The purpose of this thread is to discuss the origins of your beliefs, or actually, lack thereof (in the case of Atheism) As I'm pretty sure that, unlike most cases with religion, atheism and similar secular school of thoughts are not imposed or taught by parents, it's more than likely that in most cases you will have reached ythe decision not to believe (or at least the decision to DOUBT) by your own free will (this doesn't mean ALL religious people haven't made their choice out of free will)  How did that happen? When, how old where you? Are you happy about your choice or at times you long for the days when you had something to believe?

Edited by The T - June 03 2009 at 22:23

Yes... so we could say my question would include your case....

I'll change the title... and first post a little...

The T wrote: Yes... so we could say my question would include your case.... I'll change the title... and first post a little...

Excellent. And Non-Religious is for sure.
Quick background. I was born and raised Catholic but my family wasn't very "religious". I actually went to church every Sunday and did CCD. I went halfway through 8th grade, I remember since we were practicing for Confirmation. It was around here I just started losing touch with church. My mom always, "If I want to thank God for a beautiful day, or just experience him why do I have to be in that building with that 10 in my hand..."

She was Russian Orthodox.
Anyway, through H.S. I was agnostic/didn't care and did the whole "Opiate of the Masses, organized religion keeps you down etc" In college I had a change in some beliefs obviously, (if you want later I'll talk about my change). But I still....(to be polite) disagree strongly with organized religion/church. I think faith is fine, but it should PERSONAL. Kept to yourself, and does not need to involve church. That IMHO gets in the way of faith and that church's become about making money/getting numbers/or just become corrupt.

Without going into a 5 page thing, I hope this gets as much about me across as I could. Again, I'll explain more later.

I don't believe in free will, but then I'm a "non-believer" when it comes to a lot of things.  I'd describe myself as agnostic, and pretty much always would have.  I haven't much faith in God existing, nor faith that God does not exist in some form.  At times I've "swing both ways" to whatever extent.  I like to believe in something greater, but am unsure....( and don't wish to define God into existence according to my vague "feelings").  Don't know the origins of my non-beliefs, I've just not felt convinced either way despite spiritual desires.

Edited by Logan - June 03 2009 at 22:46

^ Almost the exact sentiments of my Anthro prof!
Funny, it was actually biology that tipped me from leaning "no higher power" to there is one

see "Faithless" or "Ghost Of A Chance" by Rush.


It so happens that Peart's beliefs mirror my own

King By-Tor wrote: see "Faithless" or "Ghost Of A Chance" by Rush.

or 'Freewill'

Atavachron wrote: King By-Tor wrote: see "Faithless" or "Ghost Of A Chance" by Rush. or 'Freewill'

How could I forget that!?



I was so upset when I heard that Snakes and Arrows was going to be a "highly religious" album - that is - until I found out that they had the same thought pattern as me.


No one gets to their "heaven" without a fight.


Edited by King By-Tor - June 04 2009 at 00:41

WaywardSon wrote: I was christened Anglican and moved to Methodist, then experimented with a lot of other religions Now, I have come to the conclusion that religion is just a psychological crutch to get through life. So now I am agnostic and will be a man and die with my boots on!!

Religion is a crutch for some, for other it isn't. For some it works the opposite way; they drive themselves to brink of suicide by creating impossibly high standards for themselves to live up to. That's kinda the way I go. I was the only kid I ever knew that gave up video games for lent b/c I thought they were probably immoral indulgences. But I have a lot of OCD issues in general, so it kinda depends on your personality I suppose.

Deathrabbit wrote: Here's one I bet you guys hear a lot? "What's the use in trying to be good or accomplish anything if there's no higher power?" That's the typical weak religious mainline argument against atheism. However, I think that an atheist point of view in some ways raises the stakes. You don't have any external source to rely on for meaning, instead you have to create your own meaning. Plus this being the only life you get, you've not got any afterlife to fall back on. No mulligans as per reincarnation either.

Yes, I always found that one particularly funny. People who use such lines indirectly admit to being 'good' only because of fear of a higher power. Where's the moral in that, one might ask?

I have been an atheist for as long as I remember, although I don't believe children can be religious/non-religious as such. They do not have the means to grasp such things yet. Moreover, religion is completely irrelevant to the average 8-year old who's main concern is where to get his next dosage of ice-cream. I believe spirituality/religion is something you should learn about on your own. Preferably at a time when you feel ready to tackle such issues. Here in Finland, you are forced to choose between religion and ethics when you start school -  I think it's absolutely ridiculous. Religion shouldn't be taught at that age, imo.

As for me, religion was a non-issue at our house. My parents are both atheists, but they didn't force their way onto me, instead, they strongly encouraged me 'to find my own way', so to speak.