Switching to atheism: is it difficult?

[Perinquus]

If atheism just ain't your cup of tea, agnosticism/deism work nicely. At least deism does for me...

I found deism to be ultimately nothing more than a stop on the way to atheism. It's hard to shake a lifetime of indoctrination, and believing that there was some God out there, even if not exactly the Christian God was easier to swallow. But as time went by, and I read more and more about things like abiogenesis and evolution, and as I grew to actually understand what the currently held theories are, it became increasingly clear that there really was no need for the guiding hand of a creator to make things turn out the way they are.

[Civil War Man]

As mentioned earlier, one of the hardest steps in becoming an atheist is dealing with any very devoted religious people you have to interact with on a regular basis.

I lucked out a little bit in that my family is made up of a lot of people who are liberal religiously (raised Catholic). Many people in my family are as conservative as they come (my father and grandfather particularly), but they all believe in evolution over Biblical creation (not really a problem with Catholicism, I know) and don't respect the Pope's resistance to women priests and allowing priests to get married. In fact, my grandfather, who's pretty right-wing, has said that not allowing priests to get married basically robs them of the ability to really live life.

However, even though they're liberal religiously, they still sometimes fall into common mindsets involving atheism. My father, who's really a smart person, just can't comprehend how someone could be atheist. As a result, I rarely talked to him about religious, even before I became an atheist. Basically the only people in my family I talk with about religion are my mother (non-practicing Catholic), grandmother (who just loves reading about the dark underside of numerous religions), and sister (agnostic, but is not willing to take the extra step into atheism). I actually prompted my grandmother to try reading the Bible (cover to cover) after she read a paper I wrote about creation vs. evolution (cited DW's creationism site on several instances).

I went to public school, but still received a Catholic education on the side. I didn't become an atheist until after my confirmation, but I still didn't buy a lot of the stuff they told me. One of my CCD teachers showed a video that had some guy railing against evolution (mostly talking about dinosaurs. I didn't really listen), and I remember thinking, "What's stopping God from just using stuff like evolution to create the universe?" Wasn't until later that I decided to remove God out of the equation completely. Judeo-Christian concepts of God (all-powerful, all-knowing, completely benevolent) just strikes me as a no-limits fallacy now.

[Guardsman Bass]

I had a gradual de-conversion with a few rather nasty "jumps" in the process.

To begin with, I was raised in a strong Mormon family(even though my parents divorced when I was 5, my mother was(and is) a devout Mormon), in Sandy, a suburb of Salt Lake City that is over 90% Mormon. All of the relatives barring one family are Mormon on my mother's side, and they all live within 20 miles. So basically, I got the full treatment; I was baptized at age 8, confirmed into the Church's "priesthood" (supposed to give you more authority) at age 12.

I had started having doubts before I was 12, though. My father is an atheist(he temporarily converted to the Mormon Church when he married my mom, then left immediately after the divorce), and although he never said anything, when I asked him about, he would tell me that he was a non-believer.

I remember the earliest doubt being when I was 10 years old. My mother gave me a timeline from primary school(the religious classes Mormon children take before age 12), that showed Adam and Eve living in 4004 B.C. I scoffed at this, and I remember my mother scolding me, telling me, "Do you mock the Scriptures?" I had a little bit of an introverted period in my life from age 11-15, because all three of my closest friends moved away; I became a nerd. However, during this period, I read a lot of books on evolution, and science, and I came to believe that evolution must have taken place, but maybe the Church was still true. I basically held the internal belief that it would work itself out, because "God would brook no contradiction between the truths of the natural world and the truths of religion."

That basically went on until I was 15, when (ironically) I was taking more religious classes in the form of a "Seminary" period where I was excused from school. It was at that point that I finally, one day, thought, "What the hell am I doing?" and started thinking of myself as a non-believer from then on. Unfortunately, at that point, my mother accidently found and read an e-mail conversation I had been having with an ex-Mormon, in which I asked him whether he believed in the theory that there was no actual Jesus, just a bunch of mythology. She basically yelled at me, "He died for you! How could you betray him!" and put up a MASSIVE Wall of Ignorance and Anger. It was bad; for about 7 months she cut off our home internet out of fear that I would access "anti-religious" sites (not that that stopped me; I just rode my bike to the library to use their internet).

Since then, it hasn't been discussed, but she makes me go to Church every sunday(although I sluff 2 out of 3 hours of it, and have done so for at least 4 months). I plan on making a full leave after I move out.

[Guardsman Bass]

Oh, Kreshna, the way I gave up praying was simply to FORCE myself to get in bed without doing it. It felt awkward for a few weeks, but eventually I got over it.

[Kreshna Aryaguna Nurzaman]

Oh, Kreshna, the way I gave up praying was simply to FORCE myself to get in bed without doing it. It felt awkward for a few weeks, but eventually I got over it.

Ah, so that's it. Thanks!

[Nick Lancaster]

Unless you are considering faith to be a physical aspect like hair or skin color, then the question of belief is relatively straightforward - you have reached a point in your personal spiritual growth where you feel you have insufficient proof to warrant belief in God.

This is like any other issue of controversy; to say I don't believe in UFOs should not, in any sense, disqualify me from discussion or consideration of the issue. It doesn't mean I'm going to burst into flames if I pick up a copy of 'Chariots of the Gods.'

As someone who was raised with specific beliefs, you may find that your Atheism is nonetheless open-ended; that, given the right proof or answers, your faith could be reaffirmed. It doesn't make you less of an Atheist; in fact, it's generally religious groups who seek stratification based on how deeply you believe. (Yet that Christ fellow didn't say, 'You have to have x amount of faith to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.')

[Sporkzen]

Gradual slide. I quit believing what was meant to be will be. I quit beliving in fate. I still cling to deisim but barely. Though it has been quite hard for me because my family is very religious and they may wash their hands of me. Though i have taken charge of my own life more since i do not rely on the crutch of fate and i have become a better person because of it to be honest.

[Guardsman Bass]

Oh, Kreshna, the way I gave up praying was simply to FORCE myself to get in bed without doing it. It felt awkward for a few weeks, but eventually I got over it.

Ah, so that's it. Thanks!

Call me on my cynicism, but that sounded sarcastic, for some reason.

[wolveraptor]

one of the perks of being atheist is laughing at fundies. just throw a bunch of ugly stereotypes at 'em. Not necessarily accurate, but damn fun nonetheless.

"Ha ha! stupid inbreeding hilly billy southern baptist white redneck fundie!!"

[Guardsman Bass]

one of the perks of being atheist is laughing at fundies. just throw a bunch of ugly stereotypes at 'em. Not necessarily accurate, but damn fun nonetheless.

"Ha ha! stupid inbreeding hilly billy southern baptist white redneck fundie!!"

Try not to be an idiot about it, otherwise you are just like them.

[wolveraptor]

that's the problem: it's so much easier to be an idiot than it is to be intelligent. and i'm a lazy person.

[Mr. T]

Well, my family was never particularely religious, which really helped make the "transition" easier. I probably became an atheist at around the age of 11, which looking back is pretty amazing that at that age I could see the falsehoods of religions. What really caused me to never look back on becoming an atheist however, was reading Mike's creationism site a few years ago, which I stumbled upon when looking up Star Wars vs Star Trek (I had always known that their was a certain amount of bullshit with every religion, but that site made me realise just how much of it their was ) My family was pretty much OK with it, as my dad has a fairly scientific background and my mom really is ok with anything. My advice to people making this "transition" would just be to remember that you have facts and evidence supporting your viewpoint, what the hell does the other side have?

[Superman]

You know, it only took me about a year to rid my mind of my religious brainwashing, and now I don't feel any need at all to worship something.

[xtashinatorx]

I was raised Roman Catholic, but always had a hard time understanding the whole deal. I could never get how, if God loved us all, then why there was so much pain and suffering. My mom kept telling me that he has a plan, and I believed her. Until life dealt me one shitty hand. I was in the hospital, in the worst pain of my life dealing with cancer treatments, rehabilitation and the whatnot, and I used to pray every damn day, every damn second for God to take it away. To either kill me and get it over with or stop the whole thing. Three months later, nothing had changed. So I stopped believing in God. I figured any bastard who would keep anyone in that much pain for three months, who could cause suffering like that was either a complete dickface, or didn't exist in the first place.
If you want help converting to atheism, read the old testament. Particularly the book of Job.

[Rob Wilson]

KAN, the thing is that Aetheism is, when you boil it all down, a choice to take responsibility for your own decisions, morals and future. That means that at herat it's a solo, not group activity. Unlike religions that put all that responsibilty on a made-up father figure and do so as a group, if your going to be an aetheist you need to do it on your own.

Sure you'll have people here and elsewhere that can give you the occasional bouying up but to be an aetheist it really has to all come from you. After a lifetime of Group religion it may take you a long time to change (your instinctive need to Pray being one such remenant) or you can go 'cold turkey' and drop everything at once - which is best for you? Only you can say, as it's your life that you are taking control of.

As to dropping the prayer, try this - don't pray the next 5 times that you feel the need to - see if it has any effect on whatever would have caused the praying. If overall not praying has no effect then it's easier to not pray from then on. Some people do it over 10 occasions some over just 2, but see which works best for you.

[General Brock]

I don't know that falling back on a prayer habit is contrary to atheism. People anthropomorphize a lot of things; their car, a pet, the wind, the sun, why not the forces of creation? I think it appeals to that part of our brains geared to socialize, relate to, and influence our environment. Gives an extra boost to confidence, encourages different (if not necessarily accurate) perspectives that might have material utility.

Some people are more willing than others to move beyond religion to tap their potential. I like what Rob Wilson wrote, that atheism is about learning to take responsibility for yourself, 'for your own decisions, morals and future.' That can be scary not only to the individual, but those who don't want that option for themselves. Those whose validation comes from having that sort of defining power over people's lives tend not to be happy about it either.

[Dooku's Disciple]

I was brought up Anglican (C of E) and had church attendance shoved down my throat by both sides of my family. They never once asked if I believed or what I believed in, they just assumed I did. I wasn't thrilled about it but I didn't question it either, until...

First year (freshman) European history where I studied Enlightenment thinking and was able to figure a lot of things out in a way that suited me. I'm not an atheist by any means. I believe in a higher power, but I *don't* believe it can be quantified by any human efforts to define it.

To me all religions/belief systems are the same thing; a very human attempt to impose order and find meaning in a universe where none exists.

Rant mode *off*

DD