I was wondering at what age were you when you truly defined yourself as an atheist or an agnostic? Or if you were brought up that way tell me about. For me, I consider it fortunate being rasied catholic as that I was able to gaze upon both sides of the railroad. My father was an agnostic but let my mom raise me as she wanted (she's a christian with budhism influences). My parents always raised me around animals and science leading me to accept some form of evolution as the means of existance and not a higher power. This change was especially dominant and noticable when I was in 6th grade. I am now an agnostic doubting the existance of a higher power, I cannot prove or disprove so I just am. So how about you?

quote:Originally posted by iSoape:

My parents always raised me around animals and science leading me to accept some form of evolution as the means of existance and not a higher power. This change was especially dominant and noticable when I was in 6th grade. I am now an agnostic doubting the existance of a higher power, I cannot prove or disprove so I just am. So how about you?

lol thanks for enjoying my joke in the other topic, I appreciated your comment alot!

Why must there be a conflict between evolution and a "higher power" there is an obvious "higher power" which goes by various names and descriptions, all an attempt to describe one thing, its something all religions should accept and which 3 religions at their core already do.

There is only One thing worthy of being called "God", it is not some invisible being in some distant dimension, nor is it some hidden figure in the image of a man.

Even I can be considered an athiest though I promote this one God.

What is it? I think you can figure it out if you use your mind.

What is the most powerful thing in your life? What are you completely controlled by through limitations? What is it that you see everyday? Interact with every moment? Are completely dependant on? That you are made of? That the universe and all that is in it exists with, was manifested within, and is completely dependant on and made of?

What is that thing in which all things exist? Living, constantly animated, manifestor of universes.

Figured it out? When you do, then you will know "God". A God you've known from before your birth up until your death.

There is no diety but this, in which even every possible thing you can possibly do or think is provided.

It goes by many names, one name you might be familiar with starts with an R and ends with a Y. There is only one God, we are all part of it and completely dependant on it.

Have you figured it out yet?

I'd like you to add me to MSN Messenger, AIM, or Yahoo Messenger. May I?

My MSN is abrahimesker@hotmail.com

My AIM is abrahimesker

My Yahoo is abrahim_esker

I'd like to know if you figure it out!

Dunno really... As a kid I said I believed in God , and would say I was a christian ,But I was never actually really aware of what that was. I wasn't influenced by my parents ,My dad is an atheist ,and my mother is ,as far as I know , also an atheist.

I guess I just grew out of it ,realised how ... I dunno ,I just decided I didn't care.

But I can't remember the exact time I thought to myself ,"There's no God." That said ,I complain wo a wide array of "gods". If my computer starts fuckig up I'll start praying to the god of Pc's generally to a specific PC god... Like the internet god... Gives you something to complain to when otherwise you'd just start growling ....

Still ,No belief in any of these gods... Same with God ,If it starts raining on me heavily ,God'll get a tongue lashing , If I'm late for something ,same again ...

Have A Nice Day.

I was about 9 when I decided the whole idea of God or a higher being was a bit of a joke.

I figured, if adults lied about the tooth fairy or Santa, the this whole idea of God might be a ploy to make us be good.

Both my parents, although they both had religious upbringings, are atheists, but I only found that out recently. When I was a kid, I just thought they didn't care. Religion was never dicussed.

I stopped believing in a perfect being a few years back when I finally opened my eyes and chose not to deny the obvious: that there is no perfect being.

Just like there is no Santa Claus, Easter bunny, Fountain of Youth, etc; there is no perfect being.

I was raised Catholic by my family and stayed fairly devout until my sophmore year in high school when one day I just stopped believing in it all. I slowly changed from deism to agnosticism and finally to atheism over the course of about a year, mainly because I had been conditioned so strongly to believe in god and hell and everything I was almost scared to admit I was an atheist.

Hmmm, probably about 13.

There were a few years (13-14) when i just can't rember what I thought really, i know I wasn't religious, i suppose I was athiest/agnostic at a much less advanced level as I didn't think things over and rationalise psychologically and philosophically, i started doing that at about 15.

Drugs helped http://www.totse.com/bbs/smile.gif (http://www.totse.com/bbs/smile.gif)

I finally decided to search for a new religion in the 7th grade, 14 yrs old, after being a catholic before that. After researching many, honestly all, religions past and present, I decided that atheism is the only correct way to live a great life to its fullest.

I am writing a thesis on my findings as well as certain 'proofs' as to why religion, and the christian church, is morally wrong and diminishing to individual characteristics of the people in general. I will be posting the entire thesis soon, e-mail me if you would like a personal copy.

- My e-mail if not elsewhere found is enlightend1_truth@hotmail.com

[This message has been edited by Enlightend1_Truth (edited 06-07-2006).]

parents weren't religious, and when i was introduced a religion it just seemed too ideal.

11 but i only really began to understand religion when i turned 13.

I would say around 12. The most important thing is that you have ethics or a moral code. Something inside that tells you that you shouldn't steal and shouldn't kill random people... you know shit like that. Aside from that believing or not believing in God won't help you

pahahaha, When i was little and when I went to church with my parents... whenever they started to pray, I started my own "conversation with "God"" I would be like, "So, you don't exist, so basically, im talking to myself... yayyyy Christians are all schizophrenics!" Yeahhh... and my parents never really told me what they beleived, we went to church because everyone else did, and its was like a fad or something.

I think when I was very young (like 8) I actually believed in God and perhaps even Jesus and other biblical characters. I don't actually remember this, but it's logical since I used to enjoy church and didn't question things quite as much at that age. I went to a Unitarian Universalist church, which really doesn't have much dogma and stuff. My mom takes her religious beliefs from Christianity and Buddhism, and my dad has always been a bit vague about his belief system. He believes in a higher force and a natural balance and shit.

I never really adopted my parents' beliefs and they always encouraged me to choose my own path. I declared myself an atheist at age 10 or 11 (sort of copying my older sister). When I started reading about quantum mechanics and stuff (not really understanding most of it, but reading nonetheless) the whole idea of a higher power just quit making sense to me. For a long time I called myself agnostic because I was only like 99% sure that there was no god, but now I just call myself an atheist.

I was about 13. Before then I only casually thought about god and I had never been to a church session. My grandmother told me I was a catholic because my mother was (I only kinda know my mother and I've never met my father). I was only told about religion really when I asked about things like god and the bible, but I really didnt know much about christianity. Hell, I didnt even know who Jesus was until I was 10. Around 12 I just gave up even thinking about a god and eventually at 13, after I had actually read and understood christianity and its basic tenneants and relgion in general, I dismissed religion as false and stupid. I have though played with different religions since I was 16 but I always find my way back to atheism. So yeah.....thats my story.

I never really thought of myself as an atheist until I was 17. As a little kid, my parents took me to church and it really didn't have an affect on me, meaning I was kind of indifferent about whether or not god was real. Niether of my parents are particularly religious.

I remember going to a Christian summer camp when I was 12 and the counselor was explaining that she always sensed a higher power as the driving force in her life, or something to that effect. I remember thinking "What? I don't sense any higher power." So I guess I was always skeptical.

When I was around 16, I read almost the whole Bible out of curiosity, and ironically this is when I started having the most serious doubts. I didn't realize the Bible was really that weak. It struck me as the same as any other mythology. When I was 17, I started going to my friend's youth group. The leaders were nice people on the surface, but they were really a self decieved, scared, willfully ignorant bunch. But that's another story. One of the counselors liked me and invited me out for coffee once to get to know me better. Our talk there was steered subtly, but predictably towards whether or not I was going to be saved.

I started to debate them a lot and I realized that they only believe some things because they WANT them to be true. Other than that, they will bury their heads in the sand to avoid something that contradicts what they hold near and dear. That was what their faith amounted to and I didn't see the virtue in it. I was really curious as to what the truth really was and that is how I ended up as an atheist. I realize not all Christians are like the ones I encountered there, but it was an eye-opener.

I used to think atheism was a rebellious teenage phase, but it was really just a result of me being honest with myself.



[This message has been edited by smallpox champion (edited 06-13-2006).]

When I was young my parents went to church every once in a while and sent me to Sunday school for a while because of pressure from there parents (my grandparents). One day my Dad got a new job and we moved 300 miles away and we didn't got to church any more.

Around 14 I research different faiths and I come across Agnosticsism(sp?) and realize that it is the only %100 true "faith". The one thing I can be sure of is that I don't know.

When I took AP Biology and AP Pyschology in high school at 17, I embraced the concept of evolution and natural selection (which of course completely contradicts the bible). Soon after that I gradually went from a scared, confused Catholic to a happy Atheist who has to deal with brainwashed family members who fear the "end times" are coming on a daily basis.

quote:Originally posted by kramer3d:

Something inside that tells you that you shouldn't steal and shouldn't kill random people... you know shit like that.

So killing people is ok as long as it's not random? I never want to know you then. LOL.

I became atheist when I was 8, after reading the bible. I laughed at the idea that children would believe that crap, let alone adults. I do however think that Jesus and Buhda, fictional or fact, are pretty good examples of virtuousness to follow. But I don't believe in an all-powerful god.

Abrahim- Is the answer Reality?

Yes that is the answer, but does Abrahim's reality have a place called heaven and hell, and in his reality did god write a book.

A quote I find applicable to what I *think* Abrahim is referring to when he talks of "Reality"...

"The idea that God is an oversized white male with a flowing beard, who sits in the sky and tallies the fall of every sparrow is ludicrous. But if by 'God,' one means the set of physical laws that govern the universe, then clearly there is such a God. This God is emotionally unsatisfying... it does not make much sense to pray to the law of gravity."

(Carl Sagan BTW)

I think Abrahim needs to stop playing word games, redefining "God" as "Reality".

Agnosticism. For people too pussy to go the whole hog.

Pascals Wager is bullshit. Pascals Wager is bullshit. Pascals Wager is bullshit.

I was raised atheist, but for a while I was Christian, probably just to fit in with my friends. I didn't really define myself as atheist until I was 11 or 12.

quote:Originally posted by Real.PUA:

Yes that is the answer, but does Abrahim's reality have a place called heaven and hell, and in his reality did god write a book.

No, I talked to Abrahim on AIM about it, his reality is our existence, nature if you will, that we are all part of reality.

For everyone else, I did read and enjoyed each of your posts, quite some stories you have http://www.totse.com/bbs/smile.gif (http://www.totse.com/bbs/smile.gif). It seems as if a lot of you, including me, decided these kinds of things around middleschool. Anyways, all very interesting and thanks for the great responses!

[This message has been edited by iSoape (edited 06-16-2006).]

Right, well he told me the koran was of divine origin.

I dont remember but I remember something pretty funny. I saw a marilyn manson CD at a yard sale and I heard that he made awsome music (he definitly does). I sat there contemplating whether or not I should buy it because I was afraid god would be mad at me. lol. I just find it funny now that I think back before I opened my eyes and how much I was being controlled even over a little decision. I even ended up not buying it! My life was so much more fucked up when I had "god" in my life than it is now. Damn, I feel great

i was about 11 when i began to question god and my own beliefs. My mom was raised catholic and she went through the prayer motions with me growing up. But i never grasped the full concept because it wasn't taught to me. I think it worked out for the better on any account.

It's funny, i once heard a woman at my work insist that anyone who didn't believe in god was just ignorant. I thought: For one, this is supposed to be someone exercising the principles of brotherly love, tolerance, and not judging others? For two, how ignorant does saying something like that in itself sound? Let's see, following something and believing something on the basis of faith alone is "informed" as opposed to someone who is "ignorant" by questioning a belief and seeking facts and proof. How comical! I've come to find many christians are like that...judgemental and hurtful. Though, there are many that aren't. Each to his own- this is not an attack on christians.

I have a general understanding of christian based religions in my 26 years. I think they're full of contradictions and can be a little silly as far as sacraments. I guess i've just come to find that basing my short unimportant human life on something i'm not sure even exists is pretty self-defeating. I don't like to abstain from the things i love, or from fulfilling the senses i was born with. How prankster-ish of god to make me human and expect me to not give in to human indulgences or tendencies!

But aside from that, i suppose i look at god as a kind of santa claus, on a different level. Everyone wants to know that their good behavior will result in reward for themselves. And believing in heaven or a better place in the end, means that our deaths won't be so scary..there's something to look forward to in the end. I would certainly feel that way! There've been times i've gone to god and begged for help through a close call or promised to be a better person for this one thing. I found that i was being childish towards god if there was one and that all my periodic pleading with him wouldn't redeem me...it doesn't count and it doesn't work that way.

I can't bring myself to believe something on just faith alone. I have my own different theories about how earth and the universe began, but that's neither here nor there. I don't rule out god, but i don't rule him in either. The irony is that if he does exist, i won't be going to heaven because of that doubt. I can live with that i guess.

I've been an atheist since I was 10, but I was my own version of Taoism until I was 13... so I'll say 13 was when I truly became an atheist.

quote:Originally posted by Deep_Anger:

Abrahim- Is the answer Reality?

ya

13, thats when I was agnostic/atheist. I don't think i meant to b i just really didnt give two shits anymore.

quote:Originally posted by -Mephisto-:

Pascals Wager is bullshit. Pascals Wager is bullshit. Pascals Wager is bullshit.

I agree. For obvious reasons that really don't need to be discussed.

The flaw in Atheism as far as I can see is that if you can't prove the existence of something, you can't disprove it either. Simple as.

Jx

quote:Originally posted by Jessic:



The flaw in Atheism as far as I can see is that if you can't prove the existence of something, you can't disprove it either. Simple as.

Jx

You don't have to make a possitivle claim about gods in order to be an atheist. One must simply lack a belief in gods, which is different. Of course some atheists make that possitive claim, but certainly not all of them.

quote:Originally posted by Real.PUA:

Right, well he told me the koran was of divine origin.

Told me the same.

+2

i think i started to say "thats just silly" when i was taught it in class, about 12 years old?

the religious stuff that i was taught before just went over my head, along with all the other boring stufff, i felt didn't need to be said

i honestly never believed in a "god." my parents are jewish, and i was raised jewish, learning hebrew and going to hebrew school, but i knew it was all crap. i always look for the logical explination behind things, and i just couldn't imagine how there could be one "almighty power." i think when i was about 14 or 15, if someone asked what religion i was, i said "my parents are jewish, but i'm athiest." now that i'm 18, i feel i can just say i'm an athiest, and not have to add on the "family is jewish" part. i feel that although it helps some people's morals, religion is overall negative. i see it as another way to separate people into groups.

[This message has been edited by origamimavin (edited 06-19-2006).]

Stewed over it a few years, then became an atheist at 15.

quote:Originally posted by AngryFemme:

Told me the same.

+2



The above quote is of Divine origin.

umm 6 or 7...when my grandmas church pulled me out of the audience and made me sing...and alot from my parents..

quote:Originally posted by Rust:

You don't have to make a possitivle claim about gods in order to be an atheist. One must simply lack a belief in gods, which is different. Of course some atheists make that possitive claim, but certainly not all of them.

Obviously my post referred to atheists who claim that there is no god.

Jx

I became agnostic sometime during the second half of last year when I constantly began to question and think about my christianity. I realized that i disagree with alot of god's word and despise the ultimate purpose which god intends for us. I also found zero reason whatsoever to believe christianity is actually true and the biblical god actually exists.

I became agnostic when I was 13.

quote:Originally posted by NoLongerBanned:

I became agnostic when I was 13.

12.

Well, my dad died when I was five years old, so really.. at five, even though my friends, and part of me, believed that it was impossible to come to any form of stable conclusion at such a young point in my life. For the sake of this discussion, I became an agnostic at twelve.

quote:Originally posted by -big_Z-:

I became agnostic sometime during the second half of last year when I constantly began to question and think about my christianity. I realized that i disagree with alot of god's word and despise the ultimate purpose which god intends for us. I also found zero reason whatsoever to believe christianity is actually true and the biblical god actually exists.

Maybe theres a better religion out there pal, *opens up trench coat* Well lets see what we got here, Hinduism, Bhuddism, Islam, Taoism, well thats a philosophy hmm, 50 % off.

abrahimesker@hotmail.com

abrahimesker

I want to discuss with you in a live conversation what you found wrong in Christianity, what you believe now, what kind of a God you want and will accept, and then I want to sell you something!

quote:Originally posted by bonkers:

I stopped believing in a perfect being a few years back when I finally opened my eyes and chose not to deny the obvious: that there is no perfect being.

Just like there is no Santa Claus, Easter bunny, Fountain of Youth, etc; there is no perfect being.

If there is no Santa Clause, then who the FOK was that fat ass in the red suit who asked me to...well anyway, I think you have a very "Christian" understanding of things, I don't agree with their "Nothing and Nobody is Perfect but God" Philosophy. I believe everything, the system we exist within is perfect, if it wasn't it wouldnt be able to exist, I don't believe in "imperfection" but I do believe in all the majesty of this perfect universe, we are given the opportunity to have an opinion that some things are not perfect.