How do people come to the decision to be Atheist?

seeing sense helps

Well, some of the older folks grew up in atheist households too. There just are some parents who feel that faith is too big a deal to just throw on their kids. It meant so much more to me to have my parents let me decide my own path in life. They would never have wanted me to spin a wheel and pick something; they encouraged much research before taking any steps. I didn't decide to become an atheist; I was born this way and didn't change my mind.

But I find deep irony in the implication that one cannot be a non-believer without doing research, when almost every other person we would ever encounter would say that this is exactly what makes up the non-believer.

I know you're not trying to criticize, but even in this question there is a negative cast to families who don't go to church. We aren't like you; that's just the way it is, not good or bad. See, even when we're being polite to each other, it's very difficult not to let the negativity bleed through.

Personally, I became an atheist (leaving Christianity) around the age of 36, having investigated the bible and the history of Christianity (and later other theistic positions) more rigorously and critically than when I became a believer.

There may well be some "young naive atheists" along with the young naive theists: I can't answer for those.

But concerning some other things that you wrote:

"I think we all have the right to believe what we want "

Including sacrificing one's first born child to Moloch, or only freedom of religion for "respectable" religions? (in which case who gets to draw the line?)

" till I found a church I could call home.."

But the danger here is presuming that your assessment of good theology etc. is in fact correct: what if you actually need a more challenging pastor/church to lick you into shape?

Even if it was less comfortable, or socially welcoming?

The risk is the 2Tim 4:3 problem.

".I grew up with a basic knowledge of God and then made my decisions based on that knowledge."

But was that good or reliable knowledge?

I grew up with a lot of stories and information: much of it proved to be biased or completely wrong. Not just on religion: history, culture, values...

When I was a lad it was just picked up as "obvious" that in any fight between the cavalry and the indians (sic) the cavalry were the good guys.

Epistemology is tricky and most people don't really do it.

All demographics show that *most* people, despite numerous exceptions, follow the beliefs of their local culture and/or family.

If there seem to be more atheists around today, that's probably because it has never been so obvious that religion is fake.

".I think we all have the right to believe what we want" -- but *not* if what you believe is demonstrably not true. And you certainly *don't* have the right to act on that belief to the detriment of other people. I have the right to believe urine is inflammable -- do you want a hand lighting that fire now it's minus five and you're down to your last match?

"and we should all be free from persecution, esp at the hands of some of the answerers on this forum" -- Please learn the definition of "persecution". It does not include "being reminded that you are merely part of a majority and not everybody agrees with you".

"There is no need to mock someone else beliefs.(On either side of the religious fence)" -- On the contrary. Riduculous ideas absolutely deserve to be riduculed.

"I think we all have the right to believe what we want and we should all be free from persecution, esp at the hands of some of the answerers on this forum."

What persecution? Do you even know what that means?! How can you claim your being persecuted on this forum, when it's YOUR choice to visit these boards?

I also believe in the freedom to believe or not believe in a God as you see fit, but I also believe in freedom of speech and expression. That means sometimes people say things I don't agree with or like. That doesn't mean I think they should shut up!

If you don't like that some people mock your beliefs, don't come here. Find a forum where your more likely to only converse with those who are just like you.

As far as how I became atheist, it had nothing to do with my family life.

I was taken to church every Sunday from the time of my earliest memories, until I was 11-12, and we ate dinner every night at the table until I was about 15-16. This didn't stop me from doubting the validity of Christianity.

By the age of 8, I decided that Jesus was probably like Santa; A guy adults made up to teach kids lessons on how to live life. I still thought there was a God at that point, I just didn't know that it was the one everyone wanted me to believe in.

Later on in life, by about age 13-14, I started to study religion more and decided that organized religion was nothing but a way to for a select few to gain power and money. So at that point I figured religions were BS.

Then as I studied the natural sciences, I came to the conclusion that there probably isn't a God, and started calling myself atheist.

So I think it's awfully rude of you to assume that simply because someone is young, means they can't make informed decisions. Not all kids areas stupid and naive as you wish to think they are. I wasn't.

I am an agnostic. I was a christian until I started coming here about a year ago and started reading all about atheism, agnosticism, and other religions. It was so refreshing to find out that I wasn't the only person out there who was traumatized as a child and adult because of their religion. I don't really know if it is the fear, or other reasons that I don't fully become an atheist. All I know is I am not ready to say there is no chance of there being no gods nor the opposite. I love learning about the bible, but that doesn't mean I believe in it. Watching the discovery channel & the national geographic channel and the science channel have also helped to guide me in this direction.

"How do people come to the decision to be Atheist?"

It's not a decision. I became an atheist* when I stopped believing in the last god I had believed in. This was not a choice, it was simply a matter of reaching the point where I no longer found the apologetics and excuses of theistic arguments convincing.

"There is no need to mock someone else beliefs."

If you do not want to have your beliefs ridiculed, you shouldn't believe ridiculous things.

"They never went to church so they don't believe."

I went to church, to Sunday School, I was an active member of my Youth Group (even part of the elected leadership at one point), I was active in Christian student groups both at high school and university. I can't speak for anyone else, but my own deconversion was based as much, if not more, in my own knowledge of Christianity as in my secular education.

It is my contention that it is far more common for those who remain Christian to know little about Christianity, than it is for those who leave.

*) the word "atheist" is not a proper noun and should not be capitalised. Just as the word "theist" is not a proper noun, whereas the words "Christian" and "Muslim" are.

Like others have said, you don't make a decision as such. You aren't born religious and then decide one day to not be. Its just how your upbringing is. All the muslims in the world weren't born catholic and then decided to be muslim ;p

One reason I believe people are less religious nowadays is due to scientific advances. One reason for religion is to explain things we don't understand. As science explains more and more, this need diminishes. There are still of course other reasons, faith, comfort in death etc., and these will help religions persist.

Facts are usually what I use to base my beliefs in...and there arent really any in the bible. My mother isnt religious but spiritual, and she hopes I'll believe in something one day, but she doesnt pressure me into believing. My parents are divorced, and when I lived with my dad he made me go to church and I just realized it was boring and sort of comical to watch everyone get so into it...I havent believed in God since I was 10. Im happy, I live my life, Im kind to others and I want to live my life without worrying if Im going to go to hell for being naturally who I am.

You and I have very different frames of reference, so this will be hard for you to understand.

All of your life, from when you were just a few days old right up until now, you've been surrounded by people, immediate and extended family, who have always told you things about God. They've mentioned blessings, and faith, and the holy spirit, and they've essentially defined the world by not only the material, but the immatterial.

For your entire life, you've seen reality in a fundamentally different way than I have.

Your entire understanding of humanity, of emotion, and of thought, is based on the idea of the supernatural, in the existance of a God, of angels, spirits, and souls.

Your understanding of nature is from a "bottom up" view, that is, that the world was made for life to be on it (think of an animal existing and then the world forming around it to fit it), not that life has adapted to the world (that the world was there first and life had to adapt to it's surroundings or die out).

So to you, the idea of examining the world, life, and humanity from a different perspective is almost alien.

But try, for the sake of argument, to see it my way.

When I seek to understand something, I don't come loaded with preconceptions. I don't automatically assume anything about the universe, not that it's always existed, or that it had a begginning.

I don't assume anything about life, that it's entirely natural or that theres some spiritual element to it.

I don't assume anything about humanity, that we're a result of natural forces or that we have some higher, more profound or important origin and place in existence.

Let me give you an example. Say you and your neighbor have been fueding, say he tends to park to closely to your mailbox and you worry about him hitting it one day.

And one morning you come out and see your mailbox has been knocked over.

Now, many people would assume that the neighbor finally hit it and run next door to ask for an apology, at least.

And you may feel perfectly justified in doing so, after all, you have a good reason to think he did it.

I wouldn't though. I would examine the mailbox, look for paint smears or chips, see if there are tire marks, see if there's matching damage to my neighbors vehicle, etc..

In other words, if I'm going to believe my neighbor hit my mailbox, I'm not going to "just believe" he did and go about my business, I want to be able to back up my claims (or in this case, accusations).

When I seek to understand something, I'm going to look at the evidence, I'm not going to make any assumptions or take anything on faith. My beliefs and my worldview are going to consistently match the universe I'm in and dealing with.

If I'm going to believe something, I'm going to believe it because it's actual, confirmed, established, rational, empirical fact, not because it matches with my assumptions or just because it agrees with what I've been told previously.

I am a skeptic, I read the Bible and get to a claim, I'm not going to "just believe" or take it on faith, I'm going to need to see the evidence, I need to have it confirmed.

And it goes for all claims, from Genesis 1:1..

"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth."

to Revelations 22:21..

"The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen."

I'm going to need it to be factually, historically, and scientifically accurate.

And when I read the Bible, no matter how many times I do it, it fails to live up to that standard.

When people make claims about God, angels, demons, and souls, they fail to provide any evidence for them that indicates that those things exist.

I can think of hundreds of different ways someone /could/ prove those things, but nobody does them, or they reject them as being heretical, or they do try them and then make fairly weak excuses for why it didn't work.

It's not a decision any more than you can decide you don't know how to speak Mandarin. You don't decide that, you just don't. I don't know anything about gods. People do a lot of talking about gods, but that alone is not enough to cause me to actually believe what they are talking about.