Padawanbater2
Well-Known Member
Should be an interesting, and hopefully educating, thread. I see a lot of people claim they used to be atheists but saw the light and now they're a believer. Hopefully this thread sheds a little light on why that's an absurd statement to make, and why and how we each reached our own conclusions to nonbelief in a god.
I'll start...
Flashback to 1997, I was about 10 when the concept of God really came into my life..
1999, full blown Christian, believing (but not understanding) God created everything, you go to Heaven if you're good, Hell if you're bad, the whole 9 yards... I was influenced by my parents, having been duped themselves by tradition and years of conditioning. Not having realized this then, or having the capacity to, I blindly followed Christianity, believing it was right because my parents, the people who I depended on for life, said it was right...
2000, Y2K, my first taste of conscious irrationality. They said the world would end, I sat frightened, but preoccupied with my friend who made absurd statements about the taste of bbq chips dipped in koolaid (ROFL! to this day!) not really believing the world would end because I couldn't put 'Y2K - computers go out - the world ends!" into logical perspective, even as a 13 year old...
2003 - President Bush launches a war into Iraq because of 9/11. Confused, but I had the opinion of 'America is always right, why would they do anything bad against national interests?!', quickly realized (by 2006) that it was all bullshit for monetary gains, not American interest. Faith in the American government begins to fade...
2006 - began to question the moral reasons behind the occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan, realized the terrorists behind 9/11 were from Saudi Arabia and elsewhere. Began the long, arduous process of researching why we went into the Middle East in the first place...
2006-2010 - researched history, religion, politics, science, society, psychology, astronomy, philosophy, art, influences. Literally anything and everything to get a broader understanding of existence.
2010 - realized atheism
2010-2012 - was spent trying to empower other people, on the fence or otherwise confused, have reached some, but not others.
I find the hardest thing in this entire quest is those that are proud to be faithful. Those that reality doesn't exist to. Those that prefer myth over logic, tradition over fact. Those too scared to let go, too scared of non-existence. The most fulfilling thing has been reaching those that value truth over comfort. When it finally clicks inside someones head that they have no real reason to fear anything in existence, especially the claims of the fearful, it all becomes worth it. Worth all the countless hours spent trying to explain a concept to someone who doesn't want to hear it, worth all the time and effort put into a thoughtful response only to be given a one sentence rebuttal..
I'm a non believer because nothing believable has been presented.
I'll start...
Flashback to 1997, I was about 10 when the concept of God really came into my life..
1999, full blown Christian, believing (but not understanding) God created everything, you go to Heaven if you're good, Hell if you're bad, the whole 9 yards... I was influenced by my parents, having been duped themselves by tradition and years of conditioning. Not having realized this then, or having the capacity to, I blindly followed Christianity, believing it was right because my parents, the people who I depended on for life, said it was right...
2000, Y2K, my first taste of conscious irrationality. They said the world would end, I sat frightened, but preoccupied with my friend who made absurd statements about the taste of bbq chips dipped in koolaid (ROFL! to this day!) not really believing the world would end because I couldn't put 'Y2K - computers go out - the world ends!" into logical perspective, even as a 13 year old...
2003 - President Bush launches a war into Iraq because of 9/11. Confused, but I had the opinion of 'America is always right, why would they do anything bad against national interests?!', quickly realized (by 2006) that it was all bullshit for monetary gains, not American interest. Faith in the American government begins to fade...
2006 - began to question the moral reasons behind the occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan, realized the terrorists behind 9/11 were from Saudi Arabia and elsewhere. Began the long, arduous process of researching why we went into the Middle East in the first place...
2006-2010 - researched history, religion, politics, science, society, psychology, astronomy, philosophy, art, influences. Literally anything and everything to get a broader understanding of existence.
2010 - realized atheism
2010-2012 - was spent trying to empower other people, on the fence or otherwise confused, have reached some, but not others.
I find the hardest thing in this entire quest is those that are proud to be faithful. Those that reality doesn't exist to. Those that prefer myth over logic, tradition over fact. Those too scared to let go, too scared of non-existence. The most fulfilling thing has been reaching those that value truth over comfort. When it finally clicks inside someones head that they have no real reason to fear anything in existence, especially the claims of the fearful, it all becomes worth it. Worth all the countless hours spent trying to explain a concept to someone who doesn't want to hear it, worth all the time and effort put into a thoughtful response only to be given a one sentence rebuttal..
I'm a non believer because nothing believable has been presented.
