ANSWERS: 31
  • People are branded as Atheists when they question certain beliefs. When Buddha questioned certain beliefs and practices of Vedic Religion (of Hindus), he was branded as "Nastika" meaning "heterodox" or "non-orthodox". The same word is used for Atheism in Sanskrit. There is a saying in India, loosely translated it means" when a theist ripens he becomes Atheist. Among the Vedic (Hindu) philosophies "Samkya", Jainism and Buddhism are considered Nastika philosophies.
  • No, i was a catholic while growing up, i stopped to believe in God when i was 12 or so, i guess religion was never logical to me. i have some other personal reasons not to believe too but i think this is not the place to discuss them.
  • just never had a belief in god-went through several fosters homes growing up of many different beliefs-didnt see where any of it was real or made a difference---good question-smile and enjoy the night
  • I started as a catholic, got insulted, went to lutheranism, and started to open my mind up to the fact that wow, all of this is really crappy
  • God was never a part of my life. My parents chose not to get me baptized even though they both are. as I became 14, they let me choose whether or not if I would like to get my confirmation and become baptized. I simply chose not to.
  • My parents weren't religious at all. It's funny because my mom still says things, "Like wouldn't it be cool if it were true?" in a wistful sounding voice, referring to the bible of course. I think I inherited her attitude somewhat. I wish I could believe. I'd love to think that there'd be a heaven, because it really helps to soothe those sour grapes. Just to know that maybe you don't get your fair shake now, but by loving your fellow man things would turn out alright. I just never believed. I enjoyed a brief stint in church as a teenager, but that's just because i wanted boundaries my parents wouldn't set; e.g "curtail sex before marriage" and "don't get in a strange boy's car".
  • I wasn't really religious before I was an atheist. Through research, common sense, and my own "beliefs", I just knew a deity couldn't exist. Religions are pointless and hurtful.
  • I did believe until I was about 6/7 (as much as anyone that young can truly believe) when I started to learn about other religions and after that nope.
  • Everyone is born an atheist and I always was and always will be. All religion is man made organized superstition and has no place in reality.
  • My mum never really understood it, and felt victimised by some church seniors, so actually brought me up almost 'fearing' religion. I was curious enough to find out more when I was in my 20s, but remain an atheist.
  • No... I'm recovering from being indoctrinated into Christianity as a child. I realized that gods didn't exist when I was a thirteen- or fourteen-year old. Theism just seemed small and backwards to me. The Bible is full of contradictions and an overwhelming amount of nonsense that Christians turn a blind eye towards; I do not. Society is primitive and I am forced to witness its antics that are done in the name of one stupid god or another -- I'm just over it.
  • Until I was about 14/15, I went to church when I was told to, and told people I was Christian and believed in God because parents and teachers told me to. At hat age, I suddenly asked myself if I did, in fact, believe in it - and found I did not believe in the slightest. Then I was an agnostic for about thirty years before deciding that, until I find evidence to the contrary, atheism was closest to my position.
  • I think more i have learned about religions, and more i became an Atheist. Not that i do not believe in a god, but if he does exist, not any religion is enough good for him and his messages.
  • I was never a believer.
  • I never really believed, but my parents still forced me to go to church until I was about 12 or so. To me, Sunday school was pretty much a book discussion.
  • was catholic, then lutheran, then atheist
  • I started out a very devout Christian, and when that didn't fly I looked into a lot of other religions as well before finally just accepting that I wasn't going to find anything that really worked for me.
  • Was a very devoute and headstrong Catholic before,even wnated to grow up to be a preist at one point.But i did a bit of research of my own when I became aware that i was just believeing because I was told to and found it to be quite ludicrious and fully became an atheist a few months ago.
  • I was born an atheist and will die an atheist because I have found nothing that sparks even a glimmer of a belief in a god.
  • Well, I was born with no belief in a god whatsoever - and learned the christian one from my folks. I was a faithful, 'born again' christian from 15 to around 32 or 33 years old. I series of large crises in my life started me asking some different questions - and after 3 years or so of questioning, observing, speaking and reading I concluded the gods (like hundreds of thousands) that populate human culture are man-made - not the other way 'round...
  • I disregarded my belief in God at age 23. I'd say I was pretty ignorant in the ways of the world before that. What sparked the change was watching the 11th hour. It opened up a whole world I never knew about. I asked questions, I seeked answers, i went to school, i read books, i marvelled at life and everything it supports, without the cloud of "A superstitious, omnipresent being made all this in a couple days and will send you to hell if you don't believe it". I am now full out, proud as hell atheist.
  • We're ALL born as atheists until some of us get the brainwashing treatment. Some realize the difference between tinker bell fairy tales and reality, but unfortuneately many do not and keep grasping for straws hoping the tooth fairy is real after all. Here comes Peter Cotton Tail... hoppin down the bunny trail..hippity hoppity Easter's on it's wayyyyyy....or was that Santa? No wait..it's Uncle Sam on the 4th of July or maybe it's the friendly pilgrim with his big fat dead turkey looking for the friendly injuns.. Oh hell.. Who knows? Who cares? It finally sunk in my noggin about 30 yrs ago what a load of hogwash it really is..
  • I was born into a family where my mother was a fairly devout southern baptist and my father, well, I never have figured out what he believes. We attended a baptist church (at least my mother, brother and I did) until I was around 8 or 9 and then switched to a methodist church. I never quite understood the reason for changing but I do know it was something to do with church politics and the fact that my mother's friends attended the new church. I was involved in the youth group and the soccer league. I had friends in the church. I do recall that I always asked the difficult questions in sunday school like" where did Mrs. Cain come from?" and "Why did god punish Adam and Eve for learning what's good and bad?" I can remember the exact moment that my doubt solidified in my mind. I was on a youth retreat and we had done all the fun activities and events that you do at any camp. The time came for the bonfire and it was meant to be a confession of faith and individual belief. I had no idea what to expect but the older kids had been there before and they got up and told real personal stories about "sins" they committed and their "blessings" or reasons for belief. People were crying and hugging and even though it was voluntary I realized when my time came because I was one of the last and people were giving expectant looks. I got up and thought about my reasons for belief... and when I started talking I realized that every word I was saying, every reason I was giving was not because I believed it, but because I wanted to be accepted. The next few years I studied religions and philosophies, reread the bible, read the tao te ching, read about the history of religions back to ancient Egypt and beyond. Meanwhile I took Physics and Astronomy and came to realize the vastness of the universe. I came down to asking myself two questions. The first: With all the gods that humanity has and does worship, which one if any is real? That lead me to the second: Based on the total lack of evidence for the existence of a god, does it make anything better or matter at all if we worship it? I finally came to the conclusion that it was much more likely that people created gods to fill their own needs, and that even if some sort of god existed it did not seem to interfere on any meaningful individual level in the lives of us as one single species on a small planet in a single galaxy in the universe. I started out as a bitter atheist, that much is true. I studied and found out that there is no reason to be bitter. I learned that religion and morality are not synonymous and that the greatest evil of all is denying the truth, despite all evidence, and in favor of ideas that amount to fear and wanting to belong to a group. Now I simply try to make people think. I prefer to see people doing something about their problems rather than praying about them. I hate to think people are living this life as a pretext for an imaginary afterlife. I want to teach people that by caring for their fellow human beings they build relationships that make their lives and society better. I believe that immortality is only earned by ensuring that our children, friends and everyone we touch in our short lives remembers us and has a world worth living in.
  • Disregard my belief in god later in life? ROFL! Y'all believers are on a roll, must be a full moon
  • I've always been Atheist. My somewhat absent dad was Atheist & my mum Anglican, but as far as I can remember she never even mentioned religion in the home.
  • I was once a bible thumper too. But you know, after a while, somethings just didn't add up.
  • Like others have mentioned, we are all born atheists. After that, I was indoctrinated by a radical Christian sect. In my mid-20s, I began to point my rational mind toward the existence of god. I am once again an atheist. I wouldn't say that I have disregarded my belief, but that I stopped believing.
  • My parents are both Catholic, so I was Catholic for a while. I was actually very religious when I was kid, but I stopped caring so much when I became a teenager and learned about masturbating. Last year, I decided to officially declare myself an atheist, because I pretty much was one already, and I thought it would be less confusing for people if I didn't, in the same breath say that I'm a Catholic and then talk about how much I hate God.
  • I was a devout believer until 13; then lazily agnostic till about three years ago; I've totally disregarded the notion of a god after Hurricane Katrina decimated the Gulf Coast. Why? because I accepted reality.
  • I was theist until i was around 13-14. Thats when i actually started to bring up some quiestions. especially from genesis. If god created light and darknes before the sun how was there light if the sun provides us with it? What about the dinosaurs? If god is so loving why is the old testamen full of suffering? If god is agains killing why does he order to bash babies heads against rocks? Then i started watching more science documantaries. Especially Astronomy docs. Then i sudenly relised that how could there even be a god. This world i so fucked that there couldn't be one.
  • I was raised Christian but I became a born again Atheist at the age of 21, once I could think for myself.

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