Atheist, have you ever believed in God?

Question

Did you believe in God and accept Jesus as your Savior at one time and if so what happened to make you change your mind?

Answer 1

Yes I used to because there were question about evolution that I didn't have answers to, but then I found them.

Answer 2

Yes. Evidence for the contrary.

Answer 3

Yes, I did for almost 20 years and I was torn the whole time by the lack of evidence (both objective and subjective) for the Christian god. He never talked to me or answered my prayers and I couldn't find any good reasons to keep believing in him. The day I gave up religion was the best day of my life.

Answer 4

not really... i think religion is just wishful thinking. Its a nice sentiment.. but it really is quite absurd.

Answer 5

I really tried to believe, and I went to church for years. I was even baptized. My morals have never changed though. However, I could no longer live a lie like so many of my friends still do. I just knew in my heart that I really did not feel such things for a "god". I now see that lots of people go to church to make friends and its very similar to a fraternity for adults. Its also easier to say that you believe than to say that you don't.  

Answer 6

Sure when i was growing up we always went to church. But when we got old enough we were allowed to make our own choices. As the way it should be.

Answer 7

Have you READ the Old Testament? Talking snakes? The Noah myth? The Joshua myth? The Jonah myth? The Old Testament is enough to turn any reasoning person against 'christianity'.

Answer 8

no i never believed in the supernatural at any time, i was  allowed to make my own mind up when i was old enough.  that is why i believe in the strongest possible terms that groups such as 'focus on the family' and their ilk who in believe in brainwashing the kids into believing their own brand of religious rubbish while the kids are still young enough to be taken in by it , are evil and wrong

Answer 9

I was raised as a Christian and remained so until age 15. Then reading the Bible and a formal education caught up with my faith, until one day in church I realized "I don't believe any of this anymore."

It still took several years before the last vestiges of that stifling faith fell off my shoulders.

What changed my mind:

- Many of God's acts as described in the Bible are morally untenable.

- Much of what the Bible says is logically impossible and without evidence to support it.

The conclusion was inevitable, really.

Answer 10

Sure did, but that was when I was young, naive and impressionable.

Answer 11

Yes.  I had a born-again experience as a teenager and felt the Holy Spirit working in me.  Later, I learned enough about history and the mythology of other cultures to see where Christian beliefs came from.  I also learned enough about psychology to see how my adolescent emotions were manipulated and how the human brain frames perfectly natural experiences according to religious expectations.

The manipulation made me particularly angry once I recognized it.

Answer 12

I once thought there might be a god, but never accepted anyone as my "savior".  I had no reason to believe that when I had no proof.  

I'm not asking for things to drop out of the sky, but I never had any valid reason to believe the same things that christians do.  

Among other reasons, that is why I am an atheist.

Answer 13

I wouldn't be athiest if i believed in that stuff and no, i never believed in god.

Answer 14

Yes

So I prayed and nothing ever happened.

Then I prayed and acted and my actions caused things to happen.  Then I stopped praying and I kept acting, and my actions still caused things to happen.

So I stopped believing there was anyone who listened to my prayers, whether a god existed or not  And since it makes no sense for a god not to listen to prayers, I stop believing in any.

In other words, common sense.

Answer 15

I have trusted God then later became an atheist and now I trust God again. I became an atheist because I had a lot of problems in life like cars breaking down constantly, mean greedy liar bosses, cheating girlfriends, random depression, backstabbing friends, financial hardship and lack of signs from God. I started thinking if God existed all these troubles wouldn't happen. I prayed all the time for things to get better and usually they didn't. Now I see the spiritual journey is not all about having things of this world and being honored by men (and women). Jesus had no place to lay his head and was dishonored by the power elite. We who are of the body of Christ must bear many burdens with the cross but on our day of judgment before the Lord we will be exonerated of sin and shall dwell in the House of the Lord for ever and ever.

Answer 16

Yes.

I realized it wasn't true. There is no evidence.  

Answer 17

No.

Answer 18

I was raised a fundie. I married a Pastor. I believed with all my heart. I had doubts from the time I was a kid, but I truly wanted to believe, more than anything. I wanted to prove god was real and his influence could be seen everywhere. I studied every piece of god related material I could find. I read the bible with a Hebrew and Greek concordance at my side so that I could look at the original text where I was confused or unclear. I studied on the history of the church and all the branch religions. After 30 years, of looking for the hand of god, I only found the hand of man.  

Answer 19

Yes, I have once believed in God and Jesus. Then, one day, the church I use to attend, down the street from where I live, told me I am a bad example of Christ and to not attend their services anymore. So, I guess you can say I became an atheist out of spite, but I'd rather be a spiteful atheist than a hypocritical christian.

Answer 20

I started out as a Southern Baptist, became an atheistic agnostic and then a believer again.  Why?

Faith, is it self hypnosis?

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;...

Are you certain there is a God?

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;...

What Kind of Religious Customer are You?

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;...

For Christians open to serious debate only., Origin of god?

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;...

(This one got me blocked by the asker) Do atheists need to remember that all religion is the enemy to which no mercy should be shown?

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;...

Answer 21

Never got sold on the good nonChristians going to h**l bit.  That lead to "why would a God who is supposed to be Love personified even create a place of eternal damnation?" which led to he wouldn't, which led to no h**l, which alleviates the need for a Savior.  And all that made me question the whole God thing...  So, in short, as soon as I learned to reason and think for myself, "God" just didn't make sense.

Answer 22

If given sufficient evidence.

Answer 23

Yes, I was raised catholic.

When I started reading mythology, and nobody could explain how myth was different than religion, I started drifting away from religion.

(Still no explanation, by the way)

Answer 24

Yes, I did.  What made me change my mind was I came to the realization that I do not need to believe in God in order to live a happy and fulfilling life.  Once I came to that conclusion, I found the evidence supporting God's existence to be completely absent.

Answer 25

I was an atheist at o8 yrs old. I tried church when I was 12. I went back to atheism within months because nothing in my life changed like I was told it would. I was still messed up kid. Neither the bible, or  Jesus did anything to help me understand my situations and feelings.

Fortunately as I approach my 40's I have a wonderful working idea of the who, what, and where I am.. as well as Why stuff works the way it does. Oh, and this idea does not include gods and saviors.

Answer 26

Yes and then I started to think for myself and concluded that religion belonged to the days of of superstition and lack of understanding about the realities of science and nature.

Answer 27

No, I was brought up in a neutral household and was able to make up my own mind.

When I was little, I would say I probably believed in God a little but that was only because I was young and didn't understand everything properly. When you're that age, you don't doubt anything your teachers/parents say.

Nothing happened to make me stop believing, it just seemed to me that the scientific approach on the world was more logical.  

Answer 28

Yes until I read some good books and reasoned.

Answer 29

Is christianity the only religion now? Why does "and accept Jesus as your Savior" come right after "Did you believe in God" automatically?

Anyway i never really believed, i did follow the grownups in worship while i was a kid but it never meant anything to me. Then i started thinking for myself at 12 and stopped.

Answer 30

I believed in god but never Jesus. I was raised Jewish, and was fairly religious. But once I started really thinking about it, that's when I changed my mind.

Answer 31

I believed in religion at one time, but looking back never believed in a god or needing Jesus to save me.