I'm writing a speech on why people should accept Atheism as a belief and not have that automatic apprehension about Atheists. Your reasons for becoming an Atheist would really help me. Thank you!
My bad, I don't think I worded that right. I would just like to know why you believe what you believe. For example: Do you not believe in things you cant see? Etc. Sorry if I offended anyone.
I've seen no evidence nor reason suggesting a god of any sort exists. Its not so much a choice, I just can't MAKE myself believe something for which those conditions are true.
Edit: I do believe in things I cannot see so long as there is evidence in their favor. Seeing isn't our only method of judging the universe after all.
I didn't "choose" it, an opinion just formed in my mind. I don't think anyone consciously chooses what to believe. They just believe what seems right to them.
However, reasons for my atheism are mainly a lack of will/motivation/need to believe in a deity of any kind. I'm perfectly fine under the laws of my country without having to be restricted twofold.
On top of that, the evidence for the existence of a god that has been put forth so far doesn't really agree with my sense of reasoning. The arguments in favor of there being no god make much more reasoning to me.
Its not really a belief, its a disbelief. There's nothing positive or negative about it, no philosophy or dogma, it's just a position where you don't find theism believable.
I didn't necessarily "choose" to be atheist, because I've never been anything else. Religion and the concept of a deity just doesn't make sense to me, for the following reasons:
1: there's no evidence for any deity
2: there are thousands of recorded deities. This suggests a mythological basis for all of them
3: there are non-supernatural explanations for everything attributed to a deity
4: because of 3, a deity isn't necessary
5: because of 1 Thur 4, I don't believe a deity exists
6: even without 1 Thur 5, the concept of a deity makes no sense to me.
I didn't. You cannot choose your beliefs it is not an act of conscious will. Could you choose to believe in, say, Count Dracula? Could you force yourself to believe that he is actually real? No, of course you can't. To me, god is as real as the characters in Bram Stoker's novel. I can't choose atheism I just haven't been given any reason to think that a god exists.
For me, it was when I read the Bible. Before than I was an Apatheist, meaning I just didn't care if there was or not, and after I just saw theistic belief as pathetic.
For many, however, they just logically come to the conclusion of it. Just by thinking.
edit: Not to be mean, but even your additional details is worded badly. "I would just like to know why you believe what you believe." You need to remember, atheism is not a belief it is a lack of belief.
I DON'T believe (it's a non belief) in gods, because there is no evidence of gods. People should accept atheists until they find some evidence of a god.
I finally had to admit that there was no evidence that any benevolent god was out there.
I had been calling myself an agnostic until I started hanging around religious discussion boards and saw how horribly atheists are treated. For some reason that made me take a stand and start calling myself an atheist.
Well for one, i believe that religions are BS. There basically guidelines on how to live your everyday life. And i believe science that true facts of the start of our world and a further explanation than "religious truths" which is just things that people believe in that happened but did not scientifically happen like not a fact. So i choose atheism over religions because its so hard to believe in something that's not really there. Im 15 so i dint have much experience in life. But i feel religions are also causing negativity and war in our world because of different religions of people believe other people shouldn't be accepted. If i had to pick a religion it would be Christianity because the story is the most believe able of all of them, but its still BS ha ha. And i like how the guidelines lead to creating a world society of peace. watch this it might help you too : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zyc12-neTjM
Atheism is not a belief. Being a atheist means you do not believe that there Isa god or gods, simple. Its the rejection of a claim that there is a god. Usually because no evidence exists for a god being present in the first place.
I've always been agnostic till i came to the realization of going to bed one day and my mom was telling to me say a prayer, that none of them EVER came true, i started realizing what was behind life and how life works, and i guess i started to see reality from a real perspective. i then decided from then on also that i can't see "god", and when I'm in an area of prayer, I'm usually trying not to fall asleep. after all of those things i realized I'm atheist...
I was an atheist at birth until my parents baptized me. Then I was a church kid until probably 12-13 years old when I read the bible for the first time. After actually reading it, I noticed at a young age that it was false. I tried sticking to my faith for a couple years, but then I realized how bad the Christian religion actually is. Since then, I have considered myself agnostic atheist. However, I know for a fact that Christianity is wrong. When people tell me they are a Christian, I immediately feel sad for them because I have been trapped there before. Im just glad I didn't waste my whole life.
In summary, I left Christianity for atheism because I started doing research instead of just assuming the pastors were always right.
You cannot choose what you believe. What you experience and what you learn will determine your worldview, which reinforces how you perceive your experience and knowledge.
I could no more choose overnight to believe in Christianity than a Christian could choose overnight to abandon belief and be an atheist.
As far as what I've experienced, I have not experienced an event for which I do not have a naturalistic explanation. As far as what I've learned, I have learned that where super naturalism gave way to naturalism as a mode of thought, nothing was lost but predictive capacity was gained, understanding of the universe was increased, technology improved, etc.
In short -- I'm an atheist because the sum total of my experience, knowledge, and worldview have caused the conclusion that there is no evidence which I have been presented to support the existence of a deity.
Atheism is not a belief. You are an atheist if you do not believe in god. I didn't chose atheism I simply don't see why anyone should believe in a supernatural deity for which there is no evidence.
Automatic apprehension about atheists? does that really happen? Certainly there is a lot of prejudice and i think one of the most common is that atheists have no morals because they dint' believe that god will send them to hell if they do wrong. This Is wholly incorrect. Most atheists care more about doing the right thing in this life and for the world as they think it is the only one we will ever have. How is it more moral to only do the right thing for fear of punishment?
It wasn't really a choice, but a realization. Years of trying to sustain cognitive dissonance finally failed. It required so many double standards in order to maintain theism.
Atheism isn't a belief. Maybe the word you're looking for is materialist (not the capitalism kind).
Atheists: Why did you chose Atheism?
