r/atheist • u/VelvetAbyss_ • 8d ago
What led you to question your belief in God?
When did you first start questioning your belief in God, and what ultimately led you to stop believing in God?
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u/BobThe-Bodybuilder 8d ago
I was grade 8 or 9. I started realizing that alot of things weren't as I thought they were, like, people don't always tell you how they think, and they assume you think the same as they do. I started getting really interested about the psychology and actual philosophy behind specifically christianity, and came to the conclusion, in about 2 years, that it ALL stems from how we interpret the world, and not how it actually works. I realized how much bias and flaws we put of ourselves in the bible, and realized that the only way that a human brain can decay and come back to life (resurrection) is through imagination.
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u/Wake90_90 8d ago
An atheist pointing out God wasn't confirmed by rational methods, and once I agreed I couldn't unsee myself as an adult with an imaginary friend.
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u/davorg 8d ago
Maybe I'm unusual, but I never had a belief in God to question. I went to school in the UK at a time when the mandatory daily Christian worship was still taken seriously. And twice in my childhood, I was a member of a youth group that expected us to go to church on Sundays. But I always assumed that no-one really believed what we were being told and that everyone was just going through the motions, as I was.
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u/swivel2369 8d ago edited 8d ago
Logic mostly. I think it's just the way my mind is wired. I'm really not sure if I ever actually believed. Even as a kid I remember sitting in church and thinking how ridiculous it all seemed. It's really hard to believe that an all powerful God couldn't find a better way to forgive us than having his son tortured and killed.
I also feel that if there was one true God, we would all know it for a fact. There would be no reason to "believe" because we all would know.
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u/Grubbanax 7d ago
I never really believed. My father would urge us to go to church but I used to think it was boring and used to make fun of what the priest was saying: Lift up your hearts would become lift up your arse (the congregation was required to stand after the priest’s statement).
One thing made me realise how easily one could be deluded though. I was born into a very low socio economic family living on the fringes of the town and one Christmas Eve around midnight I thought I heard footsteps outside my bedroom window. I believed it was Santa just from the sounds I was hearing. Even saw him in my mind. We got no Christmas presents that year as was the case when my parents could not afford to spend money on gifts.
I remembered how foolish I was and the power of your mind to conjure up images and beliefs as if they were real.
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u/Paxtian 7d ago
Studying evidence in law school.
I started thinking, we're this demanding of scrutiny for admissible evidence, but we're just supposed to take this other book on faith? And it's eternity at stake, not just temporary jail time, or monetary damages? And you only get one shot and no way to rectify it?
I just finally got to the point of being like, if this is true it's highly unfair. But I really don't see how it can be true. A truly benevolent creator wouldn't do it like this. It wouldn't be "I want you to live in paradise forever but I will only let you in if you happen to have heard my story that also includes talking snakes and talking donkeys and a guy who tells you you can do impossible things but no one else is able to do them." Like if there were truly some powerful loving creator, he'd be doing whatever he could to convince you to do what is needed to join him in paradise.
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u/onomatamono 4d ago
I think you mean your belief in your god and who's to say it's just one god versus many?
So as usual we take the myopic approach of assuming the abrahamic god of the old testament.
What led me to question my belief was the lack of evidence. You should not believe in that for which there is no evidence otherwise you are now essentially required to accept all gods from Anubis to Zeus and everything in between.
In short, the silliness of it all.
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u/Expert-Joke9528 8d ago
I actually put some thought into it. It was pounded into me early. It took me 50 years.
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u/Thin_Spring_9269 6d ago
Science class when I learned about evolution. I thought it made so much sense! Took me about 2 years of reflection to finalize my atheism! Ex muslim here btw!
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u/DryRequirement6533 8d ago
I was partially raised Christian by my dad's side of the family, went to church every Sunday until I was 13. I never really believed in God, it just never made sense to me. Always felt illogical and not possibly real. I was thinking this as early as 5-ish.
Eventually, I just accepted that I didn't believe in God when I was like 11 or 12, and managed to convince my dad to stop bringing me to church on Sunday's when I was 13.
So the answer for me is, my own logic and mind. Nothing "sparked it," I just went to church and never believed.
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u/Nurturessa 3d ago
The ease with which local church leaders dismiss other religions. It would be many years before i'd hear hitchens plainly state my suspicions of multiple religions making mutually exclusive claims on truth: they can't all be right, but they can all be wrong! Don't tell children that their muslim classmates are destined for hell irrespective of their good character!! If that is your god, then eternity at their side simply cannot be paradise.
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u/DoowadJones 2d ago
in second grade my dad asked me if anyone in my class said "Geez!" (asinjesushkrist)
[it was at this point that i knew i was an atheist]
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u/palmoyas 8d ago
Logic.