Why Do People Become Atheists?

every day I come on WWBM and see this as one of the newest posts......



.......why is this topic still getting talked about 32 pages into it??

Religion, spirituality, views of a higher power, etc. are all a personal choice that are reached by a wide array of different means. How is it possible for anyone other than the atheists of this forum or otherwise to speculate how someone reached that point??

I was personally raised in a Catholic convert household from the time I was born. My parents joined the Catholic church and my older siblings (5 and 3 years older than me) were baptized at the same time as I was in my infancy. All three of us spent Kindergarten through 12th grade in Catholic same sex schools. My brother went on to go to a Jesuit college in Chicago. Whereas my sister and I both attended public, state universities.

My sister: Agnostic
Me: Undecided yet severely swaying with agnostic tendencies
My brother: 100% never turning back... Atheist

All three of us have had entirely different life journeys even though we seemingly have had the exact upbringing for the greater majority of our lives. However, I would never begin to question or even analyze my brother's beliefs simply based on the fact that they are his own. He is well educated (full ride to college, finished in the top 5% of his class, is now in one of the most prestigious medical physics programs in the nation), well versed, and I don't doubt that if he has come to a conclusion on his own in this particular area of his life....i guarantee no one else other than my brother would be capable of explaining how or why that is.

so basically..............this thread kind of frustrates me. its all baseless speculation. :roll:

 

Right...

People always "consider it in the context of when it was written". Or when it comes to particularly unpleasant parts of the Bible they say something like "those were the times". But if the Bible is truly the word of a perfect being who's capable of seeing into the future, you'd think the Bible would be perfectly applicable to all ages and not some dusty relic that has to continually be edited to flow with the times.

It's not so much that I don't believe in God, but rather I don't believe in the Bible's version of God. In my eyes, a god can pretty much be anything that you consider to be a giver of life. That's why the Greeks and Romans gave attributes to so many different aspects of nature. It's human nature to personify things because if we personify things then it makes us feel that we have more control than when we just leave them in the shadows of anonymity. For example, instead of accepting the fact that life has many twists of fate that are beyond our control, the Romans would try to cut a deal with Fortuna, the goddess of luck.

One of the reasons that I think the Bible is appealing is because it's simple. Instead of tons of gods who require distinct rituals to pacify them, you've got everything that's good embodied in one god, and everything that's bad embodied in the other (Satan).

I don't really see where atheists have attitudes of superiority but I can understand how critiquing your beliefs might come off that way. But you also have to realize that the Bible's boasts are not small ones either.

 

You're sort of missing the entire point of discussions like this. The reason being, for everyone to discuss matters like this, is to get ideas as to why people become the way they are currently. Certainly, there will come a point where discussions like this can lead to a downward spiral with the wrong influences, but these discussions are ways to open up to people and other beliefs and also make them realize what your personal beliefs are.

In this topic, Atheism is still a misunderstood philosophical position and as you come to understand, people will still question people who simply lack the belief in a higher power, mainly out of curiosity and in times, challenge the individual into wondering what makes them who they are and see if they can sway their opinions to their own comfort zone. Also, it's critical given that we live in an atmosphere (specifically the US) where the majority of people identify themselves with a belief system and feel as though they have to question those who lack a belief.

 

Merry Christmas was taken out not because of athesist but because they did not want to exclude anybody. Hannakah and Kwanzaa are celebrated during the same timeframe as Christmas. Your other two examples to me fall under the separtion of church and state.

But if that is all the "Damage" that Atheists have done then they are saints compared to the real damage that Christians have done.

 

That whole context argument is a way for religious people to rationalize the parts of the Bible that doesn't mesh with modern beliefs. The Bible is pretty clear when it comes to several things but yet people overlook them because it doesn't fit today's society. Which is why I don't understand why we have the Old and New Testament. You did not want to piss God off in the old testament because he may flood the entire planet, destroy entire cities, make women suffer immense pain during child birth, etc. But the new Testament has a much softer tone to it. God became much more chill. Why is that? If God never changes then why the need for a New Testament? Unless the old Testament was a little too crazy for newer generation so the people needex a book that was more in line with their modern beliefs.

 

Christmas is a hijacked festival anyway. The Grinch stole Christmas? Actually, it was Christians. They took a pagan festival and transformed it, much like they did with everything else. I don't care for Jehova's Witnesses but at least they're not hypocritical to the point that they celebrate a fake Christian holiday.

 

They didn't just outright steal it...they assimilated the celebration in order to convince more pagans to join their religion, as they refused initially because they enjoyed their festivals too much.

Funny, I was just having this conversation with a friend of mine the other day. We were talking about how we both didn't like hearing the whole "remember the true reason for the season" stuff...because that's working on the assumption that the real reason for christmas is the Christian holiday...which was originally a Pagan holiday and didn't include jesus until waaaay later.

You ever listened to a song called "Nature of the Threat" by Ras Kass? He talks about that in one of the verses. Really interesting song.

 

Whatever the orgin its still very important to a lot of people.

 

I personally feel that if you believe is something you should understand it to the best of your abilities.

I like Christmas cause it's a good excuse to spend time with family and friends, but I don't like the false belief that it's something it's not. If I believe in something, I research it, and try to understand as much about it as possible.

When people find that current laws and ideas are based on things associated with slavery they get pretty pissed. Today some of those things aren't exactly bad or even bothering people, but their origins are what piss people off.

I don't like how a lot of things in our society are rooted in bad things yet often no one knows or even cares. That's sad.

It's important to know where you come from just as much as it's important to know where the things you believe in and care about come from, in my opinion.

 

If you dig enough most things are rooted in negativity. Whether or not its bullshit is irrelevant, I think the positives far out weigh the negatives when it comes to Christmas.

 

Interesting article:

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ch/news/2000/dec08.html

 

Good find.

 

Porky doing the ORIGINAL pledge in 1939,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxlxoAcSusw

Also "In God we trust" wasn't put on paper money until 1957.

What damage was being done when God wasn't hijacking money or the pledge?

 

How does the theory of evolution disprove God? It may disprove a literal interpretation of Genesis, but that was written and made up by humans. Evolution came about because it's an observable fact.

 

Yeah, I'm pretty familiar with the Saturnalia, the Lupercalia, and a few other Roman festivals but when someone shares something with you it's the thought that counts, so thanks.

Never heard of it. I don't really listen to much rap these days but around the ages of thirteen and fourteen I thought Ras Kass was pretty dope.

 

[YOUTUBE]pKUrQMYMv04[/YOUTUBE]

It's pretty good. Kinda old though now.

Yeah, I figured you were familiar with it since you brought it up, which is why I spared you a long winded history lesson. lol

Did you learn about it because you were interested in Roman history, or just because you wanted to learn about the festivals specifically? I love Roman and Greek history and mythology myself...I think that shit is fascinating.

 

I said I like Christmas. I just wish people would educate themselves more. There's a lot of information out there that's easy to access and a lot of people who don't give a shit and prefer everyone else to tell them how to think.

 

Bi-freakin-ingo!!!!!!

They are not mutually exclusive imho.

 

Ummm...because in the Bible God creates people/things through what most would call spontaneous generation, not the slow process of evolution.