Thread: questions for the atheists (and believers,too)

Originally Posted by dajo

Have you always been atheists? Have you been raised as such?

I wasn't raised to be atheist per se, my family just didn't really talk about God at all. Officially speaking, my parents are Christian, but they don't go to church, and thus I never did either. I didn't really give much thought to the idea of God until probably my pre-teen years, and then I was agnostic at best. Sometime during high school I said, "Who am I kidding here? I'm not 'agnostic,' I'm atheist."

Originally Posted by dajo

So these questions are basically directed towards the US: Has anything changed over the course of the last 6 years?

Not that I'm aware of. This whole debate has been much more active on this forum in the past couple months than it normally is. I certainly haven't noticed any differences in "real life."

Originally Posted by dajo

Atheists: Do you get a lot of crap for not believing in any god in your every day life? Do you have to prove yourself everyday, or explain, or are an 'outcast' because of it?

I live in the "Bible Belt" in USA, so I tend to get a lot of flak when I admit to being atheist. This is something that I typically hold close to the vest, although I'll tell people honestly if they ask me.

Originally Posted by dajo

FIRST OFF: This is entirely observatory and subjective.
AND: I was born and raised in germany, might be a factor.

Ok then, I was wondering.
Since the "god or no god debate" seems to be so important on this forum:

Have you always been atheists? Have you been raised as such?

If not, how long exactly have you been an atheist?

My parents never spoke about religion. When I grew up and understood what religion was I thought it was stupid. However when I was younger I didn`t know if I believed in a creator of the universe or not. So I was an agnostic for a long time - until I gave it some tought and found out that I didn`t believe in any deity.

Atheists: Do you get a lot of crap for not believing in any god in your every day life? Do you have to prove yourself everyday, or explain, or are an 'outcast' because of it?

No, I live in Norway people are not so obsessed with religion here. I understand this question was probably directed to people in the US, though.

Thanks for the responses!

Originally Posted by DuB

I live in the "Bible Belt" in USA, so I tend to get a lot of flak when I admit to being atheist. This is something that I typically hold close to the vest, although I'll tell people honestly if they ask me.

I can imagine.
But I think it is very good that you respond honestly, when asked!
Probably the best way, dealing with this subject! Not too forward, but true to yourself.

Originally Posted by JustSoSick

No, I live in Norway people are not so obsessed with religion here. I understand this question was probably directed to people in the US, though.

This question was directed to anyone. I am not sure about how religious people are in other countries either. Sounds similar to my situation though.

i was raised open minded, and i kept hearing about this god when i was young, so, just like santa i believed, but as i grew up, and i had my own opinions etc. and i got interested in science, i realise it doesnt seem possible, and there were better explanations for the creation of the world.

where i live, everyone can have their own opinions and beliefs and noone cares. but me and my friends always have conversations/debates over things like god.

Originally Posted by dajo

Have you always been atheists? Have you been raised as such?

If not, how long exactly have you been an atheist?

I was raised a southern baptist christian. I was sent to bible camps, only allowed to listen to christian music and was homeschooled.

I have been an atheist probably since about 19, so 5 years or so.

So these questions are basically directed towards the US: Has anything changed over the course of the last 6 years? The whole 'atheism' debate seems to be so in everybodys face right now, or did I just not notice it before?

Last 6 years? Maybe. I would say the biggest change was 9/11/01. Then that went from, WTF muslims killing us, to WTF religion sucks. Also the release of books my Harris,Hitchens,Dawkins and Dennett also made a difference I believe.

Atheists: Do you get a lot of crap for not believing in any god in your every day life? Do you have to prove yourself everyday, or explain, or are an 'outcast' because of it?

No. Not really. Mostly I only get crap from family. Really haven't gotten shit for being an atheist other then that.

Have you always been atheists? Have you been raised as such?

I have been an atheist since I was old enough to look at things and make up my mind. It was around 8 I started to see the major flaws in religion.

I was not raised as anything, though the school I went to did sort of indoctrinate people by making them pray and sing religious hymns (which I refused to do). But certainly in my house, I've been free to come to my own beliefs on issues, and in any case I am of strong enough intelligence that I don't need to be told what to think by anyone.

Atheists: Do you get a lot of crap for not believing in any god in your every day life? Do you have to prove yourself everyday, or explain, or are an 'outcast' because of it?

No, I live in the UK which is now one of the more secular countries in the world, and where an ever growing number of people do not believe in God. I think it's the majority now actually. Whilst the country has a religious background, atheism is not stigmatised in any way.

Have you always been atheists? Have you been raised as such?

First off, I'm an atheist. I can't really say I've always been an atheist, but I've been one since around 7-8 years old when I began to wonder about all the flaws and loose ends religion(in this case christianity) had. I had so many questions that just couldn't be properly answered, and from that point I just took my stance, I didn't believe in any of it.

My family never made a big deal about religion, and because of that we never really talked about it, and as such my parents allowed me to grow up without throwing everything at me, making me able to form my own opinion, and to that I am thankful. I still remember me as a child throwing all these stupid childish questions that should be obvious at our teacher in religion, and only receiving answers as "thats just the way it is", or "Noone knows!", etc. Typical faithbased answers (no closed ends, full of wondering etc)

Atheists: Do you get a lot of crap for not believing in any god in your every day life? Do you have to prove yourself everyday, or explain, or are an 'outcast' because of it?

thankfully no, I live in a small town in Denmark, and most of my relatives and friends/classmates and so on don't give a crap about religion, its actually very rare that I bump into a very strong believer. Actually I never recall meeting any!

@Rakjavik:

Even though what your family did, I find it absolutely amazing that you were still able to form/explore your own oppinion regarding the subject

Have you always been atheists? Have you been raised as such?

I've been raised in a very conservative muslim household in the US. [Nyc] My friends and the society in basic was always pretty liberal. I never believed in the ridiculous aspects of Islam, but I did believe in god. I always used to say, "I think god would want me to be happy..", if I ever felt guilty about disobeying parents or whatever. I always had my doubts about the existence of god. But raised in such a strict environment, the thought of there being no god scared the crap out of me for some reason. I sort of avoided the topic with myself and just automatically answered muslim when asked about my beliefs. Around two years ago I became agnostic, and soon enough became atheist. Reading books had a lot to do with this, and as I realized how atrocious religion actually is. Facing the facts instead of sticking to the convenient and positive parts. This forum, particularly O'nus, had a part in "convincing" me as well.

So these questions are basically directed towards the US: Has anything changed over the course of the last 6 years? The whole 'atheism' debate seems to be so in everybodys face right now, or did I just not notice it before?

Last 6 years? I think so, maybe it has to do with the fact that I was about 11 six years ago, though. I think there are more atheists here than before. More people thinking rationally.. I find myself debating aspects of religion a lot, not the concept of god though. Unless someone wants to.

Atheists: Do you get a lot of crap for not believing in any god in your every day life? Do you have to prove yourself everyday, or explain, or are an 'outcast' because of it?

In ny, I have a lot of atheist friends. It's not that uncommon. The majority are religious, but there some atheists/agnostics. People are generally accepting of it, most likely don't care either way. Anyway, I moved to the south-west part of Virginia not too long ago (very small town), and let me tell ya, it's a complete different story. They're all religious zealots, it is so bad. They're not even accepting of Catholics. Needless to say, not too accepting of any other religions. And atheism? It's pretty much unheard of here. People here all assume you have the same beliefs as them, so they don't usually ask me what my religion is. I tell my friends that I'm "not religious." I'm pretty much an outcast in school.

Originally Posted by dajo

Have you always been atheists? Have you been raised as such?

If not, how long exactly have you been an atheist?

I was not always an atheist. When I was a child I was told by my parents about Christianity, and I was almost completely raised by my grandmother who was a hard core christian. I'm not really sure what her opinions on certain subjects were, so please don't confuse hard core with hate mongering. All I know is that up until I was about eight years old she was the one who raised me, and she was extremely faithful in God and Jesus Christ. I prayed for the safety of my mother and father almost every night because my mother worked in the E.R. and had the late shift often, and my father had long periods where he would work out at sea.

After my grandmother moved to the old folks home, I think I was maybe age 8 or 9, I wasn't really confronted with religious doctrine. Religion simply slipped out of my mind, and I was left with simply saying, I'm a christian, I believe in God. Not because I did, but because I thought I had to believe in whatever my parents believed, which left me quite often asking "which type of christian are we?" I believe the answer at the time was Presbyterian. We didn't go to church so I couldn't exactly look at the church sign.

By the end of fifth grade I think, maybe at the beginning of sixth, I had abandoned religion all together. I saw no evidence of miracles, or souls, or anything supernatural, and I had never seen a prayer actually have a positive or real effect in life. The supernatural simply wasn't evident, and so I decided I wouldn't believe it until someone could provide evidence.

Originally Posted by dajo

So these questions are basically directed towards the US: Has anything changed over the course of the last 6 years? The whole 'atheism' debate seems to be so in everybodys face right now, or did I just not notice it before?

I think you just didn't notice it before. I would say every time elections come up the religious people make a larger deal out of their religion than before. Of course, it could simply be that ever since the bombings in 9/11, a perceived threat by religious fundamentalists, a fear of overly zealous religious people has made people more outspoken about what they dislike about religion.

But please take note, it isn't preaching to say "you have no right to legislate your religion onto us." Which, if you haven't noticed, they have been trying to do a lot recently.

Originally Posted by dajo

Atheists: Do you get a lot of crap for not believing in any god in your every day life? Do you have to prove yourself everyday, or explain, or are an 'outcast' because of it?

You don't generally have to "prove yourself" or be an "outcast" if you don't actually tell everyone that you are an atheist. As it turns out, it is quite easy to keep such a secret if you want to. I personally haven't kept it a secret that I do not agree with the assumption that there must be a God. When I was in school, I was quite often confronted by religinutz who got angry at me for not believing, who threatened me with violence, and who tried to make it difficult for me when I shared classes with them.

But really, it wasn't every religious person who was doing this, it was just a few of the "I get angry when people challenge my assumption" people who continuously did it.

Have you always been atheists? Have you been raised as such?

No, and no. Once upon a time, we went to church. That ended at age 8. My parents claim to be Christian.

If not, how long exactly have you been an atheist?

I used to pray to God, but just for thanks. I wasn't pushed to do this, either. I was the only one in my family that prayed. I'd thank God for the trees and the people I love, thank God that I'm alive, thank God for that meal I ate, and the warmth of my bed. I never asked God for anything; I didn't want it to waste time on me. This was at age 10, after an insane episode a year before (where, for a month, I was incredibly occupied with death).

And then I started thanking God for other things. I started thanking God for pain, and thanking God for sadness, and thanking God for love. I realized the necessity for duality, and what I thought was "God," changed. I realized that I wasn't thanking "God," but was thanking the universe. Just appreciating living. I stopped believing in heaven and hell, because I knew they were impractical. I started criticizing organized religion cryptically, in my poetry, breaking it down and exposing all of its downfalls. This happened through the rest of elemetary school, and middle school.

Finally, I started building my own spirituality. Without religion, I could see clearly, and was able to choose for myself which morals to live by. This was empowering. It was my choice, not God's.

I've got atheist friends now (college is awesome), and we can talk about stuff. I also have religious friends, and we talk about stuff, too. Still trying to tailor a good religious conversation with the religious friends, where we can speak openly. As it turns out, most of my religious friends have their own concept of God and its rules. And that's good progress.

Wow, really great posts so far !!!!!! Really interesting!

Originally Posted by dajo

Have you always been atheists? Have you been raised as such?

If not, how long exactly have you been an atheist?

All through the 8th grade I was a vague believer. I pray for some things a couple of times in my life, but never seriously. I never gave it much thought. In the ninth grade, my biology teacher showed our class Carl Sagan's "Contact" (Excellent movie, by the way). That got me thinking. That was really the first time I questioned God. And it didn't take more than half a second to realize that I was an atheist. Shortly after that, at chess club (hosted by my biology teacher) I engaged him in a discussion about religion. He told me his arguments for believing, and none of them convinced me. I didn't really do much afterward. A year later, someone somewhere mentioned "The God Delusion" and I picked it up at my library. I read it and loved it. RD put some solid arguments in and I solidified my (lack of) beliefs. So I've been atheist since 2007.

Originally Posted by dajo

So these questions are basically directed towards the US: Has anything changed over the course of the last 6 years? The whole 'atheism' debate seems to be so in everybodys face right now, or did I just not notice it before?

Well, I never really paid attention to religion until I read TGD, so I can't accurately answer that.

Originally Posted by dajo

Atheists: Do you get a lot of crap for not believing in any god in your every day life? Do you have to prove yourself everyday, or explain, or are an 'outcast' because of it?

I am surprised that I don't get crap for not believing, considering I live in Florida. I think that a major reason for this is location. I live in Brevard County, home of NASA's space center. So there's lot's of smart scientists and engineers that live here, leading to an overall more intelligent population here. I know at least six of my good friends are atheists. Another factor is that most of my friends are band kids, and music students are typically some of the smartest, which correlates with less religion. Overall, I have lots of friends and theists never give me any flak.

Originally Posted by Xox

I moved to the south-west part of Virginia not too long ago (very small town), and let me tell ya, it's a complete different story. They're all religious zealots, it is so bad. They're not even accepting of Catholics. Needless to say, not too accepting of any other religions. And atheism? It's pretty much unheard of here. People here all assume you have the same beliefs as them, so they don't usually ask me what my religion is.

I feel your pain Xox, Rakjavik and I both grew up in Bible Belt Virginia. It's great how everyone just assumes your a Christian with questions like "oh what church do you go to? What denomination are you?" They don't think to stop and ask if you even subscribe to their sect of lunacy.

Anyway, Rak's story is the same as mine considering we grew up in the same house.

I became an atheist around 19. I was initially turned Deist at 17 when my youth pastor turned out to be a complete asshole and I turned from Christianity more out of spite than anything else. Then I started researching the debates of religion and science and realized I had been dooped my whole upbringing.

As far as being persecuted, not at all. I am a loud and proud atheist and anyone who has tried to mock me and tell me I'm stupid for believing everything came from nothing or that evolution is correct I've debated and made them look completely stupid (which isn't hard because only the extremely ignorant use such rediculous arguments).

I've actually converted a few people at my old job (to the utter dismay of a conservative Christian co-worker) and my boss' mother was quite upset with me for "trying to drag her little girl to hell". It's been interesting.

I' am a Christian and I have pretty much been one forever. My parents are not religious. My grandmothers are both Christians and go to church so I got a little bit of religion from them. I was never forced to be a Christian, my mom's dad was Jewish and her mom was Christian so they didn't want to raise her one way or the other. I don't go to church. Maybe once a year for something random. I go to a Christian high school so I hear stuff in religion class and we have chapel, but chapel is pretty much a joke and we just talk and laugh at this one teacher who sings badly on the microphone. I don't get ridiculed for my faith because I am in a Christian school. This site is pretty much the only place I hear from other people on religion and I don't let it affect me. I really like science but I don't let it get in the way of my religion. I don't really like being vocal about my faith. I'm kind of private about it, not that I'm ashamed or anything, it's just kind of personal to me.

I was baptized Catholic, and went to catholic elementary and high schools. We used to go to church twice a year (once for xmas, once for easter). Throughout the second half of high school, I gradually shed my "faith" (which really, felt more like routine ritual, so I don't think I really had any "faith", other than going through the motions).

I don't get crap for not being a believer, mainly because I don't really broach the topic with a lot of people. Plus, the christians I hang out with aren't jerks about pushing their faith.

I was raised catholic. I had to go to Sunday school for a few years. And I use to really enjoy just thinking about heavan and Noahs ark and all these wonderful stories. I went through being batised and getting confirmation. (a kind of second baptism but they use a kind of oil paste thing and it represents fire instead of water) That was when I was 13...after that, we suddenly stopped going to church as much. That time was also when I started reading up on other religions, other beliefs and my view of christianity alone just kind of fell apart.

Now i still have a belief in an afterlife, but as far as a being like god, I dont think so. If there are any dieties, I believe they made the universe the way they wanted and dont need to interfere with mericles.

Originally Posted by eppy

I really like science but I don't let it get in the way of my religion.

Please explain further. I just want to know if you are a literalist chrisitian or not.
Do you look at science and if it contradicts anything about your religion do you discard it?

I really like science but I don't let it get in the way of my religion.

So you would therefore have to let your religion get in the way of science, since science DOES get in the way of people's religions?

I don't closely know anyone who is religious.

The vast majority of people I know seem to have had kind of "cultural christian" upbringings, as I myself had, and at a certain age made the step to realising there is no God, quite naturally.

I'm English. I know the US is like the opposite of this.

It's tough to say for me. My mom, being a Roman Catholic, tried to push the whole church going on my siblings and I until we just got to the point where she couldn't force it on us anymore. This happened to be at the age of reasoning where we started questioning what our authorities tell us.

My dad was raised Roman Catholic also but he seemed to have drifted off from the beliefs his parents tried to raise him with. My dad became very interested in space when the information became available (astronomy magazines, telescopes, etc). I truly believe the more you study space the more it becomes clear that we are not part of an intelligent design. My dad never really told us why he didn't believe in god when my mom tried to take us to church but eventually his interests rubbed off on me and I started wondering about our universe, evolution and just science in general.

Even though my beliefs towards catholicism were never even close to strong, what beliefs were there quickly vanished. I believe we're part of a greater wisdom. Something way more powerful than some god any human can or has ever defined. I am not denying the existence of a god, I just strongly believe it has nothing to do with any type of belief humans have made up. Science is the only way to reveal the way our universe was created.

The easy answer to all philisophical questions is god made it. It's an abdication of responsibility. If something can't be answered theists will just say "it was gods will".

Originally Posted by Omicron

I don't closely know anyone who is religious.

The vast majority of people I know seem to have had kind of "cultural christian" upbringings, as I myself had, and at a certain age made the step to realising there is no God, quite naturally.

I'm English. I know the US is like the opposite of this.

so they grow up atheist and then step up to realizing there is a god at a certain age?

just playin

Originally Posted by tkdyo

so they grow up atheist and then step up to realizing there is a god at a certain age?

just playin

You trickster.

I was born in a Christian family, had to go to church each sunday. But I never believed in God, I think I was around 4 years old when I told all my friends God, the easter bunny and santa claus were fake. Nobody believed me!

Anyway, it's only since I got into dreaming and meditation that I'm starting to understand this world more, and now I finally understand, after all that time, what those prophets were talking about. Sure God exists, but it's up to you to find out who or what God exactly is... once you do, the whole world will make sense.

Also, I don't know anyone of my age who is religious either, I seem to live in a very atheistic country. I think 90% or more of our youth is atheist.

i was religious until i hit the age of reason so at 14 i became an athiest. its been difficult because i go to a christian school and i love argueing. i almost always encounter a strong resistence when talking about god. everybodys first reponse when they learned was, "hes stupid!" "what an idoit!" after this i argued about god like crazy. i easly proved the world wasnt 5000 years old,shown how some things do change. yet no one listens. people have to deny fact to believe in there cause. by argueing ive found only a few people who accept my choice and a few christians who also like to argue, these people i enjoyed debating about god. next time, perhaps in a differant school i wont try so hard.