Deciding atheism?

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~OprahWinfreyX Nov 11, 2012 Hobbyist Traditional Artist

I'm commonly asked why I decided or chose atheism. I don't view it as a choice or a decision, I see it as a revelation like discovering the puzzle. I can't really see how someone can choose to believe or not to believe in a god, but that's just me. What about you? did you choose to believe in what you believe?

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~macker33 Nov 12, 2012 Student Traditional Artist

Atheists = evil hare krishnas

~Bullet-Magnet Nov 12, 2012

I am the one to whom Pascal wrote, "so made that I cannot believe."

~TheAwsomeOpossum Nov 12, 2012

Study a bit of skepticism, and then study some pragmatism. It is definitely a decision... it's just one we are not always consciously aware of. There is a lot of base assumptions we make, and based on those base assumptions, we often end up choosing an answer out of these hard questions. But yeah, it's definitely a choice, at some level of it

~shockwaveplasma Nov 12, 2012

I grew up a New Ager/Spiritualist, and as I grew older I realized it wasn't working as everyone said it should be. Then one day I just looked at all the things my friends believed in, and thought about all the contradictions. Then it just occurred to me that if the New Age stuff worked then everyone would be doing it.

Seems logical if you believe in a Supernatural being, then you should be able to do supernatural stuff. No one can. So religion is just an Advance Fee Fraud, you pay up front in life, and you get the payoff after you die. Except, your dead.

~ReptillianSP2011 Nov 12, 2012 Student General Artist

Your perspective is not a choice in itself, but possibly influenced by choices.

~Ferres Nov 12, 2012

It's more of a realization rather than a choice.

~Totally-dead Nov 12, 2012 Hobbyist Writer

Logic guided me that way. If god turns up with some sort of miraculously obvious show, then I am fairly sure logic will pull one huge U-turn and speed in the opposite direction pretty fast.

~Mothette Nov 12, 2012 Hobbyist General Artist

Beliefs or lack thereof are not a choice. Being open minded, on the other hand, is a choice. You can force yourself to learn about different things from the perspective of people who believe those things, to understand the logic as they see it, and that may result in a change of beliefs - or not. It really just depends on whether the combination of everything you already believe plus the new idea is the most plausible of all concepts you've been introduced to.

~Ragerancher Nov 11, 2012

Beliefs are not formed by choice IMO. I cannot choose to believe unicorns exist for example. Beliefs are a conclusion that best fits with the evidence as you see it. From that point, Atheism is the logical conclusion of the evidence as I see it. I didn't suddenly decide to become Atheist, it just happened.

~OprahWinfreyX Nov 12, 2012 Hobbyist Traditional Artist

that's how I feel.

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