Atheists who were once theists?

Question

Did you truly believe, and if so, have you been told time and time again here on Y!A that you were not a "true believer", or that you really never "knew god"?

Is there an explanation for this conclusion that many reach about atheists?

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080830065322AA5q0Q5&r=w#R80rU2G1VzAQZSM3UAQMRgpo0mIGJuEX_lzDmQWLagtIoxGO5iu3

Answer 1

I did. I was a pretty pious child, wanted to be a priest for awhile. I used to say my prayers even though nobody made me.

So far, nobody has said that I wasn't a "true" believer. It wouldn't surprise me, though. Because I occasionally criticize American foreign policy I've been accused of not being a "true" American. It's the same mentality.  

Answer 2

Yes, I would say I truly believed, but even when I was little I thought going to church and other rituals of religion were unnecessary. I made excuses for my belief for many years until I had the courage and honesty to admit that no one can ever know those kinds of answers. I am now probably a 6.5 on the Dawkins scale. It is just theistic bias when someone claims I never truly believed, because it is subjective. I want my two dollars.

Answer 3

I prayed 5 times a day even in the mall when I had to work, I volunteered at the mosque organizing events for the Muslims youth committee, I observed the fast during Ramadan, and I sincerely believed in Allah and that Muhammad was his messenger... Nope, there is no way I was true believer. Those are actions of boy who did not really believe.

Answer 4

When I was a theist, I truly believed in God and Jesus to the point where I would dwell on them and the 'things they did for me' and become very emotional.  I felt a 'presence'.  Even after I left religion, I still believed in God for a time.  After that, I began questioning, and here I am today, an atheist.  

I think most theists can't imagine not believing in God, or they are afraid to even think about it.  To be told that someone believed wholeheartedly in God and then, after thinking about it, did not, is something they dare not do.  The only logical conclusion they can draw is that the belief in God had never been there to begin with.  It could not be farther from the truth.

Answer 5

The inevitable Christian reaction to hearing from an atheist who used to be a believer is that the atheist did not *truly* believe.  It's a defense mechanism and an extension of the No True Scotsman fallacy, similar to how they deny that Christians who do horrid things in the name of God aren't really Christians.

So yes, I have been told I was never a "real Christian" many times here and elsewhere.

Answer 6

I once was until looked around and the world made more sense without a god.

Answer 7

Happens all the time.  I will usually email them with an explanation how I came to know the truth and even then they refuse to believe I know what I am talking about when I say I was a true Christian.  

Answer 8

Yes , Yes, and NO!

No one has any right to tell anyone else what they believe or used to believe.

Only the the person doing the believing truly knows that.

They may BELIEVE anything they wish,. but they have no right to inflict

those beliefs on me.

Answer 9

I truly believed.  I felt the presence of God, felt the Holy Spirit working through me, had a born-again experience, and all the other things believers claim are necessary.

The light went on when those same things happened within a new context when I started studying other religious traditions.   I finally realized that even if my mind wasn't creating those experiences, it was interpreting them in the context of what I believed at the time.

Answer 10

The conclusion you refer to makes sense if you assume the human brain is completely rational and logical.

However, the human brain isn't completely rational and logical, and makes lots of cognitive biases.  Hence some people believe in God.

____

Answer 11

At the time I was a true believer.  At the time I knew and spouted all the same b.s. rhetoric that I read on here every day.  That's why its so easy to laugh at now, is once upon a time that would have been me, but finaly I opened my eyes, and realized I was the fool for believing.  So yeah, I was a true believer, no matter what they may say about it...they didn't walk my shoes, they don't know me now or then, so they can't say I wasn't...only that I'm not any longer, and I'm much better for it.

Answer 12

I was a pretty serious believer back in my day.  I attended church regularly, prayed regularly, etc.  I even believed in Creationism (Young Earth Creationism that that).  

Nowadays, I don't go to church, seriously doubt the existence of a higher power, and I accept evolutionary theory (the Big Bang, too).  

I've certainly made a pretty big leap, haven't I?

But...if someone wants to think that I wasn't a true believer, then that's their choice, and I'm not going to waste a lot of time arguing with them over it.  

And like drasago (first answerer), I used to go online and argue with atheists, pagans, and other non-Christians.  I used to use many of the same arguments that I see here on R&S every time I log on.

Answer 13

I was a theist until i has around 7 0r 8. I dont think i ever truly belived i just went along with what all the adults told me, as a child you dont expect that adults can be wrong about those things. but when i started to think for myself i realised it was all a load of c**p.  

Answer 14

I was a TRUE believer to the HIGHEST extent. God wanted worship? I probably still have a picture on his "Employee of the Month" wall.

I wasn't one of those sissy Christians who prays and cries and whines and asks. I DID stuff simply for the purpose of worship. For instance, weeks at a time I would do a daylight fast where I didn't let myself eat after sunset. I read the bible every Sunday(though I wouldn't go to Church- that would suck too much). And I was trying to build a relationship with a God. I did all sorts of weird crazy stuff, I literally prayed 100 times an hour(some people thought I was ADHD 'cause I would just zone out).Then I realized I was tired of it and I was like, "Why am I bullshitting myself?" After that experience, even if there is a God, **** 'em. I don't give a ****. lol

I actually became an atheist because I took a look at what I was spending so much time worshipping I never thought of who I was worshipping to. A man who only wants people to worship him? And they go to h**l otherwise? A man who claims to be the greatest good and causes all these plagues, floods and famines? Then when I thought about it, I realized how stupid it ALL was. And I tore it off like bandaid.

Answer 15

I went through a phase where I seriously contemplated entering the Catholic priesthood. If that isn't total immersion in religious delusion, I don't know what is. But that was many moons ago. The thought of it makes me laugh now. Atheism and secular humanism are the only reasonable and rational options for me.