Given the majority sentiment that there can be no evidence in favor of a god, I began wondering why many of my readers are atheists. If one is an atheist because of a lack of evidence for god, that presumes that there could have been evidence in favor of god. Even if you reject gods because—as Grayling argues, and I agree—they’re so obviously man made, well, that too is empirical evidence against a god hypothesis.
I conclude that many readers are atheists because they simply feel that it’s logically impossible for there to be a god, or because the very concept of god is incoherent. Maybe I’m mistaken, though, so I throw this question out to readers, soliciting their views. I do this in all seriousness, as I’m trying to understand. I’d be delighted if you’d answer this question in the comments:
Why are you an atheist? Does it have anything to do with a lack of evidence for god, or are there other factors involved?
It’s only fair for me to answer as well, and it’s completely due to a lack of evidence. The scenario, in which I suddenly realized at age 17 that there was nothing supporting the existence of god, is described in a 2008 Chicago Tribune piece by Jeremy Manier, and reprinted at the Dawkins website.
Or maybe this is the reason:
(Cartoon from SMBC, h/t to Carl)
Note: The title of this post is taken from Russell Blackford and Udo Schuklenk’s excellent book 50 Voices of Disbelief, in which some of my readers have already published their reasons.
I feel that I have always been an atheist. I grew up in a protestant household and my grandfather was a protestant minister. I was never really forced to be a believer, although when I was younger my parents did take me to church and send me to Sunday school, but none of it took hold of me. I read Popular Science, Popular Mechanics, Omni, Mad, and Nat. Geo. as a tween, so I suppose it was just a foregone conclusion that I would not go the “way of the light” so to speak. I am into tangible evidence and religion simply does not provide it. We are all animals with basic instincts, and when I think about religion, my instincts tell me to stay away or don’t take it too seriously, especially when you correlate the behaviors of religious people to their own belief systems. They don’t even take their own religion seriously enough to follow their own religion. So why should I?
Around age 10-12, the idea of evolution just seemed so much more fascinating to me. Religion didn’t make any sense at all. It failed to explain anything. Religion often fails to even explain itself!
You’ve got quite a large number of voices here, Jerry, but one more couldn’t hurt.
I was raised in a liberal form of Catholicism, and was quite good at it – winning awards for being an outstanding catholic youth. Looking back now, I realize that religious groups were the only outlet available for the deep, philosophical ruminations rattling around in my teenage head.
I entered college joined a genetic christian group because there were alot of cute girls there, but found them to paradoxically be the most anti-catholic people on campus. For them, church was not about addressing hard questions about nature or living the good life, but about good ol’ collegiate camaraderie wrapped in mindless praise verses. I became…disenchanted…with the whole endeavor.
I entered graduate school in an EEB program, and read Massimo Pigliucci’s book “Denying Evolution,” which introduced me to many of the arguments that have been raging between science and faith, and I began reading blogs and participating in online debates on evolution. Fundamentalists essentially told me that in order to be religious and consistent, I had to believe things that the bible said about the universe that were demonstrability false – that I can’t pick and choose which parts of the bible I want to accept. I eventually realized that they were right.
To answer your question explicitly, Jerry, I BECAME an atheist because through a graduate education in science, I realized that the claims of religions and observations of the natural world are incompatible, and that there is no need to assume any gods to explain life, the universe, and everything. I REMAIN an atheist because of the lack of evidence for any gods. I think I needed to those experiences in college to “break the spell” of religion, although most are not that lucky.
Never was a believer in any gods so I can say I never could understand how someone could actually buy into the dogma. I see to much evidence to believe in any gods such as cancer, natural disasters, death etc.
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