Were the majority of atheists once religious?

[Zetesis Apistia]

I raised this question in another thread. It is my contention that a bad religious experience and not a lack of evidence is the basic cause for atheism. I also believe that the majority of atheists came from either a catholic or a protestant background. What I would like to do is add a poll to the thread so we can get an accurate count. If you desire to add anything with your vote feel free to have at it.

[keithprosser3]

I think you may find a big factor is that in the UK having a non-religious or very weakly religious background is much commoner than it is in the US.

I can imagine that if you are brought up in a religious environment the transition to atheism may be traumatic and difficult, but for many Brits atheism is no big deal and having strong religious convictions is relatively rare.

[keithprosser3]

XXX duplicates still happenin' XXX!

[JoeyKnothead]

From the OP:

Considering the amount of children coaxed or coerced into confessing religious belief, I think any numbers we come to here would be of little value.

When one is taken to church every week from birth, it's a simple thing to have them actually, and genuinely believe there's a god, but really, what does that tell us, when it's a six or eight, or ten year old, other'n the power of repetition to influence one's thinking.

We must also consider the bad experiences the atheist encounters upon professing their atheism.


I propose any conclusions drawn from the data derived from this OP should be met with a cold skepticism, owing to the complexities involved.

[Zetesis Apistia]

From the OP:

Considering the amount of children coaxed or coerced into confessing religious belief, I think any numbers we come to here would be of little value.

When one is taken to church every week from birth, it's a simple thing to have them actually, and genuinely believe there's a god, but really, what does that tell us, when it's a six or eight, or ten year old, other'n the power of repetition to influence one's thinking.

We must also consider the bad experiences the atheist encounters upon professing their atheism.


I propose any conclusions drawn from the data derived from this OP should be met with a cold skepticism, owing to the complexities involved.

Yes but where there is smoke there is usually fire. If say 90% of all atheists were once religious is there something to that? I think it is a fair question. Care to vote?

[Zetesis Apistia]

I think you may find a big factor is that in the UK having a non-religious or very weakly religious background is much commoner than it is in the US.

I can imagine that if you are brought up in a religious environment the transition to atheism may be traumatic and difficult, but for many Brits atheism is no big deal and having strong religious convictions is relatively rare.

Yes but I want to see how many atheists were once religious so we can see if there is a connection. Care to vote?

[Jax Agnesson]

Keith Prosser makes a good point. Living in the UK, (and having travelled around Western Europe a bit) most of the atheists I have met have not been from a religious background, even though many of my generation (eg in Spain, Ireland etc) had parents who professed some faith..
For myself, the specific reasons for leaving the Catholic Church were not sufficient for me to abandon belief in God; I did a lot of searching and studying other faiths before yielding, reluctantly, to the inescapable conclusion of atheism.
On another point: Even if my personal experience reflected reality (ie if most atheists were born that way) that would not necessarily be reflected through a poll on a religious debate forum; I suspect that those atheists who (like me) have been religious in the past have more insight into the experience of religious faith, more interest in the process of questioning it, perhaps more fear of the increasing interference of the religious Right in Western political life in recent decades, and for all of those reasons, more motivation for debating with people who believe the stories we used to believe in our childhood.

[Philbert]

It is my contention that a bad religious experience and not a lack of evidence is the basic cause for atheism.

I agree, if we are talking about adamant atheism, such as is typically seen on forums.

This seems less true of the casual atheist, who might more properly be called an "apathetic".

[Zetesis Apistia]

It is my contention that a bad religious experience and not a lack of evidence is the basic cause for atheism.

I agree, if we are talking about adamant atheism, such as is typically seen on forums.

This seems less true of the casual atheist, who might more properly be called an "apathetic".

I think that is a fair assumption. I would guess that the I don't give a hoot agnostics may well come from non religious backgrounds. But the aggressive atheist seems to have an axe to grind and it is my contention that an unsavory religious experience is the primary reason for it. It really has nothing to do with evidence or the lack thereof. IMO

[Tired of the Nonsense]

[Replying to post 8 by Philbert]

Quote:
It is my contention that a bad religious experience and not a lack of evidence is the basic cause for atheism.

I agree, if we are talking about adamant atheism, such as is typically seen on forums.

This seems less true of the casual atheist, who might more properly be called an "apathetic".

And I disagree entirely. Although I was raised Christian my atheism is derived ENTIRELY from a reasoned examination of the "evidence." THERE IS NONE! I am neither "angry at God," nor am I angry at those who raised me to be a Christian. My lack of belief is derived from the fact that the claims are simply not sustainable and and such it was necessary for me to defend that view for most of my life. My own children were not raised to be religious and as a result are apathetic to God and religion in general in exactly the same way they are apathetic to Santa Claus and Zeus. They don't generally feel the necessity of defending their lack of belief when confronted by the religious, outside of a bit of eye rolling.