Anyone raised an atheist

[pedanticwench]

Raised Southern Baptist, am now an atheist.

I find it really hard to believe when someone says they were an atheist but then became a devout believer, like CS Lewis.

I sort of liken it to a gay person becoming heterosexual; it just ain't gonna happen.

[joshlyman]

Raised Christian, but I never really bought it. And lord knows I tried. But I could just never get down with some fundamental beliefs of the faith (virgin birth, having to accept Jesus to get into heaven, ect ect), so at 18 I moved away from religion. I was agnostic for quite a few years, but in the last two years realized that I really do not believe there is any higher being, so I slid into the atheist camp. I am lucky that my parents don't care what I believe as long as I am happy, and funnily enough, my sister is an atheist too now.

[Deleted]

I was raised Methodist in a small town in VA. Now, I'm atheist. I do believe in the paranormal though. I haven't told my family that I'm atheist because I know they would be really upset. My H knows but he doesn't care. He was raised in the church a little bit but it never really stuck.

[Deleted]

May 21, 2013 22:52:56 GMT -5 pedanticwench said:

Raised Southern Baptist, am now an atheist.

I find it really hard to believe when someone says they were an atheist but then became a devout believer, like CS Lewis.

I sort of liken it to a gay person becoming heterosexual; it just ain't gonna happen.

I agree with this so much. I'm not trying to start anything but just saying I agree. 

[JamaicanPineapple]

I was baptized and confirmed Methodist. We would go to church most Sundays and holidays, attend Sunday School, etc. I have never felt like church was a place for me. The things I learned never stuck and it just wasn't something I enjoyed or connected with. My parents pretty much stopped going when I was a teenager and I never went with the exception of holidays, weddings, funerals, and baptisms. I still dread going to these events because of my beliefs.

I identify as agnostic/atheist now. I have no use for organized religion and while I think it goes a lot of good for some people, it's not something I believe in. H is the same way but he was never baptized and rarely went to church.

I'm interested to see what the girls choose for themselves. We will take them to church if they want to go and try and teach them about different religions while explaining why we are non-believers. We definitely want them to make their own decisions and plan on supporting them.

[lemon]

I was raised with no religious background. My parents never talked to us about god or their beliefs either, so I'm still not sure to this day if they're atheist or what.

When my son died last year, I found myself searching for answers. I wouldn't call myself religious now, as I don't go to church or even necessarily believe there is a god. But I do firmly believe now that this life isn't it for us. Humans aren't exactly the most perceptive things on the planet, and I really feel like our energy never really goes away even when we die. Our bodies die, but not our souls/energy.

[vampsterdam]

My dad grew up in a communist country and then spent time living in the UK. He married my mom and moved to the U.S.

He used to cause all sorts of issues with my grandpa (his FIL) by telling him he doesn't believe in God. He said he didn't start believing in God until he had kids and started going to Church (which originally, was for social events since they people there are all from the same country as my dad). So pretty much I think religion became cultural for him. If that makes sense.

[vampsterdam]

May 21, 2013 22:00:59 GMT -5 toledo said:

May 21, 2013 21:36:49 GMT -5 vino said:

I'm agnostic/borderline atheist, as is my ex-Mormon H. Raising Freethinkers is a great book for us. I've always wondered if one of our kids will go on to be hardcore Evangelical or something.

This is seriously one of my worst fears, lol. Molly is gonna rebel big time at some point, and she might figure out that that's just the way to hit us where it hurts.

I feel like college is the worst time when this happens (sometimes late high school based on people I know). I consider myself "spiritual" and culturally religious, but man, some of the people I know who started exploring religion late in their lives chose the freak/cult religions. One of my H's friends became a born-again and tried to get all his friends in the small town in trouble for under age drinking and things like that. Yup. He went crazy! 

[dana2006]

I grew up in China and, by default, as an atheist. After my family moved to the States when I was in high school, a classmate started inviting me to her church's bible study group, which was comprised of expat Chinese from all over the world, most of whom were affliated with the local university. Eventually my parents and brother also started attending, drawn by the cultural and intellectual stimulations. The fact that there were many scientists in the group and that the church was moderate was probably crucial to our conversion.

In college I stopped believing after a friend's death from a freak accident. This lasted until my late 20s, when I started yawning spiritually again. I met DH around this time, who grew up in a very conservative evangelical family. We found a church that we both liked and have been attending regularly, but we don't see eye-to-eye on many social and political isssues, and it's a continuing struggle for me to reconcile my moderate stance with his/his family's conservative views.

[Deleted]

frkls I am CT, and I am really questioning my own faith and what it means to me. Both DH and I were raised Lutheran, although I was more involved growing up.

I have not found a church here yet that I am really comfortable with. My children (was and will be) baptized by a pastor from a Congregationalist church.  We love her but she is in NH now.  Boo.

I just took a quiz online the other day (HA!) to try and drill down my beliefs.  My top "match" was a Unitarian Universalist church.  I'm going to try it, because I figure why the heck not?  They seem progressive and accepting of everyone which is something that I really want for my children. 

[Wrath0fKuus]

This is a lot of responses for only one person to have been raised atheist and grow to be a believer.

[obis23]

I was raised by parents who were very loosely Catholic. They grew up Catholic but no longer attended church when I was born. I was not baptized. At a young age (9-10ish) I had an extremely negative experience with religion and have not been comfortable with the idea of organized religion since then. I have attended services for weddings, funerals, and work but do not participate as more than a respectful observer. Organized religion makes me very anxious.
I would now describe myself as agnostic.

[Deleted]

I am reading Atheist to Catholic right now. Interesting read. I'm not sold on the "God" component of religion and creationism, but it is interesting to read the "ah-ha!" moments for people and their stories of gaining faith.

[ElizabethBennet]

My grandfather was raised an atheist then became a Christian. He actually went on to be a pastor.

[ElizabethBennet]

Oh, and I was raised in a fairly conservative Christian home and we were very involved in our church. I went through a brief period of atheism/agnosticism in my early 20's. I don't know what shifted for me, but one day I just started believing again. I realized that I missed it and that it had become a part of me.

Now I am a very strong Christian and I take my faith very seriously. As I've gotten older and stronger in my faith I've found that I've become less and less conservative. I differ with my parents on a lot of facets of Christianity but I am still grateful that they gave me the foundation that they did.

[ElizabethBennet]

May 21, 2013 22:52:56 GMT -5 pedanticwench said:

Raised Southern Baptist, am now an atheist.

I find it really hard to believe when someone says they were an atheist but then became a devout believer, like CS Lewis.

I sort of liken it to a gay person becoming heterosexual; it just ain't gonna happen.

My I ask why this is? No snark intended, I'm genuinely curious.

[pedanticwench]

May 22, 2013 11:21:48 GMT -5 ElizabethBennet said:

May 21, 2013 22:52:56 GMT -5 pedanticwench said:

Raised Southern Baptist, am now an atheist.

I find it really hard to believe when someone says they were an atheist but then became a devout believer, like CS Lewis.

I sort of liken it to a gay person becoming heterosexual; it just ain't gonna happen.

My I ask why this is? No snark intended, I'm genuinely curious.

I think that if you feel that you were once an atheist but are now a devout believer, you probably were never an atheist to being with.

The schools of thought behind each are so diametrically opposed, I find it hard to believe that you could come back from one end to the other.

It's far more likely for someone to be raised as a believer and then become an atheist, imo.

[ElizabethBennet]

May 22, 2013 11:33:57 GMT -5 pedanticwench said:

May 22, 2013 11:21:48 GMT -5 ElizabethBennet said:

My I ask why this is? No snark intended, I'm genuinely curious.

I think that if you feel that you were once an atheist but are now a devout believer, you probably were never an atheist to being with.

The schools of thought behind each are so diametrically opposed, I find it hard to believe that you could come back from one end to the other.

It's far more likely for someone to be raised as a believer and then become an atheist, imo.

Ah ok. That makes sense.

[Deleted]

I do think, pedanticwench, that a lot of people say "atheist" when they mean "more on the "no" side of agnostic."

I have a friend who says "Well, I don't yet have proof a God DOESN'T exist, so I'm open minded." I like/respect that.

[pedanticwench]

May 22, 2013 11:38:41 GMT -5 ninjabridemom said:

I do think, pedanticwench, that a lot of people say "atheist" when they mean "more on the "no" side of agnostic."

I have a friend who says "Well, I don't yet have proof a God DOESN'T exist, so I'm open minded." I like/respect that.

I agree with you.

H has a hard time calling himself an atheist (he considers himself agnostic), and has explained to me why, so I get it.

[lulu13]

I was raised only going to church when my grandma took me which was maybe 3 times a year. As an adult I chose to explore my faith and search out God. When I found that connection I knew I was not an atheist or agnostic. For me it's not about religion, though we do go to church, it's about a connection with the spirit of God which I thankfully feel in my life everyday.

[pursemeatballs]

I was raised in a very strict religious household (church Sunday morning and night and Wednesday night). I'm now an atheist, so is my older sister, and my younger brother is agnostic. I'm happy for the people who find solace in spirituality and for those whom religion makes better people. But I have a lot of anger surrounding religion still (specifically Christianity).

ETA: MH was raised Catholic and is fairly agnostic, but he tells me that if I died, he would become Catholic. Lol.

[pixiedust]

May 21, 2013 21:50:44 GMT -5 @beagle said:

I am so sorry that happened to you--I came back to the community as an adult, and I can't agree more about being welcoming to all.  DH is Jewish as well, but I have a lot of friends who married interfaith.  Please look at your options.  IDK where you live, but maybe if your not so familiar with options in your area, start looking at the more secular ("cultural") options like a JCC, or even the Federation.  See if there are any events that would be good, and perhaps go from there?  You might discover/learn about a Reform or Conservative congregation that would have a place for you.  PM me if you'd like to talk more about it.

[Doggy Mommy]

My mom was a non-practicing christian and my dad was an atheist. At one point, I really wanted to believe and become religious. I went to church camp with a friend and went to church a few times with friends. Honestly it always felt a little ridiculous and I just couldn't believe any of it. Now I'm more confident in my beliefs (or lack thereof).

My dad was almost always an atheist. He had a very tough life and he managed to accomplish a lot, but he absolutely did it on his own. He did doubt himself once. He went to his ear doctor, and he recommended that my dad get an x-ray of his ear. When the x-ray got back to the ear doctor, he saw that somehow they COMPLETELY missed my dad's ear and x-rayed his chest instead (). The ear doctor looked at it and diagnosed my dad's heart condition. My dad was a doctor too, and he thought that was SO weird. It's the only time I remember him truly wondering if maybe he had been wrong about God his whole life.

[delawarejen]

I'm an atheist - I knew I was one by the time I was 9. I do have a few siblings who are Christians and some that aren't. It's only been as an adult that I've met friends who are atheists as well, and I don't think a single one of them was raised atheist, but I do know children being raised that way.