Why are you atheist or agnostic?

I never belonged to a church.

And while I can't control all influences in my life, I am 100% in control of how I respond to them. So yes, I am as much in control of my life as a person can reasonably be.

Being a very sudden person, one day I suddenly realised that I didn't believe in God.

There had been a lot of little things leading up to it, though. Like when people told me God was omnipotent, but could not commit a sin. Or when I asked myself, if faith is really a virtue, what is the difference between believing in God on faith, and believing in something 'evil' on the same sort of faith?

Oh, and the whole thing with Abraham and Isaac on the mountain. I've always sort of thought it was horrible that someone was revered for having been ready to murder his beloved son because of some voice in his head.

When I got older, it became increasingly evident that, in my mind, atheism was the most logical belief system.

However, I must classify myself as an Agnostic Atheist, for while I believe that there are no gods, I have no evidence.

I haven't "turned my back on the Church". I just gradually realized it's all make-believe. I actually still go to church quite a bit, because of the community, but I don't take the theology seriously any more because it has nothing to do with how the world works. It's all myth and metaphor to me. In fact, I've come to realize that Christianity tends to make you NOT take the problems in the world seriously. It lulls the well-off into a sense of complacency and the poor into a sense of fatalism, with all comeuppances delayed into the invisible, post-life future. Doesn't that sound like a con? I now take my self less seriously and life and others more seriously. It makes life a lot more meaningful and satisfying.

Well, what really pushed me over the edge was an abortion. (Oddly enough...)

Being a kid, I was told it was wrong my whole life... Then when I was 19 or so my GF and I decided to get married and pop out a kid. Well to save you the long version... She changed her mind.

So, she gets an abortion.

I'm left with years of guilt for taking part (in what at that time I considered a baby murder). Of course that is absurd, men have no rights in these situations, we're at the mercy of the woman. Especially when you're 19, and don't know your way around the world but think you're all grown up!

So after 2 years or so of feeling like crap 24x7, I was doing more and more reading on spirituality, abortion, and religion in general.

By 22 or 23 I decided my 'guilt' was wrongly placed on myself, and all the extra guilt that religion added was not helpful to me, or my health. Religion had not explained anything, had not helped me one bit, and had further hurt me. On top of being just a superstition, it was a hurtful force.

So years later, I've done a lot more research, soul searching, and am now completely comfortable with my position on religion, and what harm it can and does do to children and people.

No one is perfect, everyone makes bad decisions, religion doesn't prevent any of it, it just makes you feel like crap after the fact. It is NOT a positive force, it is NOT a good way to grow or learn, it is old school mysticism with a permanent father who is 'always' let down.

Even if I'm wrong and there is a God. (I highly doubt that one.) I think it is a systemic failure, and the whole setup is garbage.

I could write a book outlining all the problems with it.. But my 'real' soul searching began after a tragedy in my life.

There now the whole interwebs know way too much about me. :D

Both. They are not mutually exclusive, and agnosticism is not a fence between theism and atheism.

Not all atheists were once involved in any church or spirituality. Many were, but not all. And not all who were once religious were Christian. Some were Muslim, some Jewish, etc.

I was Baptist then United Pentecostal. Eventually, after much questioning, much studying, an education, reading the bible (with concordance at hand), etc., I ceased to believe in the god of Christianity and then, later, in any god at all.

I am 49 years old, mother of a teenager (who is also an atheist), and have been a nonbeliever for over a decade. I attend atheist conventions, Humanist meetings, skeptic meetings, etc. I also occasionally attend church services at the local Unitarian Universalist Society. I find it interesting that you, an anonymous stranger on the Internet, feel it is up to YOU to teach me how to look at my own life. A byproduct, quite possibly, of the ego-centrism of religious belief.

~Atheist, ex-fundie-xian, former new ager

This question smells like troll, but I’m not sure, so I’ll answer seriously.

One does not need a reason to NOT believe in something, be that something the Christian deity or Zeus.

What orginally made me confused (when I was a Christian) was the idea of hell. An everlasting punishment doesn’t make sense for a god who is loving, free will or not. There are many Christians who don’t believe in hell (or believe that it lasts a long time, but not a literal eternity.) I was one near the end.

But in my quest for understanding about hell, I eventually came across an increasing number of atheists arguments. These arguments were so convincing (to me) that I couldn’t help but have an ever-increasing doubt about god altogether. This doubt gradually grew to the point where I can’t help but not believe in God anymore now. My reasons for believing where shown to be not good enough (many of them being outright fallacies). My mind was changed by these atheist arguments.

1: Because there are not any gods.

2: It is a totalitarian political system that rules it`s flock with fantasy tales and post death promises. I prefer at least a smidgen of democracy and to live in the real world.

3: This is serious answer and it is not exactly the mark of a Gentleman to issue threats when you are requesting information is it ?

4: I am in as much control of my life as I imagine to possible. Are you ?

Nothing "turned me away". What turned you away from belief in superheroes?

over the course of history, thousands of gods ( http://ln-s.net/3+sZ ) have been dreamed up.

Most people think the only one that's real is the one their parents told them was real. Coincidence?

Nobody has ever provided any evidence that any gods, much less a specific god, exist. People believe in specific gods because of indoctrination from an early age, tradition, apophenia, hallucinations, fear of torture (for gods sadistic enough to threaten it) and other similarly illogical reasons. But no gods exist in reality; these are all stories, created for people who were scared of the world long before we understood it. Now we have no more reason for these superstitions.

And religious belief has caused more misery than any other idea throughout history.

Look at this list:

Tables. Goblins. Ducks. Pixies. Mushrooms. Elves.

Which things on the list are real? Which are not? How do you know?

Now apply that to gods.

noevidence of any god/goddess/creator/higher being

the church turns peopel away fromthe church

why do you presume i have "turned away" from spirituality?

my heart and what i do with it is my buisness, maybe you shoudlnt pre judge before you smart alec yourself

excuse me?

look at my ownlife?

im not theone on here proffessing i have the answers and evyerone who sidagrees and has their own views is wrong and needs to " look at their ownlife"

you know nothing about me

except what you presume you know

to assume what you beleive you know is the truth, is just a very large mistake

I give the same answer for this question every time. I don't need a god. I'm happy without it, so why add the extra stress on my life? If this displeases any deity, they should make themselves known so I can correct my misconduct at once. If not, then I will continue as I am.