The Road to Atheism
You know what really annoys me? People who think that atheists just wake up one day and know they're atheists. Atheism is a journey, and not an easy one at that. An atheist really isn't an atheist until they've completed enough of that journey to be comfortable with that title. It varies for different people - some aren't ever comfortable with being atheists, and still others are more than happy to defy the norms of society. It really depends on the person.
The phases of atheism, as I see them, are this:
1. Doubt - You begin to question your belief. There are a variety of causes of this. The most prevalent I know of is, surprisingly, reading the Bible. A naturally rational person will read the Bible and think "Wait...what?" The people who start their doubts in this way begin to look into the Bible more. They see the contradictions, see the atrocities, and see the general irrationality of the whole thing, whereas someone more gullible thinks nothing of them and spreads the dangerous concept that "Oh, ignore that part! Our religion is peaceful, really!"
2. Fear - You try to desperately to justify your belief to yourself. This is why I always tend to treat Christian Apologists (people who make excuses and spread the "Well they're not REAL Christians" meme) as developing atheists. Liberal Christians, like I used to be, don't tend to go through this phase on such rough ground as say Baptists do. An ex-Baptist will struggle violently against their doubt in most cases, usually only because they've been so indoctrinated with their fear of hell that the fear has gone beyond rational understanding and is now more of an irrational phobia.
3. Uncertainty - You graduate to an agnostic. This sometimes occurs at the same time as phase 2. You don't know where you stand and remain the kind of fence sitting mediocrity that makes most atheists raise their eyebrows, shrug their shoulders, and help along the path of reason.
4. Anger - You become more certain in your disbelief and start to have bad feelings toward the religion that made you go through the first three phases. You may begin to have bad feelings toward religion in general, or just toward your former faith. You get seriously pissed off at religious people who choose to annoy the sleeping beast. You become more confident in your doubts as you educate yourself through intellectual warfare with the puny cult mongers religious. You occasionally have to tell yourself to chill out, and you try to avoid the subject with friends because you just know you're going to offend someone and have tons of fun doing it if you open your mouth.
5. Peace - You are finally at peace with your lack of faith. You may still love to debate religious people just for the fun of it, but it doesn't feel as good as it did in stage 4. You examine yourself from all angles and choose a label that fits you. Bright, existentialist, nihilist, atheist, heathen, secularist, humanist, heretic, it's up to you.
These phases each take time, though, again, it depends on the person. I've known people who go through this over 40 years, and others who go through it in a month. I myself have been on this journey for about 4 years, and am around phase 4.5. I pretty much dabbled in phase 1, skipped phase 2, ran around like a headless chicken for about two years in phase 3, and have been at phase 4 and nearing phase 5 ever since. I'm at peace with my lack of faith, even pretty damn proud of it, but the anger is still there.
So there you go. My take on "becoming an atheist" in a nutshell.
The phases of atheism, as I see them, are this:
1. Doubt - You begin to question your belief. There are a variety of causes of this. The most prevalent I know of is, surprisingly, reading the Bible. A naturally rational person will read the Bible and think "Wait...what?" The people who start their doubts in this way begin to look into the Bible more. They see the contradictions, see the atrocities, and see the general irrationality of the whole thing, whereas someone more gullible thinks nothing of them and spreads the dangerous concept that "Oh, ignore that part! Our religion is peaceful, really!"
2. Fear - You try to desperately to justify your belief to yourself. This is why I always tend to treat Christian Apologists (people who make excuses and spread the "Well they're not REAL Christians" meme) as developing atheists. Liberal Christians, like I used to be, don't tend to go through this phase on such rough ground as say Baptists do. An ex-Baptist will struggle violently against their doubt in most cases, usually only because they've been so indoctrinated with their fear of hell that the fear has gone beyond rational understanding and is now more of an irrational phobia.
3. Uncertainty - You graduate to an agnostic. This sometimes occurs at the same time as phase 2. You don't know where you stand and remain the kind of fence sitting mediocrity that makes most atheists raise their eyebrows, shrug their shoulders, and help along the path of reason.
4. Anger - You become more certain in your disbelief and start to have bad feelings toward the religion that made you go through the first three phases. You may begin to have bad feelings toward religion in general, or just toward your former faith. You get seriously pissed off at religious people who choose to annoy the sleeping beast. You become more confident in your doubts as you educate yourself through intellectual warfare with the puny cult mongers religious. You occasionally have to tell yourself to chill out, and you try to avoid the subject with friends because you just know you're going to offend someone and have tons of fun doing it if you open your mouth.
5. Peace - You are finally at peace with your lack of faith. You may still love to debate religious people just for the fun of it, but it doesn't feel as good as it did in stage 4. You examine yourself from all angles and choose a label that fits you. Bright, existentialist, nihilist, atheist, heathen, secularist, humanist, heretic, it's up to you.
These phases each take time, though, again, it depends on the person. I've known people who go through this over 40 years, and others who go through it in a month. I myself have been on this journey for about 4 years, and am around phase 4.5. I pretty much dabbled in phase 1, skipped phase 2, ran around like a headless chicken for about two years in phase 3, and have been at phase 4 and nearing phase 5 ever since. I'm at peace with my lack of faith, even pretty damn proud of it, but the anger is still there.
So there you go. My take on "becoming an atheist" in a nutshell.