invictus58

I was thinking about this the other day, actually. My sister was confirmed Catholic last night and I am an atheist. Why? We were raised almost exactly the same, went to the same school, and attended the same CCD (sunday school classes that aren't on sunday and last 10 years) so, why am I an atheist and she Catholic? I'm not sure. But I really don't think I was born that way, though I'm not sure.

seebs

It'd be interesting to compare notes; maybe there are particular events that you interpreted differently. You probably have different educational backgrounds in other areas.

invictus58

We had different people taking care of us growing up (while our parents were at work) but since then we've had the same teachers at the same school. My parents raised us the same. The only educational difference (that I can think of) is that I skipped the fifth grade. Interestingly enough, that was the grade where the kids learned about space, you'd think that that kind of science would make a kid less religious, not more (that was the year she would yell at me if I asked a question about god and the year she wanted to go to church more).

I've always been more curious, that could be the difference. If I want to know something (which I often do), I look it up online or read a book. Maybe my watching Star Trek: TNG religiously (no pun intended) got me somewhat intrested in what's "out there," so I examined God. I dunno.

Overall we have the same lives. We always did (and still do) pretty much the same activities, enjoy the same things, get the same grades, et cetera. The only difference--that is, not personality difference--is that she did everything two years earlier (I'm the youngest).

sullster

Hard to tell if we are hard-wired for atheism. The whole issue of being "hardwired" for behaviour is very controversial.

I feel our brains were endowed by natural selection to seek explanations for phenomena. Given the need for patterns and answers, the brain finds religious ideas an easy answer to complexity.

Most are satisfied with the irrational answers of religion but perhaps us atheists are incapable of such satisfaction. As Philechat explained with his definitions, athiests are more risk taking and open minded.

If there is any hardwiring leading to atheism, it is hardwiring for inquiry and critical thinking. It may have given a selective advantage and thus is in the human brain gene sequence.

Theli

Sikh...
I never understood this. Perhaps you could explain why some people are so eager to correct others that use the word "black" instead of "african american".

seebs

As always, I get to play counterexample. I am annoying to most people with my refusal to accept conclusions that are "obvious" to them, but I'm Christian. And yet, I still appear in all other ways to be something of a skeptic, with a tendency to analyze things into tiny pieces, and carefully distinguish between "hypothesis" and "knowledge".

Ron Singh

Rather lame, I agree. I have been raised in the Bay Area for all of my life, and there are a lot of culturally diverse people here. Any racism at all is not tolerated here. Eventually, certain words became racist. It was engrained into my brain while I was a youngin' and that is probly why. I am not racist, but I may refer to my friends as 'nigga' and such. Probably not a wise thing to do. I'm trying to kick the habit. Same goes for calling undesirable stuff gay. "Dude, you won't go? You're gay." etc. After a while, and as I have pointed out, your environment really takes toll on your mind. must... be.. a ... good .... Sikh.

~ Your friendly neighborhood 15yr old Sikh

Jamie_L

I've wondered this of late, especially since I got more involved in internet forums like this one.

It seems religious people are desperate for answers to questions like: Why are we here? What is the purpose/meaning of my life?

I have never felt a need to ask or answer those kinds of questions. I don't know if it's nature or nurture, but I think that's a fundamental reason why I was able to resist religious indoctrination. I just didn't have that "hole" that most people need religion to fill.

Jamie

KarlTennessen

-Sikh


I dont see how a parent can talk about religion LOGICALLY with a child, without them thinking its just a story, like cinderella. Every kid knows that mice dont turn into horses, and why would they think any differently about living in the clouds, or burning in the ground?

Unless of course, the parent tells them that IS the undisputed truth. Which wouldn't be logical anyway. Unfortunately, there are no 'logical' discussions in church, so most kids end up brainswashed anyway.

WhiteKnight

We have a Winner! I'd rather have no answer than a bad answer. There's nothing wrong with "I don't know, but I'm trying to find out."