First topic - were you raised atheist or did you come by way of religion?

[darkshine]

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).

[Ashley Allison]

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.

[rexgsd]

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

[Zack]

I was raised Atheist.

[lisagurl]

I'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.

[Nathan.]

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.

[lisagurl]

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

[Nathan.]

"I'm an agnostic atheist now."
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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.

[Hikari]

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. 

[Silver]

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.

[Nicky]

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... 

[Cindy]

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

[Nathan.]

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.

[Pica Pica]

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.

[Silver]

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.

[Nathan.]

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.

[Silver]

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.

[Nathan.]

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.

[Silver]

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.

[Dana Lane]

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.