too many cases of the mentally ill killing others because god told them too.  It takes less of an illness for a devout religious person to reach a point where they'll follow that command than someone who doesn't believe in a deity following that demand from Mickey Mouse.  The contradictions of a "loving" god and evil acts in the bible were too much. Add to that how obviously MAN made it was and I wasn't buying it. I enjoy books and films with strong female leads and rolemodels for our youth; something religion and holy books does the complete opposote of.

My high school was catholic too, but as an all girls state school, there were a ton of muslims (to keep them away from boys until time for arranged marriage of course - not an assumption, every singe muslim in my school had an arranged marriage at least set up by time they left, except the one who hanged themselves to get out of it) and I learnt more about the other religions including islam there. And I thought the christian bible was horrendous. Ouch!

For me religion didn't make me an atheist (that's impossible really, we're born atheists) but it did make me an anti-theist.

I was born to the default position of atheist.  All humans are born atheist.  God has to be taught: the "proper" name, the "proper" book, the "proper" church/temple/mosque rituals...they are not natural.  Atheist isn't even a word I like, though, because it only exists to make a statement about NOT believing in something that doesn't exist.  Is there a word for not believing in UFOs?  A word for not believing in ghosts?  Is there a word for not believing in honest politicians?  If there is, I don't know them...so why should I have to be called an "atheist?"

"They" tried to convert me to Pentecostalism..failed...and I made a brief stop at Luciferian Gnosticism as a form of rebellion, but that didn't last.  Atheism always made the most sense so I embraced it.

I also don't like atheist because it says "I am not."  Well, if I only am not, then what am I?  There is a void there.  I am something.  I am not exclusively an "am not."

However, I am still "religious" in a sense...I have a moral compass and go by some rules I cannot compromise on...but not so much "religious" in terms of believing in a personal/literal/spiritual god.  Buddhists, for example, can be religious in terms of dogma and live by a code, but also be atheists/agnostics.  "Religion" need not always be attached to a "god" to be a religion. 

By all effects and purposes, I am a self-worshipper, pseudo-Objectivist, and an antitheist...almost to the point of being religiously antitheistic.  I could go all out here and say what I really think about god/gods, but this is a public forum and I leave it more to private conversations and my books these days.  No need to be rude.  Here.   ;)

Religiously antitheistic.

I read that and had to respond with the following: win!

I totally agree with not needing to have any term. Atheism merely indicates the lack of religious faith really. That one doesn't believe in any deity.  I prefer a form to state, "None" as opposed to, "Atheist". By having a term it leads people to see it as a religion in itself and that enrages me. It just simply can't be a religion. We don't share a common belief, we just share a common lack of belief, no different than two adults not believing in Santa. One atheist could be pro choice and one pro life; antitheist or just not care, etc. It's just that, wherever we stand on certain topics, it is determined by ourselves and our own thoughts and research on the matter and not because of some religious book. There's no faith based commonality so how can it be a religion?

Quote from: Jack_M on April 08, 2014, 10:32:35 PM
Religiously antitheistic.

I read that and had to respond with the following: win!

I totally agree with not needing to have any term. Atheism merely indicates the lack of religious faith really. That one doesn't believe in any deity.  I prefer a form to state, "None" as opposed to, "Atheist". By having a term it leads people to see it as a religion in itself and that enrages me. It just simply can't be a religion. We don't share a common belief, we just share a common lack of belief, no different than two adults not believing in Santa. One atheist could be pro choice and one pro life; antitheist or just not care, etc. It's just that, wherever we stand on certain topics, it is determined by ourselves and our own thoughts and research on the matter and not because of some religious book. There's no faith based commonality so how can it be a religion?

Exactly.

I fall into this problem alot in politics.  I am an atheist and sort of a "libertarian" (lower case l) myself.  People on the Right clump me in with the Left because I am an atheist but the Left clumps me in with the Right because I am not a Liberal.  I find the state to be another "god" as history as shown with guys like Stalin and I appose strong central governments for that very reason.  I find Ayn Rand's take on "mysticism" to fit the bill pretty well; even though I don't hold to her philosophy 100%, I think a lot of atheists fill that "god hole" with government and are not really over god.  They still look for a religious code: they replace it with the Law of the State...and their abstract god becomes society/the state...and their ministers are politicians.  As we know, no two people can agree on what god is any more than any two people can agree 100% on what the state is.  Why?  Because both are mystical abstractions.

And I end it here.  Atheists are not unified, obviously, any more than the religious folk because they clutch at abstractions still like government, society, altruistic morals, so forth so forth...truth be told, I get along with some Christians more than I do a lot of atheists, because they often become bigger zealots for the state these days than Christians get "hot for Jesus" a lot of times.  As long as my Christian friends don't cram it down my throat we get along just fine...but if I tell one of my Liberal friends I don't like Obama's policies, it is go time!

Really, I'm done, before I urk someone...in fact, I would be suprised if I don't get torn a new one for posting this hahahaha.

I was raised hard core Jehovah's Witness. There are only so many technicolor watchtowers I could take with a their version of heaven that seems more like hell to me. I'll be happy to rot with the worms when dead thanks.
My overbearing upbringing simply lead me to dismiss all typical gods and spirituality. I am an atheist. I think organized religion helps some people be happy and has an overall positive effect. But since I don't believe in the deities involved I would rather not be a hypocrit. I have considered joining churches for social aspects and helping the poor, most churches don't want unbelievers there though.

I was never explicitly told that I was expected to not believe, so I don't know if it's appropriate to say that I was "raised an atheist". That being said, I certainly wasn't raised to believe and my parents would have been quite confused (and likely appalled) had I "found religion."

I was raised by secular/agnostic parents raised in different faiths. I grew up dinner table chats that regularly included metaphysical arguments against gods and historical discussions about the evils of religion.

Yet, we also celebrated the cultures of both Christian and Jewish heritages. Two sets of presents! Cool :D

I'm raising my son to look at religion as both a diverse collection of ontological mythologies to catalog, experience, and appreciate and as an important context piece for understanding the history of Science.

Quote from: Ev on April 08, 2014, 02:45:35 AM
I was born to the default position of atheist.  All humans are born atheist.  God has to be taught: the "proper" name, the "proper" book, the "proper" church/temple/mosque rituals...they are not natural.  Atheist isn't even a word I like, though, because it only exists to make a statement about NOT believing in something that doesn't exist.  Is there a word for not believing in UFOs?  A word for not believing in ghosts?  Is there a word for not believing in honest politicians?  If there is, I don't know them...so why should I have to be called an "atheist?"

well said, i completely agree, everyone is born an atheist, all of it is teached, usually by the parents, most of the time when the child is too young to properly understand or question, or that the parents don't want the child to question, so most of the time the child grows thinking it's fact

my family is religious but not very attached to it, only when they want to ask for something like money or to solve a problem, as well as prayers and such in common events like christmas and other things, it is kind of just...expected...that everyone in the family is also a theist, i'm not out to most of my family

when i was growing up i kind of believed a little because people said to me, but when i was about 9 years or something, i started thinking it was illogical, especially when i found out that there were other religions, and everyone just seemed to believe without proving they are right, i thought not believing was more common and respected too, only later i found out that was not the case

i do like talking about religion though, mostly debating and stuff, i think it's interesting that so many people believe in just by faith, and some even take it as a personal offense when their religion is not accepted or talked down by others

another thing that enrages me is that people think being an atheist is a teenage rebellious behavior, like my mom thought i was being rebellious when i said i'm an atheist, uurrrghhhh!

My dad's side is Baptist but my dad doesn't seem to care about religion one way or the other...my mom is Catholic and brought us to church every week. I became an atheist (kind of...lol) because I had a very odd logical process. I realized I didn't believe in everything that the Catholic Church taught...and I wasn't about to be a "cafeteria Christian" because honestly, what's even the point of having a religion if you make your own rules? Then I realized that SO MANY Christians, and people of other faiths pick and choose their beliefs and which parts of their religion they adhere to. I just don't think that makes any sense. You claim that this religion is going to redeem your eternal soul, or that it is the way to act in order to please some ethereal being, and you're going to be like "yeah I totally believe this in faith but I don't do X Y and Z." Doesn't seem to be taking it very seriously.

While my parents and their are practicing Roman Catholics and they sent me to a Catholic school. I became an athesit at the tender young age of 8 years old.
During an argument with both my parents they tried to get me to say sorry, when I tried to quote a bible verse when they would not let me finish I turned my back on religion all together. Hypocrisy is a quality I can not stand in myself and can not stand in others.
They did try again when they wanted me to do my confirmation, but I soon put a stop to that when I told mum what saints name I wanted

While I do not belive in religion I do understand and respect others do and find solace in it. So no matter what belief system they prescribe to I have no problem being invited to celebrating or mourn with them. as well as debate about the similarities and comminalities about all the beliefs out there

I was raised to be Roman Catholic from birth. I attended Catholic schools in New Orleans until Hurricane Katrina forced us to relocate to Mississippi, where there are no Catholic schools around, as far as we know. I've attended public school since then, and as the years have gone on, I've had lots of awful things happen to me, including (but not limited to) a woman that would have been my fiance, given the time's death. I was bullied all throughout middle school, and it hardened me and I saw the ways of this world. I've always said since then, "If there is a loving, caring, compassionate 'god' out there...where are they?" (I was taught that 'god' was sexless.) My father squirted holy water on me when he found out I was atheist, which, of course, did nothing, but I guess it made him feel a little better? I don't know, but I digress. My mother has since become Wiccan, as she feels like the Earth is a palpable thing that should be taken care of, and can most definitely be believed in without doubt. I say now that "People shouldn't need an imaginary man in the sky watching them in order for them to be good people." And I live very well being atheist, contrary to what most theists are led to believe. Ricky Gervais put it perfectly: "It's a common misconception that atheists have nothing to live for. Wrong. They have nothing to die for. They have everything to live for."

I was "required" to attend church, Baptist, and for a few years I was happy to as it seemed to please my grandparents. I was given the option to attend or not when I turned 12 years old, and have only been in a church twice since, for both of my grandparents funeral services.
I was really an atheist long before that, but rarely voiced any opinion about it at home, the beatings weren't worth it.

My parents are atheist/agnostic.  Both are scientists with PhDs.

I have my own take on things that would make me atheist/agnostic/pagan.

At least you can prove the earth exists and it sustains life.

my partner is Atheist , my family in Thailand is Buddhist

so I am 50/50 Atheist/Buddhist .. whenever I go back to Thailand, I am Buddhist , when I live here in Australia I am Atheist LOL

(https://www.susans.org/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg2.wikia.nocookie.net%2F__cb20130707145337%2Fdegrassi%2Fimages%2Ff%2Ffc%2FBritney-confused_zps9eff516a.gif&hash=998e8482fa5f49ec3e0e40f82ab5af874d506862)

My family is Christian, but I think of them as the casual laid back type. Sure they believe in a higher power, but we rarely ever attend church. The only time we go is if we're invited to a wedding or some ceremony. So I may have been raised in a Christian household, but I never heard my family talk about faith or anything of that nature, ever. I only got introduced to the church for the most part when I went to church with a friend out of boredom--which went into me going weekly (sunday school and nightly events) from say the age of 8 to 10 or so.

I wasn't raised anything, though my mom did take me to a Methodist one. Got tired of going and drifted away with free thought.

I was raised with my mother's side of the family devout Christians (and I respect them and say the God's prayer while at their house etc.) and my father's side of the family atheist.

I was raised in a cult, text book definition and everything.

As some have wryly noted the best cures for religiosity is to read the so called holy books that prescribe horrible deaths and plagues for any number of imagined sins or simply being born "wrong."  I was raised Catholic and survived corporal and phsycological abuse by the "brides of Christ," nuns, as a kid.   The priests and brothers added more to my dosage of hypocrisy.   The many scandals have multiple witnesses but don't get too close if you're a cute alter boy.  The mother churches dictates about reproduction have consigned millions to premature death and then there is that pathological nonsense about sexuality that would throw most of us here in some hell or purgatory.  But hey they built beautiful cathedrals and wrote some good music too.  I am a Humanist as I feel responsible for my own life, happiness and success without recourse to the supernatural.  We need not abdicate ethical debate and moral discussion to religion.  We all have a stake in what happens in real time and the secular world is far easier to accommodate than some fantasy lands of heaven and hell.  Let's start with what is real and demonstrable by the scientific method.  We may end up with lot's of questions and that is OK too.

We do get some choices, make them count.

I came to the finality of atheism by just suddenly realizing, no matter how hard I try, my brain will simply not accept the possibility of religion, higher powers, creative design, or any thing that goes along with it.

Raised in a catholic home, later turned atheist around 14 years old. At least I thought I was an atheist until I realized that I am a god so I converted to LaVeyan Satanism.

I was raised as an atheist by my parents. I then joined a church that was down the road from me since I had an interest in religion. When I came out as bi, they told me that I was no longer welcome. I had been having doubts before that, so this amplified them, and I became an atheist again. I find atheism to be way more peaceful because I don't have to worry about sin and things like that anymore. I do things for myself instead of for a god.

My parents were fundamentalist christian missionaries. I was born on a missionary base in a trailer park. I was home schooled for half of my life, including taking classes at the Institute for Creation Research museum. At nineteen, after starting my first romantic relationship (yes I was not allowed to have any romantic contact until 19) I started to revisit the scriptures I had been taught as a child. I had moved away from home and was finally no longer being forced to attend church. Even a cursory reading through the old testament at this point destroyed the religion I was raised in.

Soon thereafter I discovered Bertrand Russell's philosophy, followed by Hitchens, Dawkins, Dennett, and Harris.
Being the type of person who obsesses over learning everything there is to know about a subject, I became fascinated by the philosophical arguments and watched every debate and argument I could get my hands on.

Needless to say, I am not a fan of religion at this point. I am not angry at the religious, but I regard the substance of religious doctrine much as one would regard the DNA code of a potentially lethal pathogen.

-Anna

Came from a strictly Catholic family, raised with religion, went to church ((not by choice)) at a young age, and everything. When I figured out I was a human with choice and identity, I left religion. I didn't agree with much of it and I found anything other than religion to be much more peaceful for me XP. Me and my brother are the youngest of our bloodline, and we are the only non-believers in my family. I'm a Deist ((Belief in the possible existence of a deity, but no religious association.)) and my brother is an Atheist because he loves science and felt religion kinda got in the way of that. Safe to say, none of us were raised Atheist.

My mom was Catholic when I was younger so I did go to church every week back then, but then she read the Bible and stopped believing.  I still ended up being forced to attend church whenever I was staying with family members and I hated it for the most part, although there was one priest whose sermons I really liked listening to.  I wish I didn't have fundamentalist Christian family, I love them but getting over the fear that nearly everyone would hate me because of my gender identity took years that I'll never get back to get over.  I don't believe or disbelieve, but I wouldn't worship any kind of god even if they do exist.

I was raised in a Methodist home, and I was probably more hardcore than my grandparents who raised me. My grandmother said to read my Bible, and I did. In fact, I had two of them full of highlights, underlines, and tabs. Eventually, everything started to seem fishy. So many philosophical and mythological contradictions between Testaments that I couldn't help but question. That didn't make me an atheist in the sense that I stopped believing in anything spiritual, but the Christian mythos was no longer swallowable. I had to investigate further only to discover that there was a language beneath the surface. That language was what we call astro-theology.

So, today, I don't subscribe to the God of Abraham (for a couple reasons), or that a deity (or deities) is responsible for life, morality or spiritual connection. I think "God" is something immeasurable, without gender, without hierarchy, and without judgment. There will never be any valid reason to try to prove the existence of the God of Abraham, or Allah, because these are just anthropomorphic representations of something nobody could really describe. Unfortunately, people build religions around these images, and insisting their idea of God is the right one.

God, to me, is just something beyond measure and beyond reason, and yet seems to prove itself as an active, yet impersonal force, but only when you tap into it. If you don't tap into it then you'll never understand why so many people believe in something you can't detect empirically. God only becomes personal (and personified) when someone decides for themselves it is so. That's where delusion can kick in, and where religion becomes dangerous.

Quote from: PoeticHeart on June 23, 2014, 05:55:29 PM
I was raised in a cult, text book definition and everything.

Same raised in the Moonies you?

When I was a kid, my family went to church every week.  However, as I got older, the more I realized religion was nonsense, especially after looking around at all the bigotry, hatred and violence that was inspired by religion.  Then there are the pedophile priests, as well as other sexual, physical and psychological abuse inflicted by practitioners of religion.

Recently, in Toronto, there was news of assault, called "hazing", at a private Catholic school.  Apparently, this had been going on for many years.  The principal of the school did not report the assault to police.  The police found out about it, after it had been reported in the media.  Even more, many of the parents criticized the media for reporting the incident, as it tarnished the school's reputation.  Yep, these parents were more worried about protecting the school than their own kids!

Last year, a Baptist, who came to my door, called me a sodomite for wearing nail polish, after I told him to leave.

Years ago, I was told I couldn't have morals, if I didn't believe in "God".

Years ago, when I was still going to church, I was told, by a friend, that I wouldn't be going to heaven, if I didn't go to HIS church.

There is no historical or archaeological or historical evidence to support the bible, but plenty that contradicts it.  There are even parts of the bible that contradict other parts.

It's a very long list that shows why I know religion to be nonsense.

There will no doubt always be things we don't fully understand, but we certainly don't need fairy tales to explain them.

While I was baptized Catholic, we never attended church.
10 years ago via some weird circumstances, I sought out faith...not necessarily religion.
To this day, faith os what has kept me strong, and how I treat others. 10 years ago, I was a pretty self-centered person who seemed to revel in material goods.
Life has changed for the good.
I never ever have laid my faith on anyone.

I was raised Catholic too but no longer attend church or practice the religion.  I have found, for me, that I don't need religion in order to live a good life and have a sense of faith.  I am at peace with who I am and my place in the world. 

I also think faith is a very personal thing that no-one else should question.  I may not agree with another's faith but I will defend their right to believe as they wish.

My parents made me go to Methodist Sunday School, but I never believed a word of it.  Not even for a minute.  I'm a "Gold Star" atheist!

I got baptized Catholic and had some Catholic input so technically I'm "lapsed", one that doesn't attend church or bother maintaining the connection with the church. My father was Catholic and my mother was an atheist. I've got my own ideas about it all and it doesn't interfere with life or make me feel like a "sinner" or anything. That's other people's schtick.

I grew up with a mother that have some christian faith. My fader is a atheist and so are my brothers.

And I grew up in one of the worlds most secularized countries. When I was born every newborn child became a member of the Swedish church automatically. It's not like that anymore. And now I have left the church. Sure as a little child I was wondering if there might be a good since I visited some churches and was told about christianity. But quite soon I understood that there is not.

So I have been an atheist almost as long as I can remember. Living in a country where you are seen as odd and a bit crazy if you are religious may have impacted this to some extent but I don't care actually. I don't miss anything religious in my life.

Quote from: Nero on July 18, 2009, 08:11:59 PM
Share your story.

lol a typical *blast from the past* Nero thread!

Throw the 'topic q' out there . . .

And see what happens!  *sigh* I'd like to think he's still watching! ;D

I went to a Christian school for about 14 years of my life. The dress code didn't allow me to grow my hair out, and was opposed to homosexuality, and I was spiteful of that. The school danced around the issue of evolution, which was also irritating because I wanted the full story. In college (Biology Major) learning about evolution cemented my atheistic worldview I guess.

Quote from: Chloe on January 05, 2019, 10:58:49 AM
lol a typical *blast from the past* Nero thread!

Throw the 'topic q' out there . . .

And see what happens!  *sigh* I'd like to think he's still watching! ;D

Ya, his "Why are women useless after the age of 26" topic was a regular
barrel full of laughs.  ;)

Quote from: Madison2002 on April 29, 2019, 10:54:38 PM
I went to a Christian school for about 14 years of my life. The dress code didn't allow me to grow my hair out, and was opposed to homosexuality, and I was spiteful of that. The school danced around the issue of evolution, which was also irritating because I wanted the full story. In college (Biology Major) learning about evolution cemented my atheistic worldview I guess.

Hello Madison,  Welcome to the Place and thank you for sharing here with others.  Many of us have found that religious regimentation, oppression and magical answers unsatisfying for a curious mind.  Perhaps worse is the senseless demonization of sexuality and harm of prejudice and discrimination against personal freedoms, queer people and women in general.  Having facilitated support groups for LGBTQ+ people for decades it seems the pain of religiously based hate and exclusion is an ongoing problem for us.  We can do better and more people are choosing to step away from churches and religion all together.