Question to forum atheists

[Lagmonster]

Surprisingly, in North America, ghost stories comprise a whopping 50% of folk legendry, behind tall tales of hero-worship (like Paul Bunyan) and urban legends.

Maybe that's where H.P. Lovecraft got his ideas...

Possibly. Although in my experience, people who form folk stories are usually just twisted human beings.

Take the artist Brom, for example, or r.k. post. Some people just have monsters in their attics.

[Zoink]

My parents weren't religious. My father believes in God, the bible, that evolution is stupid, etc... but he doesn't go to church or preach any of that unless I bring it up. My mother is more insightful and I suspect she's actually an agnostic, although I've never brought it up because its not an issue I think of much (I really only talk about religion on this forum).

I've never been to a church service, other than weddings and funerals. I attended sunday school one summer when I was really young, my mother said it was at the urging of some of her family, and she said she regretted it.

M.R.E. (moral and religious education) was mandatory in my school until about grade 9 (this was the Quebec education system, btw). Basically a twice a week class where you read the bible and learned about the stories, etc, but no actually preaching.

At grade 9, they introduced an M.E. option (moral education w/o the religious stuff), but by that time M.R.E. didn't actually contain any religious stuff, so most people just continued with the classes (we did mock trials, debated about abortion, etc).

I would guess that I became an atheist around grade 5 or 6, that's when I realised the stuff in the bible wasn't matching real history (eg. dinosaurs, which I was crazy about). Until that time I had just assumed that what teachers said must be true. Maybe a few years after that I came to the solid conclusion that I had no belief in God what-so-ever.

[Master of Ossus]

My father was an atheist, my mother was Catholic. Her family wasn't too bad, though they were mostly Catholic. My dad's family was entirely fundamentalist Protestant, and during family get-togethers they spared no effort in convincing me how wicked my dad was.

[Raptor 597]

I was raised by Catholic near Fundies. They just soaked up the bullshit. Even though they didn't really debate they just believed what told too them. I did the same thing though I always was far more inclined indpendent thought and dissent. The way Christians were taught here is the cover ears approach and simply avoid it and not debate it. So I sat dwn and read some papers on evolution and the Bible. Seeing how gOd was off he rocker and Genesis was wrong I dropped Christianity. Creationism was the last surviving cornerstone for a few years after I had the unfortunate brush with Fundamentalism. And so here I am an ateist.

[Rye]

Was raised christian by the school environment i was in...apparently, when my brother was younger, my parents took him to church, but they lost interest quickly and stopped by the time i was born.

Never really questioned it untili saw end of series 2 of babylon 5 in 1996(i think) and thought "angels actually ARE aliens...i mean...if they actually happened, the chances of them being aliens as opposed to some messengers from an omnipotent all loving omniscient being.."

then i thought more about it and eventually rejected the whole god idea for being silly. But i learend about some other gods and now see them as one giant soap opera, and a fascinating look at how humans perceive things.

So my parents are atheist, im pantheist, by both definitions of the word. Although i don't actually believe gods exist, i have them all on the same level.

[Solid Snake]

*Looks at ID Tags, reads Roman Catholic at the bottom*
I dont know what the fuck i am, but it says roman catholic for my parents. Not to make them happy or something like that, but if i get killed, they get a proper military funeral for me.

[J]

As a child I was left to to find my own religion and belief if I wanted to. My mum has Buddhist leanings (she's half Chinese) but she doesn't go to church or practice her beliefs or anything, and my dad was raised Catholic but has been an athiest since he went to university many years ago. I was encouraged to learn about various religions but I never went to church or actively participated in any one of them. I've probably been an athiest for most of my life but didn't really realize it until I was maybe 10-12 or so.

[His Divine Shadow]

My father was an atheist, my mother was Catholic. Her family wasn't too bad, though they were mostly Catholic. My dad's family was entirely fundamentalist Protestant, and during family get-togethers they spared no effort in convincing me how wicked my dad was.

Ah, but being wicked is a good thing.
You should have replied in the same way as Mephisto:
"The righteous shall fall before the wicked, mwahahaha!"

[Joe]

My dad was raised in a strict Church of Christ household, and absolutely despised it. His apathy about religion is palpable.

My mom was raised Catholic, and is now Catholic Lite; she never goes to Church or anything like that. Of course, that doesn't stop her (and my sister) from getting all preachy on me when I put forth the suggestion that church is a waste of time, but I digress.

I personally have never really been strongly religious. I first considered atheism in middle school, but wasn't ready to make the jump and settled for apathy. Near the end of high school and during the beginning of college, I decided to give Catholicism a shot (not that I would go to Church or anything, I would just believe in it), but stopped when the pedophile scandals broke. Reading SDNet and other skeptical literature, I eventually became a confirmed atheist at the beginning of this year.

[lgot]

I was born Catholic but my mother also looked after Umbanda/Camdoble religions , My father pretty much did not give a damn. So we are all in my family like this. Then I read the bible and find out that there is no reason to have faith at all.

[Uraniun235]

My father is an atheist. My mother seems to be Christian, which surfaced when she started going to church after they divorced, but then she just stopped. Don't know why; maybe 'cause she's banging her boyfriend and that's not kosher with Christianity? *shrug* I don't care.

My childhood was very atheistic. God was never mentioned (with the exception of the occasional "goddamnit!" )in our household (though my father took the time once to tell me that while he did not believe, I should be free to make my own decision) although my relatives were devout church-goers. I've been to church a few times out of deference to my relatives; never really bothered me. As a small child I wondered if there was a Hell, but I decided any sensible omnipotent being that threatened Hell for disbelief would make themself a little more obviously known.

For a long time I considered myself agnostic simply because I hadn't done enough research to feel I could make a decision at the time, and also because it meant I got along better with some people at high school. However towards the end of high school I came to realize that I didn't like the Christian God at all, and that religion was all fairy-tales I had no reason to start believing in, so I privately considered myself atheist while lying in high school to keep up appearances and to appease the Bible Brigade members if the issue ever came up. (Frankly, I was too lazy to try and fight with them, and it was just plain easier if we all got along; I had no problem working with them under false pretenses)

My mother never had a problem with me not wanting to go to church when she started going. We've never really discussed it, which is probably for the best.

[Stormin]

I never had any religion thrown at me when I was younger, it is no surprise that I turned out athiest. That is what happens when you wait too long to brainwash someone

[Spyder]

From the age of 5 through to 12 I was at a Catholic school where we ritualistically had morning prayer and were subjected to Church services and yelled at if we slept through them. I got yelled at a lot.

We were told about the firey damnation that awaited us if we didn't have our shirts tucked in.

We were told stories about workers who would slave all day in back breaking labour just to be able to feed their families who were then expected to give thanks to God for the feast before them. We were told about the poor woman who gave everything she had in a Church donation and it was the only donation Jesus would admit was generous. We were told about how the world around us is sufficient proof of God's existence with no further explanation neccessary. It shortly afterwards that it was revealed that sex was forbiddon for anyone outside wedlock, videogames such as doom were also forbiddon. There was a time when most of us were 12 going on 13 when one of the nuns said to the class that she was disgusted by the thought of whatever disgusting horrible thoughts went on inside our heads. Suddenly the notion that our thoughts were our own, that we could think what we liked (a notion I'd entertained for as long as I could remember) was no longer valid. Suddenly our thoughts had come under the scrutiny of the system.

I never actually seriously tried to answer the question as to whether or not God does exist. I did however stop giving a shit.

[Mr Flibble]

My dads an anglican priest so I started out being a fervent anglican. Thankfully my dad is a very liberal priest. I generally believed in christianity, but I kept it separate from everyday life, and considred most of the bible to be myth, but strongly believed in the ressurection until my teens then I started to think about things more until about 17 when I was more of a deist. Then acouple of years ago I started to actually think about it rationally and formed my now athiest views.

[LadyTevar]

I still consider myself a Christian. It's in my blood.

I think the best way to put this is that my family started the first Baptist church in the area, back in the early 1800's. I have more preachers and gospel singers in my family than I care to shake a stick at. I was raised in Baptist Church, and I still believe that God made a sacrifice to save humanity from sin. I still believe there is a Devil, and that men are misled all the time by his minions.
But I don't believe the Bible is anything more than a guideline and history book to the life of Jesus. I do not believe that God will throw all those that don't follow Christianity (and Baptist beliefs in particular) into the "Pit of Eternal Damnation" to "Burn for all Eternity" for "Not Believing in the Power of Jesus". (Insert your favorite imitation of a fire-&-brimstone holy-roller Bible-thumping pulpit-pounding early-Sunday-morning-Gospel-hour-of-Power television evanglist.)

This belief started growing when I was about 12, starting learning about other cultures. National Geographic, Social Studies classes, and other sources of the world outside started me wondering why God would kill all these pygmies and muslums and people who'd never heard of Jesus, just because they didn't know to believe in Christ.
I even asked the preacher at Church why God would do that. He never answered, just told me I was too young to understand. I stopped going to Church shortly afterwards, because I began to see the hypocrasy all around. (Gee, those boys call me names and pick on me at school, sleep with their girlfriends, and get drunk at football games, but the preacher is calling them models of Church youth? Riiiiiiight.)

When I hit college, I met with 'Bad Influences'. They showed me Wicca, and Islam, and introduced me to books about all the different religions that existed before Christianity. I started seeing all the connections between the various religions, and found that at the heart, all religions have the same thing in common: "Live well, and God will reward you."

Yes, each religion has different interpretations of 'living well', but it basically boils down to that old standby, that I learnt in Sunday School class as "The Golden Rule": Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.
Translation: Treat others as you'd like to be treated.

You can find the "Golden Rule" in Confusionism (sp), in Islam, in Judiasm, in Christianity, in Wicca. Prolly find that in Shinto and Native American religions as well. I've found that it's one of the most ancient laws as well... found in Hammaraba's(sp) Laws, an ancient Summerian king. You'd think that an idea so old, and so widespread would have sunk into human conscious by now...

It's not easy going to family functions and being asked if I go to Church (no). When they ask why, my comment is honest and sincere. "I've not found one that suits me yet."
Considering that many of my family have rotated membership amongst the 5 Baptist churches in the 20 miles around my town, simply because they didn't like how the preacher preached, it gets me off the hook. (Did I mention all 5 churches were started by various branches of my family... within 40 years of the first church? Gotta love those Baptists. )

It's also not easy reading all the Chrisitan bashing that many debates on this board boil down to. Yes, I think Fundies are pitifully blind and stupid, but not all Christians are fundies. Yes, Wong had some very nasty experiences with what I call the Uptight Christians. I'm just sorry it soured him on all religions, and on God (Allah, The Great Spirit, the Mother, The Source. whatever you prefer).

Why do I stay? I like stimulating conversations. I like being made to think.