What are you?

[Christina]

Are you a theist, atheist, practitioner of woo, or what? Got any good conversion/deconversion stories?

I was raised as a catholic but stopped believing in god in about 3rd grade. The whole thing seemed too implausible and contradictory. It was completely unremarkable on an emotional level, or at least no more traumatic than realizing that the Easter bunny was a fraud too. I don't really care what anyone else believes as long as they don't expect me to believe in it with them or preach at me and they keep it out of all public institutions.

[Latinijral]

I am skeptical of the web skeptics.

[ravenscape]

I self describe as a pantheist pagan and consider myself a non-theist. Others beg to differ at times.

[Rivka]

I find Raven and I share a lot of similar beliefs. I guess "pantheist" or maybe "pandeist" comes closest to what I should be labeled as...I'm not a huge fan of labels, though. I was Pentecostal for awhile, and losing my faith was absolutely soul-crushingly devistating for me.

I think I'm doing a good job of recovering, but I still feel kind of alone and very hurt by the whole experience.

[Richard]

I am a Christian. Non denominational all the way!

[Garnet]

Snarky atheist here. :D

[The 800# Gorilla]

A knuckle dragging atheist.

[Christina]

I was Pentecostal for awhile, and losing my faith was absolutely soul-crushingly devistating for me.

You should talk with Alethias when he has time to take a break from setting things up here. He went through a pretty intense deconversion too.

[RexT]

I guess that makes me more like Raven and Hallie. I believe in nature (whatever that is), not as being conscious or intending to make people to worship it or that sort of thing. I just believe that nature is essentially what I would describe as intelligent or at least the basis of intelligence. I was raised as a southern baptist, hellfire, brimstone or the pearly gates and golden streets bit. I no longer believe a word of it. So depending on how god is defined, I might be an atheist.

[Flying Buttress]

Former Christian, now somewhere on the spectrum between agnostic and atheist. There are times when I wish there was a label to hang my hat on, then again not.

I believe there is a reason for being here, beyond mere biology, and the whole of being is greater than the sum of its parts. I also strongly suspect that makes no sense whatsoever.


I need a glossary for all the terms I see here - deist, pantheist, etc!

[Pendaric]

Atheist all the way.

[Comfortably Numb]

Lifelong atheist.

[Matty]

lifelong atheist from an atheist family and general all round sceptical bugger.
(high fives all round) :)

[Resident Troll]

Devil's advocate :p

[His Noodly Appendage]

Lifelong atheist here :)

Kudos to all that deconverted - that's gotta sting.

[A Dead Relative]

I was raised a Lutheran, but I always had doubts. A few years ago, my doubts overtook my faith, and I am now 100% Atheist.

[rigorist]

The Worst Catholic On the Internet (tm)

(translates into a shelf full of Teilhard de Chardin, Küng, Schillebeeckx, and Leonardo Boff)

[Febble]

I think I'll see how long I can go on this forum without a label....

[Febble]

The Worst Catholic On the Internet (tm)

(translates into a shelf full of Teilhard de Chardin, Küng, Schillebeeckx, and Leonardo Boff)

Yeah, got those. Also Herbert McCabe.

[Gooch's dad]

Agnostic atheist about vague deistic sorts of gods. Strong atheist about the Christian and Muslim gods.

[dug_down_deep]

Totally secular when it comes to all political and social issues. But I believe there is some sort of higher intelligence at work, most days. Allergic to organized religion.

[His Noodly Appendage]

It's one of those irregular adjectives, isn't it? I am spiritual, you are religious, he is a wacko fundie...

[Dreadnought]

Life-long atheist, but with a couple of "religious" experiences, that is experiences which I consider to have a perfectly natural explanation, but the religiously inclined tend to claim I was "touched by the holy spirit".

[VenDexter]

I was raised in a conservative, Independent Baptist home.

In my teen years I began to lean towards pantheism but returned to a very conservative ideology once I began college and started to fear for the “eternal damnation of my soul” when I had to finally come to terms with my sexuality.

After almost two years, I was not “cured” and was forced to walk away from it all in order to save my sanity. I was more or less bordering on agnosticism but still thought that there had to be some kind of sentient force holding the universe together. I honestly didn’t give much thought to the idea of god or religion until after I moved back to Oklahoma and became involved in a support group that was bent on the whole higher power shtick.

I then threw together a hodge-podge spirituality based on a monotheistic deity with a liberal dash of pantheism added. I was quite enthralled with Conversations with God by Neale Walsch.

Eventually, I began to dabble in mysticism. I explored tarot, runes, and telepathy. I was actually beginning to become well-known as a decent tarot card reader.

Finally, a string of events forced me to look seriously at the rationality of my belief in any type of supreme being or “consciousness” and my belief in new age woo. Oddly enough, it started with the execution of Timothy McVeigh and ended with the situation in Darfur. I began to truly learn about agnosticism and eventually read The God Delusion which finalized my disbelief.

I classify myself as an atheist and think of myself as a humanist in that I try to see the positive things in humanity.

Since I’ve become an atheist, I can honestly say that I’ve never been more engaged in living my life to the fullest or felt freer to do so. I sometimes feel a bit of regret over the years I lived repressed by spirituality and religion but also understand that while regret can be a great teacher, indulging in it can be a waste of time.

[Ian Nerr]

devout atheist

[Febble]

devout atheist

http://media.urbandictionary.com/image/large/srsly-40514.jpg

[Preno]

Atheist living in an atheist society. Not really interested in religious issues, never felt the desire to read any "atheist books" or to wonder about the existence of God.

[chesswooog]

I was raised in a nominally Christian home, but I was agnostic until the age of 18. At that time, I began engaging in debates with friends over the question of God and, after researching the matter, concluded that Christian theism best explained reality.

[David B]

I was raised in a nominally Christian home, but I was agnostic until the age of 18. At that time, I began engaging in debates with friends over the question of God and, after researching the matter, concluded that Christian theism best explained reality.

Well there are Christian Theisms and Christian Theisms.

Some of which are more out of touch with reality than others.

In my considered view, that is.

So what sort of Christian theism do I have to discuss with you?

Biblical inerrantist YEC?

A belief that much in the Bible is allegorical, but there was a historical Jesus who was crucified and resurrected?

A Spongite, or exBishop of Durhamite view that it's pretty much all allegory, but there is some sort of kernel of truth in it?

Or what?

David B (doesn't want to waste time arguing against what you are not arguing for)

[chesswooog]

Well there are Christian Theisms and Christian Theisms.

Some of which are more out of touch with reality than others.

In my considered view, that is.

So what sort of Christian theism do I have to discuss with you?

Biblical inerrantist YEC?

A belief that much in the Bible is allegorical, but there was a historical Jesus who was crucified and resurrected?

A Spongite, or exBishop of Durhamite view that it's pretty much all allegory, but there is some sort of kernel of truth in it?

Or what?

David B (doesn't want to waste time arguing against what you are not arguing for)

I suppose the safest course if you do not wish to "argue against what I am not arguing for" is to wait until I argue for something. :D

[David B]

I suppose the safest course if you do not wish to "argue against what I am not arguing for" is to wait until I argue for something. :D

At that time, I began engaging in debates with friends over the question of God and, after researching the matter, concluded that Christian theism best explained reality.

Well it looks to me that you are at least implicitly arguing for Christian theism.

David B (still wonders which sort of Christian theism)

[chesswooog]

Well it looks to me that you are at least implicitly arguing for Christian theism.

David B (still wonders which sort of Christian theism)

Not to sound patronizing, but I suggest waiting for explicit arguments. I have no interest in debating for debate's sake. I will be happy to debate with you on an actual point of interest.

[Flying Buttress]

I'm really enjoying reading this thread.

[Meathead]

Atheist as to all the god(s) that we normally contemplate. With a dash of agnosticism and ignosticism to everything else.

[Matty]

Christian theism best explained reality. Isnt that an explicit point of interest cheswooog?
It certainly is to those of us who completely disagree. ;)

[Don Alhambra]

Agnostic atheist, just to be irritating. Though I was brought up Catholic, I kind of figured when I was 10 or so that it was all so much horse elbows. A few years later my mother came to the same conclusion; my dad has always been an atheist.

[Barbarian]

Fundamentalist lifelong atheist (= holds that no immaterial conscious beings - souls, gods etc. - can possibly exist). Other than that, any sort of woo, even high-density woo is welcome, but only if it makes scientific sense to me. Not many of them do, though.

[Barbarian]

Agnostic atheist, just to be irritating.I just knew it! Finally an agnostic admits it plainly!

Thou shalt be quotemined, mwahahaha ...

[fundie]

bible believing Christian. I'd like to just say a Christian, but there are a lot that of self described christians that dont really believe the bible. I go to an fundamental independant baptist church, but dont think the KJV is inerrant. The bible yes, but not the KJV.

[Matty]

so which one is inerrant? there are an awful lot of them.

[kazzaqld]

Atheist - raised in a nominally Christian home, did the Sunday school thing, went super fundie in my teens, and finally settled on atheist in my 20s.

My husband has always been an atheist; I think having been what I describe as a chronic Christian I am better able to understand the mindset than he is.

Raising our son to think for himself - I think he is turning religious just to spite me. He is working up to his teenage rebellion :rolleyes:

[RBH]

6.5 atheist on Dawkins' 7-point scale. :)

[Quizalufagus]

There's a scale of atheism now?

[Goldie]

Atheist
Raised Catholic lite (Episcopalian) I came to atheism on my own, over a period of years.

I began doubting early on, and quit believing altogether in my 20's, but...funny... I didn't CALL myself an atheist until about 5 yrs ago. I just said "I'm not religious."
I raised my son to make his own decision. He is an atheist, as is my husband. (He was an easy deconvert. He was never much of a Christian...knew almost nothing about it.)

[Wolfie]

I was raised Church of England - Sunday morning communion and evensong every week. I started to question the programming when I was about 13 - it didn't help that the grammar school I went to taught evolution in the biology class and creation in the religious knowledge class (these were the days before comparative religion was taught). I still associated myself with the church for social reasons - yeah, some pretty smart young ladies... The complete break came when I left school and worked for nearly a year before going to university.

Technically I'm an atheist - I certainly don't believe in any bible god. However, as a scientist, I claim to have an open mind and so therefore I should not be surprised if it turned out that there was some form of higher power.

I have had a number of what some would call supernatural experiences. I don't use that word as I believe that everything has a natural explanation - it's just that we don't understand everything yet. Microwave and cosmic radiation have been around since whenever - but it is only within the last couple of hundred years that we have started to get a handle on them. Scalar energy (or zero point) has been known about for some tens of years - but it is still pretty much of a mystery. It would be very arrogant to claim that we can now detect all energy forms. There well might be something lurking , as yet, unsuspected, somewhere out there in an undiscovered electromagnetic(ish) spectrum...

In the 2001 UK census, I listed my religion as Jedi - because I was born a long time ago in a galaxy far away and fluent Yoda speak I can.

[Pappy Jack]

Are you a theist, atheist, practitioner of woo, or what? Got any good conversion/deconversion stories?

I was raised as a catholic but stopped believing in god in about 3rd grade. The whole thing seemed too implausible and contradictory. It was completely unremarkable on an emotional level, or at least no more traumatic than realizing that the Easter bunny was a fraud too. I don't really care what anyone else believes as long as they don't expect me to believe in it with them or preach at me and they keep it out of all public institutions.
I came the Catholic route, too, but don't remember ever finding it convincing so never suffered either a trauma or a liberating experience from 'deconverting'. I agree with you entirely about other people's beliefs and their exclusion from public institutions, but would add that they should also not expect to claim exception from certain laws because of their religious beliefs, e.g. being allowed to actively discriminate against gays because their religion demands it.

[Don Alhambra]

I just knew it! Finally an agnostic admits it plainly!

Thou shalt be quotemined, mwahahaha ...

Well, I'm an atheist. I don't believe there are any gods. But there might be a god. I don't know 100%, only 99.999%. So I'm also an agnostic. :)

[Ray Moscow]

Former fundie, former liberal Christian, former pagan, now "weak" atheist and strong skeptic

[Matty]

There's a scale of atheism now?

1.00: Strong theist. 100% possibility of God. In the words of C.G. Jung, 'I do not believe, I know"

2.00: Very high probability 'I cannot know for certain, but I strongly believe in God '

3.00: Higher than 50 per cent but not very high. Technically agnostic but leaning towards theism.

4.00: Exactly 50 per cent. Completely impartial agnostic.

5.00: Lower than 50 per cent but not very low. Technically agnostic but leaning towards atheism.

6.00: Very low probability, but short of zero. De facto atheist.

7:00: Strong atheist. 'I know there is no God, with the same conviction as Jung "knows" there is one


yeah I'm somewhere between 6.5 - 7. In fact I'm seven with a proviso that I'm willing to change my mind if the evidence changes.
Wonder how many "ones" could say that.

[Worldtraveller]

I'm a smartass. :D

To break it down more accurately, and less succinctly, I'm a weak atheist or Hawking theist (depending on the precise definitions) with respect to the concept of god(s), simply because on emust be, by logical deduction/induction. I'm a strong atheist with respect to the existence of any gods I have seen put forth.

I do, however, appreciate many ideas of some religions, particularly Native American, Celtic, Shinto, and some of the older nature based 'animistic' type religions.

I myself have a fair amount of Native American blood (Apache), but not enough to claim any tribal affiliation.

Cheers.

[Jest2Ask]

I think I'll see how long I can go on this forum without a label....
:cool: Nice thought, can I join your group of the unlabeled not uncommitted.

Even though I think Worldtraveller and I have a lot in common (Smart-ass).

Hmmm I am a work in progress , generally Human, somewhat clueless, I will leave it up to others to affix what ever label they choose.

[Goldie]

Ah........ How I wish there was an after life... I have lost MANY loved-ones

and...how I wish there was a "Higher Power" so, I'd have someone to blame!
************************************************** ***********
Actually.... I am a very happy atheist. I am no longer angry at a God who seemed to hate me.

I can live life as I see fit, following my own code of kindness.

I don't have to worry about my soul or the afterlife. (Isn't this life tough enough?)

And...I know I can't depend on some guy-in-the-sky... so I spend my time working to help myself and others. No more time wasting prayers!

World without Woo, Amen!

I am The Happy Atheist! ;)

[pSimon]

About 6.5 on the scale.

Religion has just never made much sense to me.

[Goldie]

Yea... 6.5 here, as well.

[Alethias]

I guess I have a hard time calling myself 'atheist' because it kinda depends on 'theist' for context.

I reject all Creed-based systems that require a form of adherence to something that is not affirmed by naturally occuring evidence. That would include things like ancestor worship or other philosophical systems that aren't even classed as religions, much less belief in gods and all the repugnant trappings that go with that.

I don't think there is a word for that yet, but here ya go. I'm a discredist.

[Quizalufagus]

1.00: Strong theist. 100% possibility of God. In the words of C.G. Jung, 'I do not believe, I know"

2.00: Very high probability 'I cannot know for certain, but I strongly believe in God '

3.00: Higher than 50 per cent but not very high. Technically agnostic but leaning towards theism.

4.00: Exactly 50 per cent. Completely impartial agnostic.

5.00: Lower than 50 per cent but not very low. Technically agnostic but leaning towards atheism.

6.00: Very low probability, but short of zero. De facto atheist.

7:00: Strong atheist. 'I know there is no God, with the same conviction as Jung "knows" there is one


yeah I'm somewhere between 6.5 - 7. In fact I'm seven with a proviso that I'm willing to change my mind if the evidence changes.
Wonder how many "ones" could say that.

Interesting. I suppose I'm a 7 so long as we acknowledge that genuine certainty isn't possible with respect to any belief.

[dancer_rnb]

I'm probably a 6 on the scale.

I was pretty much unchurched as a kid,
then started getting taken to a Unitarian universalist fellowship
when I was about 12.

Acrtually talked with some JWs for a while.

Looked at Christian Universalism about 4 years back
for a while following my parents' deaths. Too much still
didn't make sense.

[His Noodly Appendage]

I'd call myself a 7, except that would give status to an unfalsifiable assertion.

I feel exactly the same about EoG as I do about, oh, say... the Flying Spaghetti Monster.

[DMB]

I decided I was an atheist at 14. When I was 17 I decided I was a Humanist, and that's what I feel comfortable with. Humanism was desribed by someone I greatly respect as "rationalism in the service of compassion". Of course, I don't always manage to live up to the ideals.

I belong to quite a few atheist/rationalist/secularist/Humanist organisations. I am sporadically active in international Humanism via the International Humanist and Ethical Union (http://www.iheu.org/).

I half-jokingly described myself in my profile as a "militant Humanist". I am a Humanist, but what I am militant about is secularism. It seems as though the battle against encroaching theocracy is never won and has to be refought every generation. I really have no serious problem with religious belief as a private thing, but all sorts of problems with attempts at religious governance of society.

[kiwimac]

Between 2.5 and 3 0n the 'Dawkins Scale.' Oh, and an Antipodean Rascal (well, according to Ravenscape anyway!) :D

[Lucretius III]

Humanist first ,atheist second is how I prefer to call myself ,but for short often just say atheist .
Born and raised a Catholic ,my mothers side of the family were Catholics from since before the C of E existed as a Protestant church and retained their Catholicism through all the times of persecution ,they were in fact involved in hiding priests etc .etc (One of them actually met St. Edmund Arrowsmith the English Catholic martyr).
My dad's family were Welsh Methodists including several lay preachers and while he converted to the Catholic faith to marry my mum, he never went to church much after that ,I now think he was a "silent atheist" to be honest.
I was once very very "religious" so much so that I considered becoming a Catholic priest (I have a cousin who is one and my best friend from primary school is a priest as well ),but thanks to a good general education in both sciences and arts at a Catholic Grammar school I found myself applying the principles of proper "scholarship" to religion as well and by the time I was 14 or 15 I found I was an atheist ,there was no blinding light sudden deconversion, it just sort of gradually took hold.

[nygreenguy]

Finally, a string of events forced me to look seriously at the rationality of my belief in any type of supreme being or “consciousness” and my belief in new age woo. Oddly enough, it started with the execution of Timothy McVeigh and ended with the situation in Darfur. I began to truly learn about agnosticism and eventually read The God Delusion which finalized my disbelief.

I classify myself as an atheist and think of myself as a humanist in that I try to see the positive things in humanity. Sounds recent, congrats!

Since I’ve become an atheist, I can honestly say that I’ve never been more engaged in living my life to the fullest or felt freer to do so. I sometimes feel a bit of regret over the years I lived repressed by spirituality and religion but also understand that while regret can be a great teacher, indulging in it can be a waste of time.
qft, agree 100%


Oh yeah, I was a JW for 26 years and now a strong atheist.

[JackRussell]

I feel fortunate having never had any religious indoctrination nor any religious beliefs. It helps having atheist parents, which I guess parallels many religious people just absorbing their parents' beliefs.

I would say that on the Richard Dawkins scale I am a 6.9.

I have, out of interest, attended various churches and synagogues in my earlier life and did sincerely try all that ASK, SEEK, KNOCK stuff. All I can say is that the silence was deafening. I just consider religion a failed experiment, it certainly is for me and my family and I remain intensely dismayed at the harm religion causes for many individuals and for society as a whole.

Anyway, thats my two cents worth:)

[Gary Hurd]

Science is atheistic just as plumbing and automotive mechanics are atheistic. This doesn't require plumbers or scientists to be atheists. This is where I disagree with the professional evangelical atheists. I can imagine a deity that is able to mess with creation, but would rather not, except as an amusement. This is a personal huberis, as this is how I view such events as my front yard, and the lichen that grow on my truck.

So, as science cannot exclude the possible existance of deities, any more than require them, I am agnostic.

The scriputre of Judea is interesting literature, but nothing more than that. Hindu vedas even less sophisticated. Mohammad's Quran is on the same level as the crap written by L. Ron Hubbard. I wish there was a way they could be locked in mutual flagellation for a large part of eternity. The New Testament is the collected works of the same class of people who today think that Elvis and Jimmy are still alive.

I cannot think of a single reason that any of us will exist eternally. But then I cannot think of a single reason any of us exist at all. This strikes at the heart of Decart's dualism. There is no reason that a material existance must have a spiritual existance inorder to be self-aware. But in an infinite existance, there is no reason not to.

[Zebulon]

My father was nonpracticing Catholic, and my mother a secular Jew. I was raised nominally Catholic, and went to four years of Catholic high school, for the quality of the private school education, not for the religion. Still, I did emerge with some vague sense of Catholic identity.

I toyed with skepticism in college, but it was too scary for me at the time, and I retreated from it. I began to question what I professed to believe after a childhood friend of mine was killed by a drunk driver. The more I read about Catholicism and Christianity, the less sense it made to me. Since I had the maternal Jewish ancestry, I decided to explore that. That took me from three divine persons down to one divine person.

I flirted for a while with a liberal variety of Modern Orthodoxy. But my skepticism about human interpreters of scripture, and about the truth of any sort of divine revelation, continued to increase. I went from Reform (theistic) to Reconstructionist (in Judaism, a liberal denomination without belief in a personal god) to a kind of pantheistic humanism, to finally recognizing that there was no practical distinction between what I now believed and atheism.

I'm now a happy and well-adjusted atheist. No more cognitive dissonance between "faith" and reason. No more unreasonable guilt for doing perfectly normal and harmless things. And my moral/ethical compass remains fully functional. :)

[The AntiChris]

Strong atheist (6.999 on the DS).

Chris

[stumpjumper]

Christian.

[Pavlov's Dog]

I am a Bertrand Russell Agnostic. Technically an agnostic, but practically an atheist.

[ninewands]

"Semi-soft" (lack of belief, tending to denial) atheist as a matter of faith. Agnostic as a matter of fact. Secular humanist in my belief system.

Contrast that with my misspent youth. Born, raised and educated among the Southern Baptists during the days when the "moderate" wing of the denomination held sway, I was spoon-fed evolution (both parents and my grandfather, the Southern Baptist minister, had science degrees) with my baby cereal and raised as a hard-core church-state separationist.

Is it any wonder that when I got into really reading the Bible in the 1960's and 1970's followed by the fundies taking over the SBC in the 1980's that I de-converted?

[Jamstar]

I'm an Agnostic and I highly doubt that will be changing. I find all atheism vs theism debates pointless aside from one's where the atheists hand the Christians the spankin' of the century (which is a pretty big deal to them seeing as there is only 60 of them). I do know one thing for sure, if there is a God It is either not involved with Earth or is judgemental, although not in the Christian sense since that's just retarded.

[A Dead Relative]

Wonder how many "ones" could say that.I bet that number is pretty low.

And on the note of the scale, I'm a strong 7.

[VoxRat]

Lifelong atheist here :)

Kudos to all that deconverted - that's gotta sting.
I was raised Episcopalian. My father was a very conservative, very Anglican, British expatriate. I took it very seriously until I was about 14, at which point my appreciation of the illogic, improbability, and inconsistencies began to overtake my trust that the priests (many of whom I still admire, though not for their religion) and my father were wiser and knew a lot more than I did. But it was a gradual process, not a slap in the face kind of thing.

In other words, no, it didn't sting. But that may be partly because - aside from being a gradual process - it occurred when it was "supposed" to: during adolescence, when one's understanding of a lot of things undergoes a metamorphosis. And it may be partly because Anglicans - at least the strain I grew up with - are not fundies, or biblical literalists.

I've always had mixed feelings about the word "atheist". Personally, I embrace it. It just means "without-god-ist". It describes what I'm not. I like that quote: "atheism is a religion the same way not collecting stamps is a hobby". But I know a lot of people automatically picture angry, militant, chip-on-their-shoulder, ranters and ravers with "issues" when they hear the word.

But who knows what residual effect having been raised a regular church-goer has? Maybe it's "imprinted" in ways that can't be erased. Maybe a completely, truly, atheist society really isn't sustainable - as the fundies are often telling us. I think they're wrong, but I don't know that. Maybe in order to be sustainable, societies have to replace religion (in the sense of Christianity or Islam, for instance) with something like nationalism, which might be even worse.

I don't know. But for me, I can't let "what's good for society" dictate what's true or false.

[Pavlov's Dog]

Also, I was raised without religion and never had to deconvert from anything.

[Gojira]

Raised as a Methodist, allegedly.

But I don't remember ever actually believing any of it, and by the time I was a teenager, I'd convinced myself there isn't a god.

Probably a 6.5 on the scale!

[Garrett]

Secular, always have been.

Both theism and atheism are beliefs. Neither one has a place in scientific thought. And babies are not atheists.

Any questions? :D

[Hedwig]

I'm about a 6.5 on the Dawkins scale. De facto atheist.

I was raised Southern Baptist here in Oklahoma. I left the church at fifteen, wandered into neo-paganism and stuck with that until about the age of twenty-two, then I realized that I no longer believed in any of it so I just started calling myself an atheist. I tend to go by secular humanist at work, though. It tends to confuse them. :)

[sohy]

I was raised by fundy Baptist converts. This upbringing helped me move slowly to atheism in my late teens and early twenties. I am also a cherry picking humanist. I like the philosophy but it's way too idealistic to ever have much impact on the world.

[Lanakila]

I'm an atheist having deconverted from fundamental Baptist in 2003.

[Wordy]

I wish I knew. I have tried to figure this out for some 20 years and more eagerly the last ten years Since I joined IIDB. I wrote "Naturalist" for a long time but it is too academic word. I fail to use atheist cause the buddhists also see themselves as atheists and I don't want to be seen as supporting their views. Transhumanists see themselves as atheists. I dont' want to support them by using same word for who I am. I'm not a pagan or heathen and not into dark magick or esoteric occult either and many of these see themselves as atheists. I don't support post-modernism and they see themselves as atheists too. Some atheists say they are into spirituality, I am very much against that too. Some atheists say they are nihilists and I fail to support that view. I'm not into Ayn Rand Objectivism and they say they are atheists. Do you see a pattern here.

I am a strong atheist but the word atheist is so including that it says nothing about the religious feelings I feel. And to name them religious fails too cause that get misunderstood instantly.

Maybe me could say I see much merit in Evolutionary Psychology. I know they still are very new and they guess too much but it is still promising and could emerge into something supportable.

I like what Pascal Boyer do in his research. I'm critical to some of it but it is a good start. Frans de Waal is doing good study on the biological origin of our capacity to feel empathy and to have a sense for reciprocity and cooperation. Game theory on TitForTat is interesting too.

That is where I am just now but I have no name for it. some name it Reductionism but that seems to give wrong association or connotation to be a good word for it.

[Epiphany]

I consider myself agnostic atheist. I was raised in a non religious home where my father saw religion as money sucking ventures and my mother saw them as spiritual terrorists. I don't share those views though my parents could be right! I have not come across a religion where I feel I will donate my soul whatever that is. I'm very happy how I am.

[Plognark]

Atheist. Dabbled in new-age supernatural B.S. a bit when I was in my teens.

All attempts to convert me to some form of nonsense have so far failed. Parents never raised me religious. My dad is some kind of vague deist, Mom is a vague Christian, but also a psychotic cunt.

Actually, the only thing my parent's got right was to not force religion on me. I got to read about it and sort it all out for myself at a very early age.

[Magdlyn]

Skeptic gnostic interreligionist with a dash of Campbell, Jung and Plato.

[Wordy]

For the moment and most likely for some months ahead I am a
Nooby Empathizer.

Is that easy to get or a crazy word combination?

Nooby = Newbie = apprentice or beginner at doing something.
Empathizer = a person that try to use his or her capacity to feel empathy.

I support my own interpretation of Empathizism or Empathizeism, Empathism.
I guess the word doesn't exist yet. Could be to see value in applying empathy to others and not hate or contempt or ridicule. But I am still a newbie on doing it.

apprentice = One who is learning a trade or occupation,... A beginner; a learner.

[KnightWhoSaysNi]

... my mother saw them as spiritual terrorists.

:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:

Sorry, that term gave me a little shiver... Never mind, long story. Former IIDB stalwarts will understand the reference...

Personally, I was a raised in a nominally mainline Protestant family (Anglican). I became an agnostic when I was 21 (I'm 36 today). Ever since then, I've had an interest in things like the creation/evolution controversy, religions and skeptical issues.

Nowadays, political issues are what I'm more interested in. I would probably have more values in common with a Christian theist Green Party supporter than I would an atheist "Ayn Rand" style libertarian.

[JamesBannon]

Psychotic Ape (or as per my user title, courtesy of Moriah, Animated Meat Puppet).

[clivedurdle]

I think I'll see how long I can go on this forum without a label....

Now now, you are a confessed worshipper of the dark goddess of chocolate!

OK, I'm yours. I resisted the barbecued kittens, but chocolate

http://iidb.infidels.org/vbb/showthread.php?t=213375

Me?

Ex pentecostal now atheist, with tendencies to worship the true trinity of gods, IPU, FSM and Dark Goddess of Chocolate.

See Jesus as a character in a story to portray other messages - a not very interesting wet version of Hercules, thus very interested in the evolution of story, myth, theatre, ritual, imaginary friends and ghost horror stories like second coming and other end of world tales.

Current discussion about stem cells and embryos does feel like a modern sky is falling tale - interesting though that catholic church has not commented on large hadron collider - that may cause the end of the universe!

http://iidb.infidels.org/vbb/showthread.php?t=240860

http://www.exitmundi.nl/exitmundi.htm


And 7.

If we find any higher powers - for example an alien child created this universe as part of a child's game - they will also be explicable within the processes of the universe - gods by definition must have some form of externality - the word is supernatural.

[notasheep]

I'm pretty comfortable with atheist, if I had to use a descriptor. Or Skeptic, or unbeliever.

My deconversion was pretty painless. After almost 40 years as a christian, from a christian family, (childhood indoctrination is evil! (I still love my family,though-they were victims, too.)) I started having questions, primarily the problem of human suffering. Other questions followed. I was sure I would find the answers in the bible, or books by Lewis, Strobel, etc. but the harder I looked, the more apparent it became that the answers just weren't there. So, one day, I realized, "Hey, I really don't believe any of this shit anymore."