Personal Experiences that Led you to your Atheism

[Ian]

Growing up with a modern mindset, i.e. being encouraged to ask questions, including when the answers I got required more questioning. My Sunday School teachers couldn't deal with that very well.

[MiM]

I know this counters my previous post, but if we look at things more from an emotional, rather than a rational viewpoint, the babies are true believers. Their parents are their Gods, who provides for them, have absolute power (even over life or death) and so forth...

[SteveB]

Growing up with a modern mindset, i.e. being encouraged to ask questions, including when the answers I got required more questioning. My Sunday School teachers couldn't deal with that very well.

Who encouraged you to ask questions? What specifically did this person(s) teach you that allowed you to know that some of your questions weren't satisfactorily answered?

[Red Celt]

I know this counters my previous post, but if we look at things more from an emotional, rather than a rational viewpoint, the babies are true believers. Their parents are their Gods, who provides for them, have absolute power (even over life or death) and so forth...

No they aren't. They don't know what dogs are, let alone gods, so how can they be theistic? Atheism is always relative to theism.

[Ian]

Growing up with a modern mindset, i.e. being encouraged to ask questions, including when the answers I got required more questioning. My Sunday School teachers couldn't deal with that very well.

Who encouraged you to ask questions? What specifically did this person(s) teach you that allowed you to know that some of your questions weren't satisfactorily answered?

Mom, Dad and my regular school teachers. I don't recall being told to just be quiet when I asked about things.

[MiM]

I know this counters my previous post, but if we look at things more from an emotional, rather than a rational viewpoint, the babies are true believers. Their parents are their Gods, who provides for them, have absolute power (even over life or death) and so forth...

No they aren't. They don't know what dogs are, let alone gods, so how can they be theistic? Atheism is always relative to theism.

Should have used "cognitive" instead of "rational". Then do you get what I am trying to say?

[Gawdzilla Sama]

We need a third term, for total lack awareness of belief. That's the state we are born in.

The term already exists: atheism = without theism.

A newborn baby is atheistic, amoral and apolitical... and more or less every other word that has a prefix of "a" (meaning "without").

It definitely isn't aumbilical. Until the cord is cut.

But we've already broken that into "weak" and "strong", so it's not immutable.

[Red Celt]

There are two schools of thought:-

1. "a-" words can only apply to conscious agents.
2. It means "without" so it can apply to anything and everything.

I'm in the latter. The chair that I'm sitting on is an atheist chair. If you're in school 1, we can only agree to disagree.

[MiM]

There are two schools of thought:-

1. "a-" words can only apply to conscious agents.
2. It means "without" so it can apply to anything and everything.

I'm in the latter. The chair that I'm sitting on is an atheist chair. If you're in school 1, we can only agree to disagree.

But what about your dog? Is he an atheist or are you his God?

[Red Celt]

But what about your dog? Is he an atheist or are you his God?

Well, he's not a theist, so... shall we work out what to call him...?

[SteveB]

But what about your dog? Is he an atheist or are you his God?

Well, he's not a theist, so... shall we work out what to call him...?

All dogs go to heaven though.

Fuck, derailing my own thread.

[MiM]

But what about your dog? Is he an atheist or are you his God?

Well, he's not a theist, so... shall we work out what to call him...?

And how do you know that... Starting with what exactly is required of a theist?

Hint: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignosticism

[Red Celt]

And how do you know that... Starting with what exactly is required of a theist?

Hint: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignosticism

Well, my brief response (to that wiki page) is "Jesus Fuck!".

My slightly longer response is "Jesus Fuck, will people stop inventing words!?".

My dog has no church, he has no scripture, he doesn't pray, nor does he see me as his god. Unless you redefine "theism" to mean something completely different to what it has always meant, there is no (and can be no) doubt that my dog is not theistic. Re-defining what theism means and using that as an attack on what atheism means... is about as useful as debating the colour of a unicorn's horn.

And life is much too short for that type of debate.

[MiM]

I started out with trying to say that a baby has the emotional stance of a believer. You didn't acknowledge my spelled out change of viewpoint at all, but went on with sophistery about the the term (a)theist, so I thought "let's have it your way then"

Church, scripture and prayer are secondary. The only valid of your points is "does he have a God" You say no. I say how do you know that? And please define what "have a God" means.

[Audley Strange]

I first came across religion when I was about three and my mother took me to work. She worked with nuns at the time. It was explained to me but I didn't buy it and my parents were not religious.

@ MiM

I get what you are saying, in fact I've always had a theory about cultural development being analogous to child development. The idea of the all powerful creator sustainer may well be a neo-natal perception of both.