A question you see pop up on here is, when did you become an atheist,which to me sounds like when did you join the atheist church. My answer is, I have always believed in science. For others, they might have been "raised atheist", or raised to believe in science (god actually does not have to come up in some circumstances). And for many there is a defining moment, a person or conversation, a causal situation or experience of some sort. From the point that the science in my wee mind told me that Santa was nor real, I was a believer in what is real with science as my guide. So, how about the rest of you--born again atheist, raised atheist, drifted into it?
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31 comments
Feel free to reply to any comment by clicking the "Reply" button.We're all born atheists. I believe that right to my bones.
For me, indoctrination didn't take. I always knew religion was bullshit.
The more I learned, the more I knew all gods were myths.
Unless and until I am presented with credible, verifiable evidence
to the contrary, I have absolutely NO legitimate reason for changing my mind.
I think agnosticism is nonsense. I think belief in gods is even worse, and
religious faith is deliberate mental illness.
KKGator
Level 9
Nov 23, 2019
2
@DavidDuhon For those who say "we are born believing", I respond, "bullshit".
It's just something they like to say as some sort of justification. It justifies nothing. Nothing at all.
I was raised in a Christian household that wasn't too fanatical. More a tradition than anything else. I've always been science based and tried for years in my teens and early 20s to reconcile science and religion (even entertaining Intelligent Design). I went to church, went to youth groups, sang in the church choir, taught Sunday school, etc. But when I was 23, I thought enough was enough. There was no way to reconcile science and religion, so I was out completely. That was it.
graceylou
Level 8
Nov 23, 2019
4
Science has no quarrel with dreaming. Religion is just the ritualization of the collective dream.
i was raised incredibly religious, like in church three times a week, kept out of public school to be taught with bible-based curriculum at home, told the outside world was full of dangerous sinners, the works. i started to drift away when i was in college, the first time i was around people really different from me (or the same, i would learn, once i realized i was trans). my 3-year-old nephew died when i was 20, and i became something of a maltheist for a while. eventually, i realized i hadn’t been by struck by lightning for telling god to fuck himself and finally started to learn about things like why people feel they have such strong spiritual experiences. found some atheists on youtube, learned a lot about indoctrination and the real world, and now i’m an atheist.
basher
Level 5
Nov 23, 2019
3
Like some others here, I was raised steeped in fundamentalist religion. Amazingly, my oldest brother, 3 years older than I, had the sense to declare his atheism to our parents when he was 10, so from then on I got to hear much debate in the house. My budding awareness of my same sex attraction in late elementary school actually threw me more into religion, as I looked for some way to be rescued from an orientation that all of society seemed to despise. That led to ernest personal Bible study in my early and mid-teens. That, in turn, led to me becoming more aware of "problems" with scripture, which helped me reject my church's and parents' teaching of scriptural infallability. I also started to notice more and more hypocrisy and judgment from Christians who were supposed to be "spreading the love of Jesus."
But religion is more than mere opinion about the world and about life. It is very much an identity, and in my religious tradition's case, one steeped in fear, that lovely fire and brimstone tradition.
To escape it, I needed to overcome fear of damnation if I got it wrong. I would say I broke free more or less in three stages.
1: I realized the church is just people, and churches have many hypocrits and mistaken people. It is NOT the mouthpiece of God it claims to be.
2: starting with my teen Bible study on my own, but getting a huge boost when I spent an exchange year in Germany, I learned much about the origins and construction of the Bible and that it is full of falsehoods, contradictions, and some plain awful misguided morality lessons. Clearly semi-literate sheep herder society drivel. NOT divinely revealed wisdom of some almighty creator.
3: Final stage of escape for me was around age 20, as I figured out the conceptions I had of God were based on teachings of a church that I could not respect and a scripture that was obviously flawed human guesswork at best and twisted effort at social control at worst. It started to make sense that IF any god existed as a conscious entity, it clearly could not be anything like the Abrahamic model, because the paradigm is an oxymoron that disproves itself. "God" cannot simultaneously be all powerful, all knowing, and all loving while also condemning billions of "his" created beings to suffer eternal torment for merely being the flawed, error-prone beings we were made to be. Once I realized the absudity of cosmic punishment for sincere doubt, I had the permission I needed to let go of any belief in God or gods. No looking over my shoulder.
I think many people need permission to doubt in order to ever achieve disbelief. That also means, btw, permission to be wrong about some things without being condemned. The beauty of science is that it is NOT about having all the answers, but about seeking them logically, factually.
MikeInBatonRouge
Level 8
Nov 23, 2019
1
At age 13, I became an atheist when I realized the Bible is just a book of stories or fables written by men.
Michigan had a hard winter that year. My little brother, 10, and I read the World Book Encyclopedias together. I was inspired by rational philosophers Descartes and Spinoza, who were bravely anti-theist (anti-God), anti-church and anti-clergy in the 1600s when heretics were burned at the stake.
Their writings inspired the Enlightenment, a European intellectual movement of the 17th and 18th centuries that emphasized the use of reason and science to advance understanding of the universe and to improve the human condition. The goals of the Enlightenment were knowledge, freedom, and happiness.
LiterateHiker
Level 9
Nov 23, 2019
2
Was not raised in active religion at all. My grandmother even discouraged me from joining the scouts, because she said it was a front for Christian teaching. But as a child I always had respect for Christians and other religions, believing them to be better people.
Because I did not really know any, so I believed the myth about them. It was only in my later school years and higher education, that I really encountered Christians for the first time. And discovered that the truth was quite the opposite to the myth, and how truly evil some of them were , and how weak and how happy with double values most of the others were. I never really got over the shock of that, plus the discovery that many were anti-science and the values that go with that, which by then I had grown to love, and had thought in a childish way that everyone did.
Fernapple
Level 9
Nov 23, 2019
3
Your grandmother sounds like someone I'd have been interested to have conversations with.
Like many folks posted here, indoctrination as a child to xtian dogma (very mild, mind you) led to some research on my part of other religions. Mostly because I came away from each one with too much disbelief, and when you start noticing the plagiarism and appropriation from A to B to X, it becomes pretty clear none of them know what they're talking about.
Decided to just consider myself agnostic for awhile, but eventually that just felt like a copout position for me because I still couldn't drink the Kool-Aid that there "might" be a diety-style entity out there.
Then one day, I read a quip that said something along the lines of, "An agnostic is just an atheist without any courage of conviction." It struck a note for me, because I'd read enough to be convinced there are no gods and never have been/never will be, and I thought maybe I was using "agnostic"to just make it more palatable for those around me.
At that point, I just started saying yes, I'm an athiest. No lace, no frills, no gods.
LisaFultonave
Level 6
Nov 23, 2019
2
@DavidDuhon Well, in fairness to the Agnostics out there, for a small length of time I really did question if there might just be "something" out there. But for me it was only about a 6-month stepping stone. I can understand that people don't all reach determination at the same pace or to the same degree.
That's ok, but for me personally I recognized pretty quickly that I wasn't being totally honest about what I really thought vs what I was telling others, just to get along. So I started being truer to myself with others, and I don't think it's caused too very much strife.
I just don't make a big deal out of it in the family, particularly with some of the older folks. They know, I just don't let anyone focus on it. I know I'm not going to convince them otherwise, and I see it as a situation of reciprocal respect; don't try to sell me your woo, and I won't lecture you about your gullibility (and in some cases serious hypocrisy!). 
I've always thought that agnostics are just pussies who can't commit.
Granted, it's not the "nicest" way to put it, but it's still the truth.
You've hit on something, but it aint all pretty.
Clearly "agnostic" sounds less militant, less in your face than "atheist." But though it may amount to "pussy" waffling for some, it absolutely does not for the thoughtful. Further, the atheist and agnostic labels are about related but slightly different questions. So it does not help to be ignorantly insulting to those (like Neil DeGrasse Tyson, btw) who choose the agnostic label. By my chosen definitions, Atheist means simply one who does not believe in god(s) in any supernatural sense. Agnostic means a conscious agnowledgment that one does not come close to fully understanding what forces run the cosmos. I use both labels for myself, because both apply. I also find it more respectful when talking to someone sorting through their own religious indoctrination issues not to even use one of these labels unless directly asked, because people bring their own preconceived definitions, and it can close off dialogue, resulting in people otherwise ready to question the problems with their religious instilled paradigm to instead actually pull back in a bit of a defensive posture if they sense you are aggressively pushing your view.
"Atheist" is obviously a maligned identity that deserves much more respect, and I am one who uses it whenever I sense another person may be receptive and respectful about it. But bashing the "agnostic" label is not a valid way to advocate for greater acceptance for atheism.
Look up "agnostic atheist" on wikipedia. It's a thing.
Group hug time? 
@MikeInBatonRouge I understand what you're saying. I'm just not interested in advocating for "greater acceptance", or what anyone else cares to label stuff as.
I know what most terms mean to me.
I can't really do much about what other people think.
In my experience, caring about what others think is more trouble than it's usually worth. I'd rather just be left the fuck alone to live my life as I see fit.
As long as I'm not harming anyone, that shouldn't cause anyone a problem.
If it does, they're free to come chat with me about it.
@MikeInBatonRouge My point exactly. Agnostic didn't work for me, but not everyone has the same opinion. I don't like to malign anyone who is at least asking the questions and making the effort to comprehend what they understand and what they dont. It's more than the blindly faithful EVER bother with.
@MikeInBatonRouge To me, and to try to put it as simply as possible without causing someone to get his/her knickers in a twist, an Agnostic seem to akin to a Gambler at a Horse Race who has been given a 'hot tip' on a winner BUT still wagers a bet on EVERY horse in that race just in case he may be wrong with the first bet, i.e. a 100% 'fence-sitter' in my opinion.
@Triphid okay, that's to you. I, as someone who identifies both as an atheist and agnostic, depending on context of a conversation, cannot imagine why anyone should get his/her/their panties in a twist over statements that are intentionally denigrating to them. Just can't imagine.
@MikeInBatonRouge Well, what I typed was not intentionally denigrating in any way, after all I was only expressing my opinion.
@Triphid I would say the same.
I was born an atheist, then indoctrinated for years to believe the ridiculous lie. Many years later I finally came to the conclusion that all my elders and most of my friends were wrong.
OldWiseAss
Level 7
Nov 23, 2019
2
@DavidDuhon - Not traumatic, just aggravating and frustrating. As a young child, I took it seriously. Friends and relatives telling me that other friends and relatives were going to burn in hell. I spent years trying to find the "true religion" before I found the courage to admit that all my trusted authority figures were deceiving themselves. At that time, none of my friends were atheists. It seems like it was a long time before I found like-minded friends.
Once I learned what it was, I knew it was me. (Maybe the way gay people realize they are gay?) If someone asks me when I became an atheist, I'll tell them it was when I realized that religions are facades for money-making schemes. That shuts most of them up.
LeftCoastgal
Level 4
Nov 24, 2019
1
I don’t consider myself to be atheist, or theist, or agnostic, because I don’t see the sense in taking up an identity based on something I don’t participate in... like calling myself an abowlist, because I’ve never been bowling.
I stopped believing in religious literalism at the age of 14, and am currently a practicing Consonite Monk.
skado
Level 9
Nov 23, 2019
1
Atheist Church? "Believe in Science"? Both of those sound inane.
TristanNuvo
Level 8
Nov 23, 2019
2
My "conversion" to atheism was gradual. I was born and raised a Moron (Mormon). In my late 20's I studied the prophecies of Joseph Smith, the founder of Moronism, and discovered that he was a false prophet. I left Moronism, but investigated other Christian religions. Then, in my early 30's I studied the Biblical prophets and discovered that they, too, were false prophets. Then I became an atheist, free from all the mythology that the scam artists of religion wanted me to believe in. I regret all the money I had donated to churches, and all the bad influence I exercised in persuading others that religion was true. But I am free from that now, and I am persuading others, including my own sister, that religion is a hoax -- a scam based on mythology. I am happier now than ever before. Hooray for reality!
BestWithoutGods
Level 8
Nov 23, 2019
1
@DavidDuhon ALL religions ARE cults. Some have just been around longer and become more mainstream. They're STILL cults.
After I left christianity from being reared in church, I discovered atheism. As I was growing up most every one not going to church regularly was just refered to as sinners or people who had "back sliden" into their old worldly ways. Where as, it seemed that everyone knew about God thingies, just that some people would get caught up in all them bad things, killing people, molestation of children, eating their booggers, and you know, all them things that make normal people sick.
I was shocked, almost couldn't believe, atheist really exist. I have never in my life before met such an illogical group of people as I have experienced more and more illogical atheist in the past couple years. I don't see an atheist as anything specifically different that most any average person. I observe well enough that atheist are most only illogical in their atheism, as atheism is illogical. When not actively being atheist, they can seem to have rather logical lives and basic knowledge capabilities, some like evils and wickedness in ways others may not.
I do what I can to teach illogical atheist but to teach such people I have found that not everyone is endowed with highly intellectual capabilities. To understand God thingies it would require a lot of understanding and intelligence that atheist lack having in the God thingie department.
Word
Level 8
Nov 24, 2019
0
My upbringing was only slightly religious, but I've always had a keen interest in science. I knew that, for me, Hinduism just didn't make any logical sense, but its a label that I used when asked, as I was indifferent to whether there was a God or not. At best, I believed that there was some kind of action that created the universe, but the cause of that is not known. Agnosticism, if you will.
As I grew up, and I seen all the injustices happening around the world in the name of religion, I knew that a scientific and humanistic way of life must be pursued. This was most prominently crystalised when watching YouTube videos from a range of presenters, most notably Darkmatter2525, Thunderf00t, CosmicSkeptic, and NonStampCollector. It was a community and way of life that I solidly identified with.
As I read more scientific literature, particularly from Stephen Hawking and how the universe can indeed spontaneously appear, and the scientific argument for this, I then went from being an agnostic to an atheist.
Vpatel
Level 5
Nov 24, 2019
0
Darkmatters has some of the most funny thought provoking content I've seen online. Jeffrey for the win! 
I was raised very religiously and I started becoming agnostic at University science biology sociology seeing the world for what it is. Then it was tragedy and death God really can't do nothing to save anyone.
PinkyandtheBrain
Level 7
Nov 24, 2019
0
@DavidDuhon Yeah this community is amazing. I have also known a friend of mine that was atheist he was stationed in Iraq when his group was ambushed in a deadly assault. He was surrounded by body bags of good friends that he was just hours ago having a good time with. For the 1st time he honestly prayed with the surviving group.
I am an Ignostic
I was raised a believer
AS a believer I thought understanding God of the utmost import.
SO I studied that.
Which is why I am today an Igtheist/Ignostic
Ignosticism is an Epistomologic position; it is a set of ideas refuting the importance of determining the existence of God. It claims that knowledge regarding the reality of God is altogether unprofitable.
It is the idea that every theological position assumes too much about the concept of God and other theological concepts; including (but not limited to) concepts of faith, spirituality, heaven, hell, afterlife, damnation, salvation, sin and the soul.
IF you cannot even define what you are talking about, or consider it beyond human understanding, how is it you can claim to know anything about it and keep your intellectual integrity intact?
Ignosticism or igtheism is the idea that the question of the existence of God is meaningless because the term god has no coherent and unambiguous definition.
Davesnothere
Level 7
Nov 24, 2019
0
Word:
I can understand your confusion with so many different definations of the word God. That just the thing most people don't understand is that the word "God" is the "almighty " word as compared to most other words that have regular or set definitions.
God defined as a word of open definition and usage, in that any person could give any usage or define it in any way, whether logical, provable, real, surreal or not. Ignosticism or igtheism is illogical or not understanding of the word God and its usages.
There are some things labeled by this word that have more popularity than others. There are groups of people that give a certain definition to this word that the agree on and follow for that group. There are those that would say there is nothing in existence that this word would properly label.
There are those that do not have evidence for a reason to label anything with this word. There are those that could never know what to label with this word.
A very uncommon word for how it is used comes from Germanic origin of meaning to call or invoke and now in fact exist as a word in English spelt with the letters G, O, and D.
@blahblah You said "God defined as a word of open definition and usage" is not defined, rather it is an open mystery filled with whatever an individual calls "God", which varies person to person.
IF you cannot even define what you are talking about, or consider it beyond human understanding, how is it you can claim to know anything about it and keep your intellectual integrity intact?
What I say is "Since you cannot show me any God, since you (the believer) in the end claim God is a mystery beyond humans comprehension, you are arguing from ignorance about a mystery you admit you do not understand."
What is the point in such discourse? To argue the numbers of angels that can sit on the head of a pin? What possible objective does the conversation hold potenial for other than mental masturbation?
@blahblahYou said "Ignosticism or igtheism is illogical or not understanding of the word God and its usages"
That is not the case, I am very familiar with a great many peoples useages of the term. It is that the term is so fluid, so ambiguous, that it does not really tell you anything, it varies person to person. It is a label on a question mark.
Word:
@Davesnothere define, means state or describe exactly the nature, scope, or meaning of.
By saying, stating or describing that this word "God" has an exact nature of being openly defined by any scope or meaning of, is defining the word.
Word:
@Davesnothere you yourself have defined this word "God" as "rather it is an open mystery filled with whatever an individual calls "God", which varies person to person."
Word:
@Davesnothere you keep stating basic definition for the word "God" such as you define it as "It is that the term is so fluid, so ambiguous, that it does not really tell you anything, it varies person to person. " Then you say the word does not have a definition, after you just defined the word. Sounds rather illogical to me to define a word then say it has no definition? But "Your" defination is that it has no definition.
Word:
@Davesnothere Yes it is true, I really do exist. No, "God" is not my name, but I have eaten a taco.
@blahblah An open definition is a definition without limits or constraints, an open ended notion. That is the definition of a non definition.
I have not defined God, but rather stated that the definition of God varies from individual to individual and almost always boils down to "I DON"T KNOW", its a mystery.
That is not a definition, it is you attempting to make the lack of any definition the definition.
IF you tell me what God is, there will certainly be another person who thinks differntly. Neither of you can prove your point, and both insist your correct. In many cases both cannot be correct.
So your "Open" definition equals undefined.
@blahblah Perhaps I should add "No precise definition", rather we have a very large collecton of ideas about God(s) which conflict and none of which has evidence. Anytime a person says "God" I either have to go through a long process with them about what they mean by that term,
OR
I can assume it is some common idea, which is not really common at all, but diverse.
When you say God, unless I know you personally, I don't really know what you are talking about.
Instead I have to make a bunch of assumptions, as long as those are close to the loose idea someone holds, no one notices, the moment the ideas clash, so too do the people.
Do you have some valid reason to discuss something about which you admit you do not know and cannot understand?
Word:
@Davesnothere Do you have some valid reason to discuss something about which you admit you do not know and cannot understand?
I never admited I know nothing about God thingies, and it appears you do not understand. I am not here to shove tacos down your throat for you to be a taco God. If you do not like the label, don't use it.
Word:
@Davesnothere I look back and see I had not explained to you the God thingie I had created.
I created Taco God. Taco God is real. Taco God is a person. Any person that has eaten a taco is a Taco God. Tacos are real, people are real and people really eat tacos.
Taco God is not evidence for ANY OTHER GOD but it is in fact A God. And it only takes one God to give evidence that atheism is illogical by defination. Because atheism by defination says: no gods exist. Taco God is proven to exist.
Taco God is backed by peer reviewed text that has been peer reviewed for 1000s of years and the text is the most copied world record holding text of its kind. Taco God is real and really exist.
3 different references that people are Gods. With out disputing truth or fiction of Jesus character, it is written that Jesus style God argued that people are Gods.
Isaiah 41:23 Shew the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that ye are gods: yea, do good, or do evil, that we may be dismayed, and behold it together.
Psalms 82:6 I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High.
John 10:34 Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods?
Atheism, igyism, whateverism Illogical.
@blahblah First about Taco God.
Is that a real Taco or an American one? Ever been to Mexico? They are not the same.
Then there are flavors and types of Tacos to contend with.
Second, ripping quotes from the Bible and then stringing them together does not prove the claim, or Jesus. The people who wrote the NT were fully aware of the OT, so it is easy to write "propheticly in the past tense, hindsight is 20-20
HERE is my response to your claims of God.
The Flying Car Analogy
A person comes up to you telling you the wonders of their new flying car (Jesus Or any other religious claim). They tell you it is very fast, very durable and completely safe. It is so safe the company pays your insurance for you.
They produce a brochure (Bible or holy text) full of accolades about the car, which they know so very well. They tell you of their friends who now have flying cars, and how much happier they are for buying them.
I ask for a test drive, but am told no flying cars are available to test drive now. I have to instead make payments (tithing) until I die and after my own demise I shall receive my very own flying car.
I reply “No thank you” as such a contract makes no sense.
I am then told if I fail to enter into the contract the maker of the car (God) will be so angry he will dump me into a volcano if I refuse to enter into the contract.
I see no evidence of the car’s maker (God) or the car (Jesus).
With no evidence to support the reality of the car (Jesus), or maker (God) why should I not think is a confidence scam?
Word:
@Davesnothere First, it is a taco, if you are concerned about some semantics of taco styles, I could care less and I have been to Mexico myself. My son, a typical illogical atheist, after hearing of my creation of Taco God suggested he could make a pizza God. I don't know if he officially did or not. You don't like Tacos, do not eat tacos, if you don't like the title because of eating at least 1 taco, don't carry the title.
As to christianity, I no longer consider myself Christian. I have had too much supernatural experience to be an illogical atheist. I am not here to prothelize christianity. Because of my supernatural experiences and had belief in Jesus to end such as the Masonic lodge secret religion racist devil worshippers, I come to the realization that biblical text would point to Jesus Character as being lord of angelic host Lucifer the devil leading the Masonic lodge secret religion racist devil worshippers WITHOUT debate over true or fiction of Jesus character but just by understanding original language and meanings of the Jewish writtings and understanding how to see history as compared to what is written it can be understood.
Yes, I keep some sanity by creating a taco God, which does help explain biblical text that says Jesus character is man made. Most people do not understand that either. About 81 times if I remember correctly, it is written that Jesus character refers to himself as "son of man ".
So for now
@blahblah "First, it is a taco, if you are concerned about some semantics of taco styles"
Not all tacos are created equal, so when you say Taco I could be picturing a Taco Bell Taco, or Moms Taco, with different ingrediants.
So defining God into existence via Taco does not clear up the issue and is a definition fallacy. If I define God as my Truck, I can prove it is there, I cannot show it is a deity.
Neither can you.
"I have had too much supernatural experience to be an illogical atheist."
I have difficulty with that term, "Supernatural", as in beyond Nature. A supernova is entirely natural so is a black hole which eats galaxies. So whatever experience you might have had would be unexplained until and unless you can show it to EXCEED nature.
I see you as a Troll at this juncture, not interested in actual discourse but in re-inforcing your own held beliefs, which sound like something a mental illness patient might drone on about.
Conspiracies are us eh?
Word:
@Davesnothere Again with tacos, I could care less. It isn't about defining God into existence and by modern standards real people ate already recogn6as deity with out tacos involved.
As to what my personal experiences. not going into all details but have had precognative dreams seeing future events that did come about. I could care less if you accept or not, but you seem to want to know what I would say as to my supernatural experiences.
As to seeing me as a troll, I state I understand how to expose christianity and Masonic lodge secret religion racist devil worship and by this understanding bring them to an end, and you call me a troll? Ard you illogical that bad, or did I miss something that you are actually a Christian supporter?
@blahblah "Real people" held that the world was flat, that smoking was good for you. People claim to recognize deity without ever having one to present, like reading a brochure about a Lamborghini and imagining you own one.
Not the same as actually owning one.
You said "have had precognative dreams seeing future events that did come about."
There is a very common brain issue which presents that way, we recall the positives and forget the negatives, it is an evolved trait, so you recall a dream which seems prophetic to you. You forget the millions of dreams which were not.
Nor is it out of the realm for your subconcious to realize that all the data leads to X, and give you a dream about X, which we feeble humans then see as prophetic.
FURTHER, let me assume it WAS truly prophetic. That you saw through time in your dream, to future events.
That would be an UNNOWN anomaly, something we do not yet understand. Not an evidence of something beyond nature, but evidence of something about nature we do not understand.
Here, you might enjoiy this for a laugh and better uderstanding of my position>
Word:
@Davesnothere got most of video, but it has me recalling the man I met in person from the dream where I had previously seen him, along with other dreams that had specific details HOWEVER the dreams were not as if a movie was recorded. I mean, when dreams come to pass it wasn't like the exact movie just rewind and played again. However, there was specifically details connecting these dreams and the events that played out.
Anyways, this man only gave for himself 4 titles when I ask his name. Son of Lucifer, grim reaper, nameless-faceless one, alpha and omega. Then tried telling me I was a medium, as in a spiritual medium. That's when I left christianity basically.
@blahblah All those terms are right out of Christianity.
"Son of Lucifer, grim reaper, nameless-faceless one, alpha and omega"
You said " However, there was specifically details connecting these dreams and the events that played out."
That maybe so, or it may appear so to you, but we still have the cognitive bais we all have of recalling the hits (these three instances or so) and forgetting all the nights where nothing at all of merit was dreamt.
Further all those terms come out of the religion you began to examine, so I find it utterly normative your mind would use them in dream.
Let me assume all your facts are valid, that you dreamt the future. It is entirely possible your mind dreamt of possibilities you were unconciously aware of, and then you interpret that as prophetic. If I dream my truck gets a flat, and it does, but I also know I needed new tires or the road was hazardous, it becomes a lot less "prophetic" and becomes a normal threat your unconcious was aware of but you had not considered conciously.
"One night Lao Tzu slept and dreamed he was a butterfly.
Upon waking he could never discern if he was Lao Tzu who
dreamed a butterfly, or a butterfly dreaming lao Tzu?"
I often tend to find it wryly humorous and laugh quietly inwardly when asked "When did you become an Atheist?."
To me it is kind of similar to asking someone " When did you become a Human Being," because,
A) we are all born human beings,
B) we are all born with absolutely no knowledge or understanding of god/s or religions, as babies all we understand is that we need nutrition, love, warmth, protection and comforting from at least one of our parents.
I tend to think that we don't become Atheists or Theists, we either choose to evolve mentally enough to reject/discard the 'grasping at straws' of religions in favor of being Logical, Reasoning and Thinking Human beings as Atheists rather than merely being the Sheeple of the the Flock of religions.
Triphid
Level 9
Nov 23, 2019
0
That seems to me to be conflating Implicit atheism with explicit atheism
@Davesnothere And, if one may ask, what is conflating about my opinion?
Do we not, well some of us, actually choose to allow our minds to 'evolve' sufficiently enough so as to reject/discard the religious needs and traps in favour of logical thinking and reasoning?
To some it may be a conscious act/effort perhaps but to others, like myself for example, it came as a result of questioning, doubting, wanting to know the facts and not merely taking the answers to my questions as an 8 year old in Sunday Schools, etc, as being 'gospel' simply because a Priest/Minister said so and read them from 1 single book.
Most Atheists I know are very implicit about their Atheist stance in this world and are explicit when asked to explain why they are Atheists, hence, in my opinion, that little 'pie chart' meme is somewhat meaninglessly over-rated and biased as well.
@Triphid The unindoctrinated are implicit Atheists, babies and those fortunate not to be raised in religion.
To use reason and consider the issue would move one from implicit to explicit.
Many people never do this and remain Implicit Atheists and Apathests.
An Implicit Atheist would be any non believer who did not label themselves as Atheist, but anyone who does has expressed their Atheism.
Sorry if I ruffled your feathers, not my intent.
@Davesnothere Since I'm not of the feathered variety it's pretty darned hard to ruffle what I haven't got, wouldn't you agree?
Your take on Implicit and explicit Atheism/Atheists is your idea/conception/understanding of it then and that is your right to hold such, but try never to let your mind settle on something that, at the time, appears to fit neatly into the little box ( and I'm definitely NOT being dismissive, denigrating, disparaging, etc, here btw) of your present thought processes, it can and will limit you no need.
I loved the cutesy version of the bible stories that was "taught" to us in State School in Religious Education Class but it never dawned on me that they expected us to believe them. This is from a kid who used to look up in the sky to see if I could see Superman flying around . Anyway, when I realised the power of the church I knew it was crap and as soon as I heard of the term Atheist I was sold. I Never believed in religion and always recognised the danger of blind faith.
afrogonalog
Level 5
Nov 23, 2019
1
Science had nothing directly to do with my realizing there were no gods. High school science was taught in such a way that I had no interest in it, although outside reading excited me and thus learning about DNA was fascinating, but I did not connect that with believing or not believing in a deity. It just, upon examination action by my 15-year-old self, didn't make any sense for any gods to exist. I wasn't raised religiously and the realization wasn't traumatic. It didn't have an affect on my life for there to be no gods. I was too busy being called "dirty jew" and otherwise shunned at school.
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genessa
Level 8
Nov 23, 2019
1
My family was varying degrees of religious. My siblings more so than my parents. I grew up in the protestant church. Got my religious merit badges in Boy Scouts. But something never totally set right with the whole religious thing.
Then at the end of my second semester of college my freshman year, I took an intro to Philosophy class. That was all it took. The opportunity to see other perspectives, unfettered ability to ask questions and seek knowledge made me see the falsity of the doctrines and religions in general.
My love had always been with the sciences and history. I have been a scientist, educator, and atheist for 45 years. No turning back now. Lol
t1nick
Level 8
Nov 23, 2019
1
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