A once believer that declares himself a so-called atheist because her or she did not have their prayers answered are not atheist at all. (some of these types may be members here but their belief system will become evident in conversation)
I am very skeptical on how a believer can be brainwashed into atheism.

Atheism fundamentally means the lack of belief in a god not the rejection of it's existence. Atheist should never say there is no god but rather I do no believe any god exist because of lack of proof hence critical thinking is crucial in atheism.

Since your are new at atheism, you may lack the fundamental reasoning of atheism... If you are unsure that there is no god then you're agnostic.

And there are atheist out there (perhaps the majority) that come to their position through critical thinking and evidence (or lack thereof). Many have read the bible(s) and saw what a horrible book it was. Some have slowly come to the conclusion the whole thing doesn't work and it is about fear and control. Some were even smarter than most (like my late partner) and thought it nonsense from day one.

I’m sorry, but I just don’t accept the premise that there are people being brainwashed into atheism. If people become disillusioned about their belief in god because their prayers are not answered, that is not brainwashing, it is the realisation that they were deluded in their beliefs. We are not responsible for their disillusionment, but should be glad that the scales have fallen from their eyes and that reason has replaced their fantasies. I believe you are muddled in your thinking, and whether people believe in god because they think that god has answered their prayers or lose their faith because he has not, does not alter the fact that evidence does not support the existence of a god. Anything else is fanciful and based purely on assumptions which cannot be backed up by science.

Haha wow!!! I'm so amused by the responses. Lots of critical thinkers here but yet some of you are not thinking. Some of yll got my point and some of yll the point just went over your head. Being told what to think is very different from being taught how to think. I said "THERE ARE ATHEIST OUT HERE" who are brainwashed. Meaning SOME. There are ppl who called themselves atheist who don't exercise critical thinking and logic to reach to their conclusion. They were taught as kids or at some point in their adulthood that there is no God because he didn't answer their prayers or they failed an exam or he let some tragic thing happened. After the tragic event or just general self edification some ppl were able to use reason and logic and make a conscious choice bringing themselves out of that brainwashed state. While some ppl never evolved from that primitive way of thinking.

On another note why yll so offended. Critical thinkers don't embrace constructive criticism or challenges to their perceptions???? Or did yll forget to exercise some of that thinking before getting offended??? How did you get to the point of rejecting a belief in God??

By and large the "you're an atheist because you're angry at god" stereotype is a myth. In my experience, the atheists I know became atheists because every aspect of theism is irrational, illogical, and unprovable. That leads to doing research, critical analysis, and questioning critically while accepting nothing at face value. Simply put, religion doesn't pass the smell test in any way, shape, or fashion.

Getting from the beginning of the journey out of the religious did and into the rational clarity of freethought is a challenging, frightening process for most of us in today's society. You're going against everything you've ever been taught. You're risking being alienated from your friends, shunned by your family, and a pariah in your local community. You're risking harrassment, losing job opportunities, and prejudice from everywhere. So getting to atheism is often done simply because logic and the evidence demands it.

Once you see behind the veil of myth, you can't unsee it.

At least that's how I see it.

It's the same mentality that credits God with miracles and good things and then for every bad thing they blame the person or the devil. They're always right that way and God is always good.

I became an atheist because I chose to. I wasn’t disappointed in anything that their gods didn’t provide. You have to believe in something before you reject it. You may have your presuppositions but that doesn’t seem to match any story I’ve seen on these forums and certainly not applicable to me.

WTF are you talking about?

Your entire premise includes the belief in a ‘god.’ Atheist’s do not believe in gods…

Here’s American Atheists description: “Atheism is not an affirmative belief that there is no god nor does it answer any other question about what a person believes. It is simply a rejection of the assertion that there are gods. Atheism is too often defined incorrectly as a belief system. To be clear: Atheism is not a disbelief in gods or a denial of gods; it is a lack of belief in gods.”

I've never believed. I had a friend that I met when I was 5, his parents wouldn't feed him as punishment for his bad behavior and he would call me asking me to come over and ask his mom for peanut butter and jelly which she always made me when I came over, he'd ask me to come over and ask for it so I could give it to him to eat... His parents were Greek Orthodox and very heavily into it. When I'd stay the night his mom was up every morning with her brass insense thing, blessing every room in the house saying everything in Greek.

At a very early age I began to notice that religious affiliation has zero relevance to if someone is a good person or not. I also noticed that those who claim to be the most kind are often kind in words but not kind in actions.

I was brainwashed into atheism same as the religious people. The thing is I've thought thought about it a lot and they are right. So I guess you would just call it teaching.

Critical thinking atheist are brainwashed?

I think you’re right; it’s good to know why we believe what we believe. Rejection of god can be just as emotionally influenced a decision as acceptance. Objective thought is a hard-won skill for any person, no matter where they started.

What? What does this even mean?

Dear Mr. bluefairy, ONLY the 'Faithfools' are ' brainwashed' into religion, Atheists are the people who try their hardest to rescue the victims of religious 'brainwashing' and bring back to reason, logic and reality.
How can anyone actually state, empirically, that their prayers were actually answered since the religious will adamantly tell that " God has a plan for everyone and that plan is eternal and unchanging," therefore the only way a prayer may possibly be answered is if that which is prayed for IS already included in the 'Great' plan, otherwise this Omnipotent, Omniscient God would not alter his/her/its plan simply to please a mere mortal, ergo that orison would have been a complete waste of time, etc, because, simply, it already ordained to occur anyway.
No, Atheists, in particular, are NOT 'brainwashed' in way, shape nor form into rejecting religion since it is a fact that NO child is born religious to begin with, no child is born knowing that any God/Gods, etc, exist or ever have existed, they only hear about them AFTER they learn to speak and understand the language of their parents and peers IF the parents/peers are religious, If not then the child learns to become one who is a free-thinker, follower of reason, logic and reality.

I was never a believer. I was fortunate enough to have not been raised in a religious household.
So I was never "brainwashed" into anything.