Why are you an atheist?

Rasheed

I don't know anyone that is an atheist and was just wondering why people are atheists, were ye religious at one stage and did something change your mind? Or where ye parents atheists and pass it on? Just curious about it!

GarIT

I have read the bible fully and found that many things in the bible defy the laws of physics. There are so many mistakes in the bible that I feel it couldn't possibly be true.

A quick example of one is where god is quoted saying "all the lands that floats on all the waters". Simply physics or geography will tell you that countries arent floating but if someone created the earth they should know that.

The Bible also says that if you ever question gods existance, even just think to yourself "I'm I sure got is real?" that is a sin that can never be forgiven no matter what you do. Therefore theres no chance of me or many other people getting in ever.

Then there is the changability of the church. All Catholocism is based on the bible, yet they think they can change their views on things freely, if they want to live be the bible they should do it right. Cutting your hair is as bad as murder, or stealing as far as the bible is concerned, so if the bible has any truth were all sinners.

If you take articles from the sun newspaper that equal the length of the bible, there will be more things wrong in the bible.

I'm currently writing a book on all the mistakes in the bible.

swampgas

Rasheed wrote: »

I don't know anyone that is an atheist and was just wondering why people are atheists, were ye religious at one stage and did something change your mind? Or where ye parents atheists and pass it on? Just curious about it!

You could start with this thread from last year which might answer some of your questions:
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056225037

Proxy

Mostly this. I don't believe there can be an almighty power or deity, I don't believe in an afterlife or we will ever be judged on anything we've ever done. I believe all we are and ever will be is here in front of us. I actually take quite a bit of solace in that.

The question is phrased in a strange way. Asking an atheist why they are atheist is to assume that the norm is to believe in a God and they have been somehow turned off it. Aren't we really born atheist, and raised/converted to be religious?

old hippy

I spent a small period of my life believing in a deity, a man who pops down my chimney once a year and a rabbit that delivers eggs. Then I dispensed with such childish fancies.

I was asked by a colleague some years ago if I believed in "God" and I said no. He was incredulous and didn't believe me :rolleyes:

Beruthiel

Rasheed wrote: »

were ye religious at one stage

Brought up in a very religious, catholic home.

did something change your mind?

Not one thing.
Just came to the realisation that religion is a load horsesh!t which is clearly man made once you take a good, hard look at it.

I was raised in a catholic family and went to catholic schools. I can say with certainty that at no point in my life did I ever think any of the religious stuff was in any way real. Social conditioning does not seem to have worked on me.

Rasheed

swampgas wrote: »

You could start with this thread from last year which might answer some of your questions:
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056225037

Fair play to you, thanks! Always wondered was there a specific thing that changed people's mind. So if you are an Atheist, would you get married in a church? Or have your child baptised?

swampgas

Rasheed wrote: »

I don't know anyone that is an atheist and ...

Is it possible (and I'll admit I'm inferring from your username that you might live in a Muslim community) that nobody you know would admit to being an atheist?

(Actually, until quite recently it was very rare for Irish people, especially the older generation, to admit to atheism. We live in relatively enlighted times ...)

rkeano5

I was born an atheist and have yet to encounter anything that persuades me otherwise. That is all.

old hippy

Rasheed wrote: »

Fair play to you, thanks! Always wondered was there a specific thing that changed people's mind. So if you are an Atheist, would you get married in a church? Or have your child baptised?

Some do. In my sister's case, I believe it was as a mark of respect to her fiances devout parents. Of course, they could have been respectful to her wishes but there you go.

My wife and I got married in a Shinto ceremony, despite the fact we are not believers. We just wanted a ceremony that suited the occasion

GarIT

Rasheed wrote: »

Fair play to you, thanks! Always wondered was there a specific thing that changed people's mind. So if you are an Atheist, would you get married in a church? Or have your child baptised?

For me personally I would not go near a church for any reason. I dont go to funerals, weddings anything in a church because of the crimes the church has committed and still commits today.

I think is a crime against a child to have it baptised before it can make its own decision. If I could sue my parents for what they did to me I would.

The Big Red Button

Rasheed wrote: »

I don't know anyone that is an atheist and was just wondering why people are atheists, were ye religious at one stage and did something change your mind? Or where ye parents atheists and pass it on? Just curious about it!

I was brought up to be religious - I went to Catholic schools, and when I was a child, I suppose I believed everything that the teachers said was true.

My parents and extended family are, and always were, very religious.

As I matured, I learned to critically analyse information given to me. And I quickly realised that the whole "God" thing simply does not make sense.

In some ways, I used to envy the fact that some people have such faith in a God and an afterlife. That, if you followed certain rules, no matter how crap life might be here, you'll get an eternity of heaven.

But, as I matured, I learned to embrace living life for the here and now. I truly believe that my life here on earth, right now, is the only one I've got. I believe that, when I die, that is it - I will end. So I will make the most of the time that I have.

Proxy wrote: »

The question is phrased in a strange way. Asking an atheist why they are atheist is to assume that the norm is to believe in a God and they have been somehow turned off it. Aren't we really born atheist, and raised/converted to be religious?

Very much agree with this.

Rasheed wrote: »

So if you are an Atheist, would you get married in a church?

Definitely not.

Rasheed wrote: »

Or have your child baptised?

Definitely not.

swampgas

Rasheed wrote: »

Fair play to you, thanks! Always wondered was there a specific thing that changed people's mind. So if you are an Atheist, would you get married in a church? Or have your child baptised?

No, I don't pretend to be religious, and I wouldn't get married in a church or baptise any children. I will attend weddings and funerals, but do not participate in the ceremony. (I do try to remain as respectful as possible at the same time.)

Rasheed

Proxy wrote: »

Mostly this. I don't believe there can be an almighty power or deity, I don't believe in an afterlife or we will ever be judged on anything we've ever done. I believe all we are and ever will be is here in front of us. I actually take quite a bit of solace in that.

The question is phrased in a strange way. Asking an atheist why they are atheist is to assume that the norm is to believe in a God and they have been somehow turned off it. Aren't we really born atheist, and raised/converted to be religious?

Sorry I didn't mean to ask it in a strange way. Was just curious since we are in a mainly Catholic country where religion surrounds us everywhere. Most schools are religious based with emphasis put on the sacraments, daily praying etc. I'm not saying atheism or religion is right or wrong, I have no idea.

old hippy

Rasheed wrote: »

Sorry I didn't mean to ask it in a strange way. Was just curious since we are in a mainly Catholic country where religion surrounds us everywhere. Most schools are religious based with emphasis put on the sacraments, daily praying etc. I'm not saying atheism or religion is right or wrong, I have no idea.

Ah but I think you do...

sbsquarepants

old hippy wrote: »

I spent a small period of my life believing in a deity, a man who pops down my chimney once a year and a rabbit that delivers eggs. Then I dispensed with such childish fancies.

I was asked by a colleague some years ago if I believed in "God" and I said no. He was incredulous and didn't believe me :rolleyes:

I have the same thing with a friend of mine, yeah but you must believe in something, everyone believes in something.
He's stopped asking me now, but i know full well he doesn't believe me!

I was never really a believer, even as a child i had my doubts. Religion doesn't stand up to even the slightest scrutiny, plus there are just so bloody many of them and they're all so different that even if there is a god you'd most likely have picked the wrong one.
In short because religion is plainly bollox!

seamus

Like most Irish people I was raised Catholic, went to mass most Sundays until I was a teenager, and took it for granted that the stories about Jesus were true and God existed. Some time in my mid-teens I had decided that Catholicism was a big load of my arse and wanted nothing to do with it.

But I retained a belief in God until my early twenties, despite having a general abhorrence for all religion.
I'm not entirely sure why. I can recall that considering the concept of there being no God made me uncomfortable. I never posed any difficult questions about God to myself, and I tended to avoid them if I encountered them. In part, some of it was pure ignorance - at one point I considered water to be "Godly" because it was our primary life-sustainer and it existed in abundance. What are the odds! Then I got to understand evolution and that went out the window.

In Ireland, other people challenging you about God tends to be extremely rare, so it wasn't hard to avoid challenges to one's belief. I used the term "Agnostic" for a good while because I was mistakenly led to believe that was a term for someone with no religion but a general belief in God.

Looking back I can recognise now that I told myself I believed in God because I wanted to believe in God, not because I had any justification for such a belief. Probably because if you believe in God, then you don't have to admit to yourself that there's a good chance that when you die, you rot in the ground and you're gone; a concept which did and still does make me very uncomfortable.
If you had asked me what kind of God I believe in, I'd have no answer for you, maybe just wave my hands in the air in a "woo" kind of way. If I didn't have a definition for what "God" is, then I wouldn't have to try justify my belief to myself or anyone else.

At the end it was a "coming out" process for me of first admitting it to myself before I could shed the whole facade. In much the same way that gay people have difficulty, I was also concerned about telling other people if the topic ever came up. A brother of mine is very vocal about atheism and used to end up getting into heated debates about religion practically every time we went out. I'm not too good at confrontation, so I had a fear of being (verbally) attacked by a religious person if I admitted I was atheist, as I would have no answers for them (which I now understand is not a problem).
Other people also get visibly upset when you tell them you're atheist, like you're judging them, and I don't like upsetting people.

I would still tend to avoid religious debates IRL because my experience of watching others is that the religious people get very upset when they're challenged, even going as far as tears. It's also quite difficult to "debate" religion without making it sound like you're calling them an idiot. People's traditional concept of "debate" in regards to religion is about the nature of God and whether Mary was really a virgin. When the atheists' opener is "Everything you believe in is a fairytale invented by some bronze age hut-dwellers", people get very offended.

Rasheed

swampgas wrote: »

Is it possible (and I'll admit I'm inferring from your username that you might live in a Muslim community) that nobody you know would admit to being an atheist?

(Actually, until quite recently it was very rare for Irish people, especially the older generation, to admit to atheism. We live in relatively enlighted times ...)

Nope, sorry the name prob doesn't suit but I'm Irish! From the back if beyonds, and I probably do know atheists but no one as ever told me they are! I have absolutely no problem if someone is religious or atheist, each to their own, I am just curious regarding how people come to be that way! I'm in my twenties and when I was going to school, we said prayers four times a day, had religion classes once a day and emphasis placed on communion and confirmation. I think it's lovely to see school that are now less catholic orientated as it's not everyones cup of tea. There was one Protestant in our school and I always felt sorry for him as our school was very catholic teaching based.

Tipsy McSwagger

I'm an aetheist but only recently accepted it fully. There has been too much horrible stuff that has happened on this planet to believe in any God. I like to read a lot of true crime stuff and surely no God would let kids be raped, tortured and murdered or something like the holocaust happen.

swampgas

seamus wrote: »

[ ... ]
But I retained a belief in God until my early twenties, despite having a general abhorrence for all religion. I'm not entirely sure why. I can recall that considering the concept of there being no God made me uncomfortable.

Based on my own experience, the big mental jump is to accept that God isn't there. Not that the interpretation of God you have grown up with needs adjusting, but that it is flat out wrong. That implies that a huge number of adults that you trust on other matters are wrong. You really have to have confidence in your own powers of reason to make that jump. And in the days before the internet, it was difficult to find anyone with which to to discuss such things.

Looking back I can recognise now that I told myself I believed in God because I wanted to believe in God, not because I had any justification for such a belief. Probably because if you believe in God, then you don't have to admit to yourself that there's a good chance that when you die, you rot in the ground and your gone; a concept which did and still does make me very uncomfortable.

I think this is a very common phenomenon. However I find it much easier to contemplate death as an atheist than I ever did when I was a believer.

If you had asked me what kind of God I believe in, I'd have no answer for you, maybe just wave my hands in the air in a "woo" kind of way. If I didn't have a definition for what "God" is, then I wouldn't have to try justify my belief to myself or anyone else.

I know quite a lot of people who are stuck at that point - I'm going to call it the "woo stage" from now on, thanks for the idea :-)

At the end it was a "coming out" process for me of first admitting it to myself before I could shed the whole facade. In much the same way that gay people have difficulty, I was also concerned about telling other people if the topic ever came up. A brother of mine is very vocal about it and used to end up getting into heated debates about religion practically every time we went out. I'm not too good at confrontation, so I had a fear of being (verbally) attacked by a religious person if I admitted I was atheist, as I would have no answers for them (which I now understand is not a problem).
Other people also get visibly upset when you tell them you're atheist, like you're judging them, and I don't like upsetting people.

I would still tend to avoid religious debates IRL because my experience of watching others is that the religious people get very upset when they're challenged, even going as far as tears. It's also quite difficult to "debate" religion without making it sound like you're calling them an idiot. People's traditional concept of "debate" in regards to religion is about the nature of God and whether Mary was really a virgin. When the atheists' opener is "Everything you believe in is a fairytale invented by some bronze age hut-dwellers", people get very offended.

+1

My mother was incredibly upset at my atheism, for a while at least, and it generated quite a rift with my father as well. Not fun.

I really like the fact that the A&A forum is a place where I can discuss atheism & religion with people who actually want to talk about it. I only discuss religion/atheism with a few people IRL, and they are all atheists too. I almost never discuss atheism or religion with anyone religious for the reasons you describe.

swampgas

Rasheed wrote: »

Nope, sorry the name prob doesn't suit but I'm Irish! From the back if beyonds, and I probably do know atheists but no one as ever told me they are! I have absolutely no problem if someone is religious or atheist, each to their own, I am just curious regarding how people come to be that way! I'm in my twenties and when I was going to school, we said prayers four times a day, had religion classes once a day and emphasis placed on communion and confirmation. I think it's lovely to see school that are now less catholic orientated as it's not everyones cup of tea. There was one Protestant in our school and I always felt sorry for him as our school was very catholic teaching based.

Thanks for the clarification. I remember visiting my primary school years after I had left and seeing it with new eyes. All those statues and crucifixes!

I remember being in a church for a wedding, after many years of non-attendance and atheism. It was weird to see all that standing/kneeling/sitting, chanting answers to a man in a funny dress ... and I wondered how could it ever have seemed normal.

Rasheed

swampgas wrote: »

Based on my own experience, the big mental jump is to accept that God isn't there. Not that the interpretation of God you have grown up with needs adjusting, but that it is flat out wrong. That implies that a huge number of adults that you trust on other matters are wrong. You really have to have confidence in your own powers of reason to make that jump. And in the days before the internet, it was difficult to find anyone with which to to discuss such things.



I think this is a very common phenomenon. However I find it much easier to contemplate death as an atheist than I ever did when I was a believer.



I know quite a lot of people who are stuck at that point - I'm going to call it the "woo stage" from now on, thanks for the idea :-)



+1

My mother was incredibly upset at my atheism, for a while at least, and it generated quite a rift with my father as well. Not fun.

I really like the fact that the A&A forum is a place where I can discuss atheism & religion with people who actually want to talk about it. I only discuss religion/atheism with a few people IRL, and they are all atheists too. I almost never discuss atheism or religion with anyone religious for the reasons you describe.

I enjoy this forum too, although I'm not an atheist, I'm fascinated by both religion and atheism. I like the way people can honestly put forward their opinions without being shouted down.

Galvasean

Baptised a Catholic as a (defenseless!) baby and sent to Catholic primary and secondary schools.
I gave up on Christianity not long after I discovered that there were many religions in the world, each with their own wildly different beliefs and millions (if not billions) of devout followers, each of whom thought their own religion was the one true faith. Under scrutiny Catholocism/Christianity was every bit as outlandish in my eyes as Islam, Hinduism etc. Once you start critiquing the various religions their 'truth' does not seem very truthful.
I have always had a great interest in the natural world and I feel this led me toward atheism somewhat. A completely natural universe works just as well as a universe that supposedly has a supreme being pulling the strings, so why invoke one at all?

seamus

swampgas wrote: »

I think this is a very common phenomenon. However I find it much easier to contemplate death as an atheist than I ever did when I was a believer.

I do agree, it's a whole lot simpler when you realise that there is no grand plan and the universe doesn't care about you. You don't take it personally and you realise that nobody is getting "one up" on you, we all go the same way. But I have still have an ego which wants to exist forever.
I'm reliably informed that this passes.

Malari

I was raised by parents who were catholic by default really. Not religious, but we did go to church every weekend. My mother being a national school teacher, had no option but to appear catholic really. I hated church and rebelled when I was a young teenager until I was finally allowed stay at home because I was being such a brat

Like Chatterpillar said, I started thinking critically and I'm very skeptical of most claims of woo and paranormal. I do remember one occasion in school when I was about 10 when the priest admited that the Adam & Eve story was "just a story". I was like :eek: "wait a minute..." :cool: Probably the start of my epiphany.

I've never been shy about my atheism. All my family and friends know. I don't mind going to a church for other's sake for weddings, etc, but I would never get married in a church.

Sarky

Galvasean wrote: »

Baptised a Catholic as a (defenseless!) baby and sent to Catholic primary and secondary schools.
I gave up on Christianity not long after I discovered that there were many religions in the world, each with their own wildly different beliefs and millions (if not billions) of devout followers, each of whom thought their own religion was the one true faith. Under scrutiny Catholocism/Christianity was every bit as outlandish in my eyes as Islam, Hinduism etc. Once you start critiquing the various religions their 'truth' does not seem very truthful.
I have always had a great interest in the natural world and I feel this led me toward atheism somewhat. A completely natural universe works just as well as a universe that supposedly has a supreme being pulling the strings, so why invoke one at all?

This, more or less. To be honest I thought Catholicism was kinda hypocritical when I was a believer, but thanks to good old religious guilt I assumed (and had suggested to me) that any perceived hypocrisy was because of a failure or lack of understanding on my part.

Then I finally got exposed to other religions. All claiming to be right, all as old or older than christianity, all claiming as many if not more followers, all knowing in their heart of hearts the others were wrong. And all just as hypocritical. That was an eye opener.

Then there was education. Towards the end of secondary school, and particularly in college, I really started learning about the world. Oh, I could rattle off facts because that's what the leaving cert trained me to do, but I really started learning and understanding the whys behind it all. And a tonne of assumptions fell apart. Not all of them religious, not even most. But once your assumptions are challenged, you get to thinking what else you've been assuming all this time. You examine everything more closely. And man, when I started looking at the mechanics of evolution and genetics, any notion of a god with a master plan went out the window. That sh*t is sloppy, yo.

In short, I'm atheist because it's the only view that I can hold while still claiming honesty and integrity. It's the only view that makes any sense. The universe is totally indifferent to your opinions and hardships, there is no grand plan or order or absolute except what you want to see after filtering it through your own mind, and anyone who tells you otherwise is trying to sell you something.

Funny to see a few "then I learnt about other religions and it all ended"
i guess that's why the other side are obsessed with brainwashing them from childhood as much as possible

Galvasean

bluewolf wrote: »

i guess that's why the other side are obsessed with brainwashing them from childhood as much as possible

Obviously. If left to their own devices I doubt many would grow up thinking, "The story with the talking snake is CLEARLY how the world came to be!"

Galvasean

Galvasean wrote: »

Obviously. If left to their own devices I doubt many would grow up thinking, "The story with the talking snake is CLEARLY how the world came to be!"

Well, I meant more in terms of drumming it into them so that when the inevitable exposure to other faiths happens, they're beyond help

Rasheed

bluewolf wrote: »

Funny to see a few "then I learnt about other religions and it all ended"
i guess that's why the other side are obsessed with brainwashing them from childhood as much as possible

Do you mean Catholicism or all religions? It's actually mad all the religion that is programmed into children in primary school, in my day anyway, don't if is different now.

Dades

Rasheed wrote: »

Do you mean Catholicism or all religions? It's actually mad all the religion that is programmed into children in primary school, in my day anyway, don't if is different now.

It's not mad at all - it's calculated.

If you don't get it into them at a young age - you'll almost certainly never get it into them. Religions completely know this. Try telling an adult there's a guy in the clouds watching him in bed every night...

Unless they've had some horrible accident/troubles/trauma and need someone to swoop in and prey on them :rolleyes:

swampgas

bluewolf wrote: »

Funny to see a few "then I learnt about other religions and it all ended"
i guess that's why the other side are obsessed with brainwashing them from childhood as much as possible

I suspect that many religious groups want their own "faith schools" to make sure their kids don't get exposed to anything except their own One True Faith.

It seems an inevitability of religion that they want to self-segregate, especially in education. Another reason why compulsory secular state education is a good thing, IMO.

Nodin

Rasheed wrote: »

I don't know anyone that is an atheist and was just wondering why people are atheists, were ye religious at one stage and did something change your mind? Or where ye parents atheists and pass it on? Just curious about it!

I was taught in a school run by Priests. Some of them didn't pass muster as people, let alone "holy men". I remember being in 3rd class and people asking if God was everywhere why did you have to go to confession to confess your sins, which seemed a fairly valid question.

There was the rather common problem of human suffering - there seemed to be rather a lot of it, mostly taking place on the entirely blameless. The holocaust in particular, the famines of the world, the slaugher in Latin America during the early 80's, Apartheid and so on.

Then there was puberty during which a number of thoughts were on my mind

1. Sex.
2. SEX!!!!!!!!!!!!
3. SEXY SEX, SEX, SEX, SEX
4. This is a supposedly natural process
5. SEXETTY SEX BOSOMS LEGS SEX
6. But Sex is a Sin
7. XES, SEX,
8. And thinking about it is as bad as doing it

And this in a Universe supposedly unfolding as the creator intended. The basis illogic of church teaching dawned on me. After a while it struck me that all churchs were full of it to one degree or another....then later I rejected all belief in the supernatural. I'd say I was an agnostic by 15 and atheist by 20.

old hippy

Rasheed wrote: »

Nope, sorry the name prob doesn't suit but I'm Irish! From the back if beyonds, and I probably do know atheists but no one as ever told me they are! I have absolutely no problem if someone is religious or atheist, each to their own, I am just curious regarding how people come to be that way! I'm in my twenties and when I was going to school, we said prayers four times a day, had religion classes once a day and emphasis placed on communion and confirmation. I think it's lovely to see school that are now less catholic orientated as it's not everyones cup of tea. There was one Protestant in our school and I always felt sorry for him as our school was very catholic teaching based.

Plenty of Irish people with "unusual" names, Rasheed it's not all Sean or Joe! And don't worry about your CofI schoolmate, he probably felt just as sorry for ye

MagicMarker

Because I don't believe in god.

biko

OP, when you explain to me why you don't bend knee to Odin I will explain why I don't pray to your god.

Sarky

Duh, because Odin won't respect anything less than an attempt to smash a beer glass in his face. Kneeling is for pussies.

biko

biko wrote: »

OP, when you explain to me why you don't bend knee to Odin I will explain why I don't pray to your god.

I thought Odin was what you used to flash your Android phone...

Nervous Wreck

Tbh, when I found out Santa was a myth, the idea of God just seemed ridiculous.

nozzferrahhtoo

Rasheed wrote: »

I don't know anyone that is an atheist and was just wondering why people are atheists, were ye religious at one stage and did something change your mind? Or where ye parents atheists and pass it on? Just curious about it!

Simple. I dismiss all claims that are unsubstantiated. The claim there is a god is not just slightly but ENTIRELY unsubstantiated. At this time there are no arguments, evidence, data or reasons on offer to lend the claim even a modicum of credence.

18AD

"If you're having God problems, I feel bad for you son. I've got 99 problems but religion ain't one."

[This message is not representative of the authors actual beliefs or lack there of.]

Rasheed

Just want to thank everyone for contributing to this, ye cleared a lot up for me!

shizz

I think I always had a feeling that something was up with regards to religion, but because I respected my parents so much I just thought it was right and didn't want to raise any questions to them. I remember being in mass one day when I was a kid thinking "Sure couldn't someone just have wrote this book as a story?", but still I "believed". I say believed but what I really mean was went with the flow tbh. Mass itself is enough to turn you atheist just so you don't have to go.

I always thought I didn't believe in a god but I also always felt uncomfortable about that. It put me off making the final decision for a while but in the end my love for science really won out. The universe is so much more wonderful without a god in it. Not to mention religion really is bat **** crazy.

Daniel S

I'm not anti-religion or anything, but as a student engineer I think logically and personally I don't think religion makes logical sense. Also, one of the biggest issues I had was I was effectively forced into Catholicism. When you're 8/12, you'll say you're whatever they tell you to be for hundreds of euro.

Basically, in Catholicism, bread turns into the body of Christ...

Eh... no.

Islam is just ridiculous IMO.

TBH, it's great that people have religion. It gives them specific morals to follow, but common decency suits me just fine. I've never felt the need to explain why I'm here, nor have I given life after death much thought.

Malari

I don't think religion came before morals!

Chuck Stone

swampgas wrote: »

It seems an inevitability of religion that they want to self-segregate, especially in education. Another reason why compulsory secular state education is a good thing, IMO.

Unless, of course, the state becomes the deity.

Rasheed

Does any one find they have go explain themselves and how do people react eg. Do people try to change your mind or do you yourselves try and change people's minds regarding religion? Would it turn off potential dates for example!?

AleaIactaEst

No evidence for the existance of a deity, or an afterlife.

Why would I believe?

Dave!

Rasheed wrote: »

Does any one find they have go explain themselves and how do people react eg. Do people try to change your mind or do you yourselves try and change people's minds regarding religion? Would it turn off potential dates for example!?

It doesn't tend to come up. Once in a blue moon I'll end up discussing it with a mate or something, and it either ends in tears or else I don't bother getting into it cos I know it will end in tears.