Question: How many of my fellow atheists had a religious upbringing? If one had one, when did it wash out?

[NNadir]

I didn't write things down, but I had very religious parents, albeit gentle (mostly) parents, but at some point I rejected the whole damn thing. I would guess it hit me in my early teens that I was an atheist. I may have slipped back and forth, particularly around the time of my mother's death, for a while, but by my 30's my atheism was firmly settled.

If willing, comment on how it was for you?

[no_hypocrisy]

1. Raised Jewish by agnostic parents.

Sent me to Sunday School to learn what they didn't know.

Only went to Temple twice a year.

Ate Matzoh at Passover. Lit the Menorah at Channukah.

Nearly all the other congregants at Temple treated us with contempt for not being "Jewish" enough.

I left over a five-year period. 1979 - Solo trip to Europe. Viewed a synagogue destroyed and not rebuilt in Augsburg. Went to Dachau. Decided there couldn't be a God that would allow this to happen. 1984 - Sitting with my parents at Yom Kippur services (Day of Atonement). Mindless intoning responses. And it came to me: I wasn't sorry and had no need to "atone" to anyone for anything. I apologized once and promised to do better. I was hungry and unapologetic. I got up and left the Temple and never returned.

I am now connected with Ethical Culture. Believe it or not there are a lot of wayside Jews who have gravitated to EC. I'm a humanist. If anyone wants to be Jewish or whatever, I have no gripe with them. It's their Truth, not mine.

[NNadir]

2. Robert Oppenheimer, as you may know, was in the ethical culture movement as a child.

I have never got around to reading Kai Bird's biography of Oppenheimer, on which the film is based, except in excerpts, although it's in my personal library. I believe I read an excerpt describing his exposure to ethical culture as a child and teenager.

I'm actually not sure where he was on the religious spectrum as a man.

For my birthday, which involved a trip to a bookstore to buy 3 books (that morphed into 5 books) I picked up a book comparing Einstein with Oppenheimer. As the books I collected are a treasure of riches, I've only read excerpts of each.

Probably the first I'll read more deeply will not be that book, but rather Plato and the Tyrant. It seems rather relevant to the age of the Orange Pedophile in the White House.

[trueblueinmo]

3. Religious upbringing

Went to Baptist college. Had to take a religious history class and decided it was all BS

[Faux pas]

4. Raised catholic got wise

around 12 years old. During weekly confession, I wondered why I was sitting in the dark telling some guy I lied to my mother when god was supposed to be "all knowing and all forgiving"? Claimed to be agnostic for years and finally owned the fact that I'm really an atheist

[anciano]

5. Agnostic here....

I was raised as a preacher's kid in a Baptist church. Became an Episcopalian as a young adult, but drifted back to the Baptist church when I got married because she was Baptist.
Once divorced, however, I began to try to sort things out because the whole religious thing just didn't seem to make sense to me.
A book that had a profound influence on me was "The Age of Reason" by Thomas Paine. Although Paine was a Deist and I liked his book, I still couldn't accept the basic Deism concept of a big guy in the sky just kicking back and watching things happen.
It was not until I read "Meditations" by Marcus Aurelius that the light bulb for me finally lit up and I embraced the concept of universal oneness. In my opinion, if there is a "divine power" or "eternal essence", it has manifested itself to us mortals as what we call Nature.

JMHO, YMMV

[SCantiGOP]

22. I decided years ago

that an agnostic is often just an atheist that wanted to avoid arguments.
If you say you are an agnostic, most figure you are just too intellectually lazy to take a position; if you say you are an atheist, it is a direct challenge to most religious people to engage you in debate and attempt to convert you.

[anciano]

23. I appreciate you taking the time to respond...

thank you for sharing your perspective.

[markie]

6. Fundamental

Mother… never convinced, but went to seminary for the benefits… suppose I’ve always been atheist (at least as long as I can remember)

[msongs]

7. attended baptist church as a kid, didnt pay much attention to the religion part tho nt

[Nigrum Cattus]

8. Not religious at all - just moral

Father was an agnostic, luckily. As a kid he witnessed the
hypocrisy of the "church" & believers. Encouraged us to
explore whatever philosophy we found to be workable.

[oberle]

9. I was raised Universalist

But when I was 12 I began learning how to play the organ--in churches, not roller rinks. I tried out Methodism and even went to a Methodist college majoring in organ. After grad school at a Catholic university I continued playing for various churches. I decided I could be whatever religion a church required. I love to play the organ and love the music. I am now an atheist, but am also an organist/choir director for an interfaith church. I have always wanted to play in a roller rink.

[sinkingfeeling]

10. I have 13 years of perfect attendance pins from my small, rural Methodist church.

I left it at 14 and my disbelief has continued to grow since.

[Envirogal]

11. Very catholic with guilt a driving force

I was also “single issue voter” pro-life. Started dating a very worldly and smart guy, which was thrilling given I was living in a Midwest bubble town where sameness was the natural state of things. (I think I was 12 before I realized there were people that weren’t Catholic out there.)

He was an agnostic atheist, and I had never heard of such blasphemy. I pondered whether he was a devil worshiper because I had no reference point. I drilled him on various issues and his answers always were way more sensible than even my questions! As our relationship blossomed, I started to question things more. The ice started a slow thaw.

And then I got pregnant early on in our relationship. Then I became the biggest hypocrite and got an abortion. The fact that I was able to do that shook me to my core— I never wanted kids but that was overshadowed by my steadfast belief….until I needed one. I felt incredibly sick on how much I judged others and that was when the floodgates came on questioning everything, researching, and atoning for my hypocrisy. I thought if could do that maybe my faith might be masking other truths?

The final straw came when I was on a long trip to Europe and saw all the wealth of churches (built on slave labor), even in small villages. Went to the Vatican and saw the outdated misogyny of the Swiss Guards not saluting the nuns when they did the priests. And on and on.

I never looked back. The religious Reich in this country has only made my conviction stronger. I truly believe that deep religious thought that lanes political is for naïve people and easily broken once you can pop the bubble.

[GiqueCee]

12. I did...

... my mother was über-religious, but not in the in-your-face way you see with today's zealots. I even taught Sunday school, and seriously explored other faiths. But when I asked questions, particularly about scientifically impossible claims, I was harshly reprimanded with, "Why do you think they call it faith?" and other blanket assertions that brooked no scrutiny. That's when I said, Okay, a hard NO to this BS.
That was sixty years ago.
The source is disputed, but some wise old sage (H.L. Mencken?) said that religion is the greatest fomenter of hatred and intolerance in the history of humanity. Or words to that effect. I couldn't agree more. I coined my own explanation some years ago: The sleaziest weasel in the cave said to the biggest bully in the cave, "Look, you be government, and I'll be religion, and we'll have 'em by the short curlies 'til the end of time!"

[NNadir]

13. My sig line in this post, from Max Born's Nobel Prize speech..

...is essentially congruent with the remark you attribute to Mencken.

[GiqueCee]

14. Ah, yes!

I have admired that sig line!

[NNadir]

21. It turns out that it's not from his Nobel Prize speech but is found in his autobiography.

[twodogsbarking]

15. Priests and nuns were mean, especially to kids that needed some help. First grade I had my doubts.

Nuns were horrible. Horrible.

[NNadir]

20. My wife experienced that and concurs.

Happily my parents were Episcopalians, which is kind of diet Catholicism without nuns and without, to my knowledge, schools. Christ without the calories.

If they had private schools we couldn't afford them. My parents were what today we would call lower middle class, with the caveat that lower middle class people could afford a home in a good school district.

My wife's father was, by contrast, a physician, and could and did send his daughters for a time to Catholic school.

Ultimately my wife, freaked out by the nuns, went to NY City public school, a dangerous school. She hoped she wouldn't get stabbed or raped, and didn't but she says it was a near thing.

Nevertheless she chose ot over catholic school so there's that.

[wysimdnwyg]

16. Raised in a very liberal Southern Baptist church

So liberal we got booted by the SBC before they even went hardcore fundamentalist. Stopped going to church once I went to college. It still took quite a while before I recognized that I no longer believed (if I ever did).

Like many, it took critical thinking about the bible and what it supposedly meant. The clincher for me was comparing Jesus and the Christian bible with older mythology like the Norse and Greek/Roman gods. Once I understood that the only difference is that Christianity is still taught and believed, it was an easy transition from quasi believer to full blown atheist.

[mike_c]

17. I never believed any of it

My parents were religious nutballs, although I've since decided most of that was driven by my stepfather, who was a born shithead. I have no recollection of ever believing any invisible dude running the universe hooey. I was kicked out of confirmation class early on and never returned. Good riddance. I genuinely hate that noise.

[pandr32]

18. I grew up in the Vancouver area of Canada.

My mom nagged my dad to attend church more--we had several in West Vancouver (Baptist, Protestant, Catholic, Anglican, etc.) that were spread across the municipality and often hosted rummage sales or bake sales, etc. My brother and I got dragged off to the annex for "Bible School" when we did attend and were always told a story and then given a page to color. It seemed so bland to us. The story was usually uninteresting, but the coloring opportunity was more fun than being forced to stand up and sing hymns that we noticed our dad just mime when he was forced to attend. The best part was the tea and coffee afterwards where us kids could stuff on treats and run around.
There was never any discussion whether God and Jesus were real. It was just assumed and was part of our life, though rather remotely.
As I grew up I struggled to find Jesus in the services, or anywhere really. He was just assumed--a Christmas story that was overshadowed by Santa Claus and all the excitement of that time of year.
As an adult the struggle to find Jesus in anyone's hearts or minds led me to do research. I gradually shed the assumptions I grew up with.
I now believe Christianity was an invention, and religion serves as a way to bind people. It is all man-made. I stick it all under the subject of Mythology.

[SeattleVet]

19. Raised Catholic; was even an altar boy for a short time.

By the time I finished elementary school I had pretty well realized that it was all bullshit. Neither of my parents were particularly religious - they sent the 3 kids off to church on Sunday mornings until we finally fell away from it - sort of tapered off, with no strong feelings of a belief in a sky-daddy.

In high school I went through the usual 'seeking' phase and explored other religions, eventually coming to the realization that they were all pretty much different flavors of bullshit.

While in the Air Force basic training we weren't explicitly *required* to attend church, but the TI's made it clear that we should either pick a service to attend or we would stay in the dorm scrubbing floors and toilets. I discovered American Atheists while I was stationed in Germany and immediately joined. Went to several of their annual conventions when I got back to this side of the pond. Was a little strange at first - especially in the DC area where there were a lot of military and government employees, and some folks would almost duck under the table if they saw a camera. Didn't take too long before everyone realized that it was OK to be open about it.

Moved back to the NYC area after 12 years in the USAF, and was a very active member of the NYC Chapter…newsletter editor, staffing an 'info table' by a Central Park entrance, etc.

Got harassed while sitting at a sidewalk cafe having lunch with a few other attendees at the Denver convention. Dr. Madalyn Murray O'Hair spoke on the Capitol steps, but changed her wardrobe on the advice of the local police - they asked that she wear white instead of the red she had planned so they could more easily see if she got shot. (Yeah, fun times!)

Haven't set foot in a church in probably 50 years now, except for weddings and funerals, and will sit respectfully but not participate in any of the prayer, etc.

[rurallib]

24. 12 years of Catholic schools and parents that purported to be very religious

but were very hypocritical in their behavior. Drinking, partying, swearing and running around - their behavior and that of the priests had me questioning by the age of 12. Molested by a priest at age 14.

Some to whom I have told my story seize on the molestation as the motive behind becoming atheist. it had only a little to do with it. The molestation only served as an example of how 'religious' used their religion to justify almost anything.

Like many, as I matured in high school the questions on the BS of religion caused me to question all they tried to sell me. I wasn't buying.

I tried some protestant religions but they were even more bullshit that Catholicism. Never really took a firm stand until my late 30s because I never really gave religion much thought until people tried to push their version on me and I had to take a position.

Had one person I had to work closely with for about 5 years who was very religious. I finally told him one day to leave his gawd at the door or we would have problems.

When our kids were young we had them go to Sunday schools for about two years. I fancy stopped that realizing that it was probably doing more harm than good. Had talks with them through high school and beyond where I told them I don't believe but you can do whatever you want. Told them they should at least learn about religion and its history because it was probably the biggest influence on humanity there ever was.

I have two brothers and their wives that seem to be pretty religious. I avoid talking religion with them because I am afraid they would go bonkers if I said I was atheist.

[GigiLeigh]

25. Southern Baptist

Raised southern Baptist. Was in church on Wednesdays and twice on Sunday. I sang in the youth choir and adult choir. I taught Sunday School and Awana. I left the church after reading a book. The Bible. After reading the bible I could no longer believe the propaganda I had been fed and fed to others. God of the bible was not a great guy. I had always asked questions as a child about things that bothered me about the scripture, but of course, was reprimanded every time.

Then I looked into how the bible was put together. There was nothing divine about it. Just a bunch of old men cherry picking the propaganda they wanted to push out.

Literally everything that has happened in the religious world since then has convinced me I made the right choice.

I don't consider myself atheist or any other label some might want to apply. I do believe we have a consciousness that links to a source but it isn't a sky daddy who judges.

I mostly just try to live a fulfilled life that is kind to others for my own sake, not to get into "heaven."

[NNadir]

27. My oldest son nearly went insane from reading that book.

He was 17. How or why he read it I never found out; we do have a few copies around the house, family heirlooms.

My wife and I were very concerned and took him to a psychiatrist who wanted to medicate him. He tried Prozac once, became suicidal and quit it. (The interesting thing was he autodidactically educated himself on neurophysiology without much of a a scientific education other than that which I forced down his throat. He got to a point where he could give very sophisticated lectures on brain chemistry. )

Eventually he intellectually muscled his way out of it, and went on to become a high functioning adult.

Why this happened I have no idea. We seldom, if ever discussed religion in my home, except in a largely negative offhand way. Possibly it involved his fundementalist Aunt.

We don't discuss it now.

I did read that book as a child. Much of it is truly appalling.

[Srkdqltr]

26. Raised Catholic. Family still is. Went to Catholic school 12 years.

I never believed. I don't know exactly what to believe. I understand religion as a social function. I don't seem to need religion. I'm respectful to people who do believe. I just don't. Nuns were nice to me, priests left me alone. I got a decent education. I just don't have the religious gene.

[wcmagumba]

28. I was raised as an American Baptist (supposedly more liberal than Southern Baptist), we could dance and play cards..

We only occasionally attended a small American Baptist Church and we did dance and play cards at youth group meetings. I went to week long summer church camp for two summers and enjoyed it, I even had a girl friend (sort of, we ate together and walked around a bit). I never really took to the religious parts only the social parts of church. I grew up to be the agnostic/atheist leaning person of my old age. I'm not worried, I've been a good person...I've been to a Unitarian Universalist Church a few times and also attended a Unity Church of Christ..I liked them okay, I liked the open spirituality of the Unity Church while the UU Church was more of a help group for others...different likes for different folks..

[eppur_se_muova]

29. It started with something my Mother said when I was 5 or 6 yo ... we attended a Southern Baptist church ...

both parents were Baptists, not extremists like you might think of them today, just raised to believe what their parents believed (repeat back N generations). We went to Sunday School and services every Sunday, and I listened to all the nice fairy tales, but didn't much get the point of all the actual religion ("saved" ? saved from what ?) and the bizarre metaphors ("washed in the blood of the lamb" ?? WHO thought that sounded like a good thing ?), but I took it all to be true, because why would all these nice people, including my parents, be telling me all this stuff if it wasn't true ? Then one day the preacher gave a sermon about missionaries who had traveled overseas to some "primitive" country to spread the Gospel to these "heathens" (I think that was the actual word used). Of course they triumphed over hardship and hostility, but the thing which impressed me was that the heathens insisted on hanging on to their old, wicked beliefs ! (Hey, I was 5 !) I couldn't understand that (after all, Christianity was right and true, so how could they believe anything else ?), so I asked Mother about it and to my surprise -- I was expecting some tale of evil run amuck -- she just said something like, "well, I guess that's just what their parents raised them to believe". I was dumbstruck ! I don't remember saying anything to her in response to that, but I was thinking Is that all there is to it ? Everyone believes whatever their parents teach them ? Not because there's anything right or true or even holy about it, it's just whatever you're taught from birth ? But .... THAT WOULD INCLUDE US !! So there was nothing particularly right or true or holy about our beliefs, they were just inherited without much challenge. Somehow, I never talked about that with my family -- after all, they seemed happy to continue with the pleasingly theatrical mythology -- but I never thought the same way about religion after that.

About the same time, I read my first books on dinosaurs (one from the Baptist Church library !) and began looking for more. I read anything about science that came my way*, started collecting Golden Nature Guides (Rocks and Minerals, Trees, Birds, Insects, Reptiles and Amphibians), and developed particular interests in chemistry and electronics (the latter ran in the family). So I was headed for true science gnurddom, and considered evolution and relativity to be non-controversial topics, despite so many authors emphasizing the reactionary responses when they were first introduced; quantum mechanics would come later. At one point, the richness of the story of evolution on Earth so thoroughly outclassed Genesis that I rejected everything else in the Bible as similarly unsupported by evidence. It wasn't something I felt comfortable mentioning to friends or family, but by 4th grade (8-9 yo) I was thinking of myself as an atheist, and not having any thought of that ever changing. But I'm still not "out" to my family, since they keep saying things which indicate they wouldn't welcome any such thing.

*Ironically, a relative I didn't particularly like bought me not one, but two books, on science themes, and they weren't necessarily dumbed-down children's books, which seemed to indicate I was expected to handle heavier reading material than other kids. One was my first dino-related book, and the other didn't really affect me -- I read only far enough to decide I wasn't that interested in Earth Science, but not before I learned to pronounce Mohorovičić discontinuity. Yeah, I was a pretty bookish kid.