The more I studied the Bible, the more I thought it was bunk. I was astounded by the number of contradictions. Anyone else?
No arrogant theists, and especially some of my school teachers made me an Atheist.
(Including one who tried to teach his pupils that animals had no feelings or emotions, only mechanical behaviour which just seemed to replicate human emotion, and that therefore it was wrong to feel empathy for them. Which made me realize that:- One, if you go down the religious route you will end up accepting any rubbish to make it fit your theology. And. Two, being a complete psychopath is a big help in a teaching career.)
I would qualify (theistic teaching career) I teach people to use (testable, verifiable science and scepticism to make the best informed decisions.
@NoMagicCookie Yes It was just theistic school teachers, that is what I meant, though this was a long time ago and most school teachers were theistic in those days. I am of course talking about the UK where the separation of church and state was never a fact, and indeed R.E. was the only subject teachers were compelled to teach.
Partially. It was super hypocritical and I kept poking holes in it all growinf up at church. I have a gay brother and I think thats what fully sent me over the edge. I couldn’t believe that god who apparently “created us” and knew our entire lives and choices ahead of time would then condemn his children to hell WHEN HE MADE US THAT WAY AND KNEW WE WOULD BE A CERTAIN WAY. I also hated how people often picked which oarts of the bible to listen to and ignored others. Condemn gay people but eat lobster and pork just fine and get divorced with no consequences.
My mother died suddenly I tried to find comfort in faith, I read the bible. Got to the end and thought wow, that is a lot of hooey. So i read other doctrines and sacred writings of other religions, came out the other side a solid atheist. I had always only really half believed and assumed that if I ever took the time to read the bible I'd truly believe, and wow did that go the other way.
nope. first of all, most people here mean the christian bible when they say bible, and i was never a christian, but as a secular jew, bible-reading just wasn't on my agenda. some deliberate thinking and consideration brought me to the realization that there were no gods.
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It didn't hurt, that's for sure!
That's what I was going to comment.
Same here. The more I studied the Bible the more convinced I became that it was myth rather than reality. I find it full of false prophecies, contradictions, and just plain silliness.
No. The Bible is a story and is in and of itself unbelievable. What changed me is the fervent believers, their blatant ignorance and their inability to comprehend life without a deity.
No, but the racism supported by bible verses sure did. I grew up in Mississippi.
The Bible convinced me that God doesn't exist. The OT prophecied 1 coming of their Messiah. The NT switched it to 2 comings. Jesus even tried to fulfill the OT prophecies of 1 coming but couldn't. He blamed his failure on the Jews' disbelief in him. After realizing Jesus couldn't be the Messiah, I tried to prove my findings wrong by studying and outlining the Bible, cover to cover. During this time I came across many things that caused me to be an atheist.
The 'Great Book of the Goat-herders Guide to the Galaxy' a.k.a the bible, went a little way to reinforcing my Atheism as did my studying Theology and Comparative modern Religions, BUT, I was an Atheist well before I came to know what an Atheist was.
I questioned everything that they triedt o teach me in Sunday School and School Scripture Classes, go expelled for doing so therefore that was the commencement of my journey into reality and Atheism.
Well for me it was my awareness and exposure on science from my teenage years.
I had an interesting experience as a child. My parents weren’t particularly religious but they did go through the motions and forced me go catechism every Saturday morning. It was the very last place I wanted be and I thought that these people were nuts. What really nailed it at a very early age was that our next door neighbor was a Southern Baptist Minister. He really was a sweet man. I went church with his children and his family sometimes and the two churches were completely different. I thought right away, how can they both be right? I never believed but in my late teens I read the Old Testament cover cover just make sure I hadn’t missed anything and nope, these people were nuts!! I was lucky I escaped! ?
Seminary, studying religious history and thinking about shit made me agnostic. The Bible definitely played an essential role, I might not have made the leap away from faith without that idiocy.
Church and the bible were negative experiences for me. My college studies in Philosophy and Philosophy of Religion really opened a door and I tiptoed through, at first, to many discoveries.
The stories in the Bible that are contradicted by reality are what made me an athiest - specifically the account of the flood. There would be a lot of evidence if something like that had happened and the evidence is not there. Therefore the Bible is false in a nutshell.
I was born an Atheist.
Though I had to fake it for protective colorization for most of my childhood.
Some of my childhood friends I have found on FB are really shocked when I mention that I have always been an Atheist.
"But you almost always won the bible verse quoting"
"Yeah."
Not the bible, no, but all of the books I read on ancient Greek and Roman mythology, and the Norse gods I learned about as a child - that pretty much forced me look at the "creation" of gods and goddesses answer the questions we now has science answer! If something was unexplained, it was a god or goddess responsible. Hmmm... If humans do not know the answers a phenomenon, then they create a deity be "responsible"... Now we have scientific explanations, and there is no need for the ancient made-up answers. Easy peasy. I was an atheist from early childhood! (I was an early and voracious reader).