How often is atheism a response to pain?

[Russell_SA]

In my experience, most atheists I know came to their views on religion following a tragedy, emotional trauma, or extreme outrage.

I have spoken with a man whose atheism seemed very much shaped by growing up in a family affected by the shock and horror of his uncle’s abuse by a priest, and the threat by a local bishop to the victim’s mother that the whole family would be excommunicated if the victim’s father reported the crime to the police.

I dated a woman whose faith seemed to be snuffed out by a tyrannical mother who called her a slut for coming in past curfew and a father who told her that he’d cut her off financially unless she remained Catholic. That same woman told me that she didn’t want to believe in God because it would commit her to believing other things that she didn’t want to believe either. Alas, I only discovered her atheism after we broke up!

On the other hand, I also have a good friend who grew up with two totally secular parents, and now doesn’t see any need for God in his life.

Overall, it seems to me that more people are moved to atheism by suffering than by rational reasoning alone. I think there are people whose faith becomes challenged by modern geology, biology, or astronomy. However, do you agree with me that personal or family suffering is more often a contributor to atheism than is a materialistic view of the world?

Wonder how wide your experience is with atheist exposure? If you mostly run into people as atheists that went through social trauma to leave the church, then I think you’re too isolated from the atheist community and are only running into people that are still really close to the church and are newly breaking away from it; loosing their social circle of religious family and friends. That’s very traumatic for them. There’s entire social support groups for these people because of the social isolation and abandonment from their family and friends that cut themselves off from these people.

atheistrepublic.com/

Clergy project for clergy that are atheists but can’t leave their jobs:
clergyproject.org/

I have yet to run into an atheist family that disowns their child or family member because of their adopted faith, but that seems to be exactly what the religious are told to do for people that are not religious. Really messed up there.

 

[Peter_J]

I like Advil.

 

[SuperLuigi]

Please clarify. I’ve never understood this line of logic.

That’s part of the problem. And I wish I a dollar every time someone who portrayed him/herself as some kind of advanced thinker said in response “I do not understand, but I still think I am smarter and better than you”.

Not that you are here, of course.

To clarify, most people do not spend a lot of time thinking about cosmological truth. They do what is easy, fun and cool and it usually comes with various forms of rationalizations and excuse-making.

In fact, these here forums have many examples of such psychology. :yup:

 

[SuperLuigi]

I like Advil.

Me too.

 

[ANV]

Pain wasn’t a reason for me when I became an atheist so is the case for the majority, you only come to realize that God is like all other gods and the religion that you were born into is like all other invented religions, for many reasons.
But suffering is one of the arguments that doesn’t disprove theism but disproves the existence of all loving, all powerful gods, as Epicurus says:

“ Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent.
Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent.
Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil?
Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?

 

[HerCrazierHalf]

That’s part of the problem. And I wish I a dollar every time someone who portrayed him/herself as some kind of advanced thinker said in response “I do not understand, but I still think I am smarter and better than you”.

Not that you are here, of course.

To clarify, most people do not spend a lot of time thinking about cosmological truth. They do what is easy, fun and cool and it usually comes with various forms of rationalizations and excuse-making.

In fact, these here forums have many examples of such psychology. :yup:

The way you originally phrased it and as has been described several times on this forum, it sounds like line of thinking that makes no sense to many of us. It is almost like you see the journey from belief to non belief as deciding the outcome first (I want to do X but I’m forbidden by God). That of course makes no sense to us as attempting to disbelieve something you otherwise believe to be true is virtually impossible.

As for “fun” and “cool”, that could be some, but awkward social situations, navigating romantic relationships, the decision of being a closeted or “out” atheist/agnostic is rough.

Might I suggest that instead the position is one of being unsatisfied with the answers found thus far and the opinion it may be unknowable at this time?