What Causes Someone to Become an Atheist

We're often asked what causes someone to become an atheist. While the answers are varied, we've come up with the ones we've heard most often:

You Care about Finding the Truth

 Faith is not a reliable path to the truth because you can basically believe in anything based on faith. You could literally make up a god right now and believe in it on faith. People who care about finding the actual truth use critical thinking and science to find answers about the world around them instead of relying on what a supernatural being or religious leader tells them is true. Atheists find truth through asking questions, reviewing the evidence, and making decisions based on reality.

Cognitive Dissonance

Cognitive dissonance is the discomfort caused by thinking one thing but doing another. Religions often demand that people believe things with no evidence. They ask their followers to agree with contradictory ideas or concepts that are irrational. People will sometimes be asked to go against their own intellect, inner morality, or humanity to further the aims of their religion. Human beings can't think one thing and do another without experiencing significant discomfort. We know atheists who simply couldn't take all the contradictions and inconsistencies in their religions and left so they could live a life where their thoughts aligned with their actions.

You Value Thinking for Yourself

Human beings are inquisitive, thinking beings. Religions don't appreciate independent thinking, they demand that people follow. This is hard for people who actually love exploring the world around them and who enjoy coming up with their own ideas on how to live their own lives. Atheists tend to like thinking for themselves and following the evidence wherever it goes instead of being told what to think.

Wanting to know the real truth, getting away from cognitive dissonance, and thinking for oneself are three big reasons why people become atheists. There are many more reasons, but they all have something to do with people realizing they can live full, rich, stimulating, meaningful lives without religion.

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