Spiritual Forum. Org

I don't think that anyone ever really decides not to believe in God. No one wakes up and says, "You know what? I'm not going to believe in God." I think that it happens gradually, based on life experiences where the existence seems to be missing. For example, people who go through traumas such as the death of a loved one, a chronic illness, or a brutal attack may often ask the question, "Where was God when this happened to me?" If more negative experiences continue to happen, they may then decide that God does not exist because he keeps "allowing" bad things to happen.

If I had to define myself, I would say I am an agnostic, not an atheist. I never formally "decided" that God does not exist, but I also never "decided" that he does exist either. I believe that there is a higher power, but whether that is God, Buddha, Zeus, or some other deity, I cannot say for sure. I instead choose to believe in the Universe or the Divine as the higher power, that way I am not limited in who or what I believe. Maybe the day will come when I can finally say that I can believe in God's existence, but that day has not come yet. Who knows if it ever will?

We are all faced with the choice of whether or not we want to believe in a God who created the universe.  I know I was once faced with the choice and I chose to believe God is real based on life experiences.  I think part of the reason why people choose not to believe is because they do not have enough knowledge of who God is and how things came to pass from a biblical perspective.  The bible is our source of knowledge, of the past, present, and the future. 

 I learned from reading my bible that sin and suffering came into the world by the first two humans that were created.  The book of Genesis from the bible tells the story of the beginning of life and how God created the world.   Adam and Eve were given a choice to obey God or disobey Him and they chose the latter.  Sin entered the human heart through their disobediences and this is where pain and suffering came into the world.  God gave us free will to choose Him.  Salvation is a free gift through Jesus Christ.  You do not have to accept this free gift and God will not force it on you.  The choice is ours, we can choose to believe or choose not to, but for those who choose to consider their self an atheist it would be wise to have knowledge of the possible consequences according to what the bible says for those who willfully choose to reject God. 

How do people decide anything at all? they can decide this or that according their desires and needs and believes. But what works for you does not nesessarily works for me...so on. Anyhow, "we" create our own reality and world. And it's as permanent as mirage in the water. today here tomoroow gone. Still, when you are in deep sleep, your questions and believes "reality" are not there but something still exist.  As much as asking questions like does good exist or not, one can and maybe should question everything...what really exist, is real? Believes are believes and truth stand untouched alone...and once recognised questions falls away.

I don't think people just "decide" on whether or not to believe or not believe in gods.  It's much more complex than that. Upbringing and life experiences have a lot to do with it, and changes tend to be, as another poster said, gradual.  But a lot of people can't quite pinpoint the reason, it's just always been that way for them.
Personally, even though I'm fascinated by religion, I have never felt connected to any particular one and I've never believed in any gods.  I grew up in a religious family, have studied a handful of religions, and love exploring and discussing religious issues.  I just don't believe.

In my case, after  I finished studying world religions in my humanities class, where we dont just study certain religions , we actually interview and visit places of worship like a mosque and a temple, that was the start for me, especially when we got to the Christianity part of our studies, i have been a devoted catholic since I was a kid and being a part of that class answered a lot of questions I had since I was little, it is true they say, that the fastest way to be an atheist is to study and understand the bible thoroughly and carefully.

I agree with you, I share the same beliefs. My opinion on some of the other people who denounce a cosmic power is that they are more against the system that has been placed for them than against there being a God. It is just somehow getting blurred between the factors of religion and God, of feeling it and knowing it, to explaining it. Being an atheist is a lot more ambiguous than a lot of people would like it to be, and it should be that way. We were never meant to understand it, and therefore were never meant to decide it. One can't simply decide to be an atheist, for one can never fully understand what atheist truly means. We were all born with religion and a man in the sky. A truly atheist person in the whole sense of the word, should have been born to a world without God or religion to begin with.

There also came a point in my life where I don’t want to believe in God or that there is even a God; where every thoughts, feelings and happenings would depend solely on me, on what I learned; where I don’t have to rely to anybody or anybody’s words or stand with God. But it’s hard to detach yourself from God if He works miracles in your life, if you gather strength from Him. There came this time when I want to really detach myself from Him because I don’t want to be God dependent and I don’t want that everything I do is, like, lined up for His judgment. Then I realized holding on to God is not simply being dependent on Him because we’re the one who still acts on what we think. We are just guided. And even if He won’t judge us we will still be judge by the people around us or by the world by the standard they set on themselves not that it matter because thing is those who are not happy with what they’re doing for themselves and for others or not/can’t be contented with who they are/can’t see the real beauty in themselves are the ones who are afraid to be judged. Well, anyway, needless to say I failed to live a God-free life. But I’m glad I did because I can’t always be strong same goes with the people around me they can’t always be strong for me. I could try to be strong but there would really come a time that it’s really so hard to stand on your own and to just take what life offers you, what people are throwing at you. Most especially it would be hard to forgive and it would be easy to turn our back to the people who does us wrong and it would also be hard for us to admit that we are wrong and to ask for forgiveness because forgiving is an act of love. And who (or what) teaches us the real sense of love anyway?