I am a born-again atheist. As way of a prefix I should explain that an atheist does not necessarily say "There is no God" but "I do not believe there is a God."

The way I see it is this:

When I was born I knew nothing about God or anything else for that matter. I was terribly young at the time.

I grew up in nappies (diapers) learning many things. I didn't know I was learning, but learning I must have been. As I became a toddler I learned from my mothers knee how to eat and drink and lots of very useful things like learning how to walk and even talk!

I learned how to say my prayers and so forth. I naturally assumed everyone else did the same thing.

By the time I went to school I knew my name and could converse with my fellow pupils. I only knew how to do it because my mother had taught me these things. I knew nothing outside my family or school but began to notice I was the only child at my school who did not receive Religious Education nor have lunch in the church hall across the street from the school. Naturally, I assumed that it was because we didn't go to that particular church.

Fast-forward several years. I had grown up in a vicinity where Catholics hated Protestants and Protestants hated Catholics. I was grateful I had been brought up in a good non-hating family - until, that was, I was ostracised completely and disinherited by my family for the rest of their lives because I chose to disagree with their beliefs. I'm still alive as you can see.

Several years later (this century) it occurred to me that the suicide bomber genuinely believed that the nano-second after s/he pulls the trigger s/he would be in paradise, just as much as every Christian believes s/he is going to be in a "heaven" or "with the Lord" when s/he "passes on".

I saw sects, cults, Christian and non-Christians almost all behaving in one way or another in a hypocritical fashion.

Only two years ago I was still unsure whether I was agnostic or an atheist. That is, until I got an e-mail from a University Professor of Philosophy (who I have now met several times) who wrote thus:

"As to being an atheist, my position is this: I'm a small creature with what remains of a brain, and for me to make a cosmic claim of the non-existence of anything would be absurd.

"At the same time I won't believe what I haven't any reason to believe, and I have found no reason whatever to believe in any kind of God. So it isn't that I believe there isn't a God exactly, it's just that I don't believe there is one. It's an important difference.

"In my experience, 'believers' have lower standards of evidence than I have, but there's not much I can do about that."

That's powerfully put and that is why I now call myself an atheist.

In my experience is the hypocrisy within the christian belief, and other religion. When i was young i had no choice to indulge my self in the so call JW beliefs, also Christian faith, I would see so many religious believers do the unjust behind closed doors, They go to church and speak about the son of GOD

and every one is going to heaven if they dont trust in the name of Jesus, Also i use to get confused, because in the black culture, They would call Jesus" "God" and then say and praise jesus more than GOD. They have the so called "Holy ghost," believing that the sprit of God within them, behind closed doors" again" Hyporcoicy is every were,

"Again" JW are hypricrist too, There Rules are unbelievable, "I think that if you truly belive " then belive something that is for real. We as human beings are not perfect. most religions expect us as humans to abide by the rules of religion,

Im a free Sprit, and i do belive in the universe. I guess that what made me an Agnostic, Because of the Hypocrisy and not seeing the unforseen, The black Mulisms don't belive in mix racing, I could not understand that because the human race are all equal to me.

There are many issues I have in my unsuccessful attempts to accept religion in my youth. The first is that it is extremely difficult, maybe impossible, for me to simply be a believer. To have faith alone, and to blindly accept that there is a God, without any semblence of proof.

Secondly, people seem quick to praise the works of the Lord. For instance, when they experience a wondrous sunset, or when something fortunate happens to a person or family. This is evidence of God they say.

But, when a child is stricken with incurable cancer, or a mother is killed by a drunken driver, is that the work of God, too? Is God behind deadly bacteria or viruses, and starvation and inhumanity? The given reply is always "no". Why not? If God is so merciful and good, why did He allow these things to happen in the first place? Why did He not put an end to all bad or evil things?

And, amongst the Christian Churches, why are there so many denominations all believing that theirs is the only right way?

Then, I never knew why we should pray to a God that could read our mind in any case. Let alone give up part of Sunday to worship Him. Surely the Lord is not so vain that He needs our formal adulation.

Nothing made me leave the catholic religion and become an atheist 46 years ago. I could not find the answers from priests, most of whom could only warn me of eternal damnation anyways. So instead of studying what the college I was attending, I studied my belief structure. I did have some help from a catholic priest and from a methodist minister, but in the end I never could take that leap of faith to belief.

Should I be an agnostic or an atheist, well I debated that for a while and it was clear to me that I was not in doubt about the existence of an higher being than the physical laws of the universe.

So atheism fits and I am comfortable with that fit.

peace....

Hi,just joined the group. I have to say that the more I read and learn about science and nature and the brain and how little we really know about these things, the less and less inclined I am to believe in anything supernatural. I take far greater comfort in knowing whatever is left of my body will remain right here on this earth that I love, being breathed in and out and swirled around with everyone else than I would in some far off idea of a "heaven" (or hell :->)

Welcome ElleM.

What is the right way?