What brought you to the point of seeking discussion about your belief?

[Gohavesomefun]

Simple question, I hope;

What brings you online to discuss your beliefs? If you're religous are you searching for something or are you here to defend your position. Same applies for none religous, athiest and agnostic alike.

Personally, it gives me great solice that there are other people who share the same quest for curiousty, as well as being free to openly disagree with religion and discuss why. And heres my confession; I have the bursting need to share it in the hopes that I can show that you don't need religion.

[jetson]

Welcome.

I do this to learn, and to defend my right to be a non-believer.  There are people who don't think I am a good person because I don't believe there are any real gods.  That's a shame, really.  If they knew me personally, they would not think so poorly of me.

[thunderridge]

I want to see what other people are saying and thinking.  Also it is nice to know their are many other non-believers out there.

[Garja]

As a newer atheist I came here to discuss my new situation and learn more about exactly what it means to not believe.  Its been a "scales falling from my eyes" experience over the last few months and I have been a sponge ever since.  Admittedly, it is something I want to be damn sure about (pun intended), and the best way to do that is to obtain as much information as possible.

[Quesi]

I grew up in a secular household. My dad was a rabid atheist.  So the discourse here feels so safe and familiar to me.  So like the words spoken by my dad, and in his company.

I flirted with earth based paganism for a chunk of my adult life.  But when I became a mom, I felt like I needed a clear identity for my family.  So I embraced the secular humanism of my youth as our family identity. 

[Nam]

I'm here to debate. That's it.

-Nam

[stuffin]

I found this place by accident, I was told by a friend to do a Google for "why won't god." After a few clicks I was here.
I was probably always an atheist, just took me a long time to confidently confirm it. Remember, society has religious pressures which begin at baptism and the indoctrination weighs on one heavily unless/until it gets reversed.

Anyway I'm certain there are no magical, special, powerful, all knowing or whatever entity controlling the universe, that includes life on earth.

This site has really helped me cement my understanding regarding religion.

[Mr. Blackwell]

As far as discussing what I believe and what other believe I have always sought to discuss these things.

It has caused troubles in the past.

As far as what brought me to seek discussion about beliefs on this forum? It was a milk jug that brought me here.

It's the members that compelled me to stay.

This is one of very very few websites that hasn't kicked me off or banned me for asking uncomfortable questions in my quest for understanding.

[lomolo]

I had always asked myself these questions, and one day, in a bout of frustration about ever having concrete proof of God even to myself, I started looking online for answers. I started looking for "is god real" and found the God is Imaginary site. I de-converted pretty quickly after that.

It wasn't overnight, but that started a whole lot of reading and thinking for me on the subject on both sides. I come here because I find the conversations interesting and I do like the crazy theists we get from time to time

[wright]

I come here to learn how to debate effectively, to educate myself about atheism and theism. I'm also concerned about the creep of religion into politics and secular law; here I find like-minded people to discuss those topics with.

[bertatberts]

Simple question, I hope;

What brings you online to discuss your beliefs?

I don't come online to discuss my beliefs,[1]I come online to better understand the irrational beliefs of others. The reason for this is I'm a humanist.
Humanist ethics don't claim to be derived from a deity they started from a empathetic understanding of human nature and acceptance that there’s a responsibility of each individual to recognize that the best our lives could be, would revolve around having good relationships with others. 
Religion however does the exact opposite. 
People kill and harm others for the most innane reasons, I am responsible for my fellow man, it is in my best interest and of those I love, to try and make the irrational think clearly, I can only unfortunately guide them along the right path. 
If they can manage to shake of the shackles and think clearly, then me, my family, my neighbour, are put out of harms way for while.[2]

1.	I don't really have any beliefs, I have knowledge. There is a huge difference.
2.	And yes I do know that religion isn't the only cause of harm, but it is the most catastrophic.

[nogodsforme]

I was raised in a JW household, and as a black woman I have spent much of my life surrounded by illogical, unscientific, fervent, irrational religious people. If I said the things I say here to the people in my everyday life, I would get a lot of sh!t. It is a relief to come to a place where I don't have to watch my words so carefully as I do in my work and social life. I imagine it is like what a gay person feels when they walk into a gay bar.

[LoriPinkAngel]

I stumbled upon this site accidentally when I was trying to find a quote.  I found the conversations interesting.  So I get to be the crazy, irrational theist.  I don't mind.   

[Garja]

I stumbled upon this site accidentally when I was trying to find a quote.  I found the conversations interesting.  So I get to be the crazy, irrational theist.  I don't mind.   

You are better than most Lori. 

[Poseidon]

Your question will reveal a complexity of answers from those who choose to reply.

Here is my reply: For one thing, there are some very bright people here. They sometimes post stimulating commentary. There is value in that. Sure we have an occasional jackass but for the most part our people are A-OK.  (The A-OK goes for you too Lori. You are not crazy, irrational maybe, but that is allowed among friends.)

Nogodsforme nailed it pretty well. We are, for the most part, kindred spirits, we share a common bond, we can vent our frustrations here without fear of serious derision, this is a place to escape the insidious pressures exerted by our theistic aquaintences in our real world community.

[nogodsforme]

I also like to play verbal smackdown with the theists here, because I can't do that in my real life.

Seriously, I need to hone my arguments and figure out all the reasons why I don't think there is a god, why I don't think there is a Christian god in particular, etc. Because there are poor people, esp. blacks and latinos, that I care about, and I think religion is one thing that is holding them back.

These are women who send money from their welfare and social security checks to the likes of Pat Robertson. They use magical thinking and urban legends instead of logic, and they get ripped off and scammed. They rely on religious explanations for their suffering and resist getting economically savvy, environmentally aware and politically active.

So I want to combat the "opiate of the people" aspect of religion.

[Death over Life]

Matthew 28:18-20

King James Version (KJV)

18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
 
19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
 
20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+28:18-20&version=KJV

This was the initial reason back when I was a Christian. Didn't know it would later be my undoing, but it was worth it.

In the atheist days, it was so great to be able to talk to others who thought like I did.

Nowadays though, I am just so burnt out of religion mostly that even this place tends to be off-putting to me. I love WWGHA, but for atheists, we talk so much about religion and not enough about anything else that I'd rather just not talk about it. That's why you still see me posting, but not in any of the recent religious threads. In all honesty, with my current line of thinking, I'd rather be concentrating on living life than worrying about concepts and hypotheticals I don't even believe in, much less agree with to begin anyway. When religion rears it's ugly head, I'll be there to do away with it, but my spare time feels like it's being wasted when all that's being discussed is something that doesn't even affect our personal world views. The persecution for not believing the same thing however, is different, and thus more justified imo.

The point is, I'm at the point where I'd rather have somebody like LoriPinkAngel believe whatever she wants and never known about it to begin with, and she never brings it up instead of knowing what she believes in and argue/debate over it when it's not even going to change anybody's mind anyway. It's like politics nowadays. It's so polarized that there is no common ground where both sides can get along with anymore and nobody is willing to listen to the other side.

Even then, not talking about anything religion is kind of the purpose I do the arguing to begin with, so if nobody brings up religion, I can just assume nobody is religious, and since nobody brings up religion, it pretty much is non-religious, which is what I want in the end.

[Rare96ws6]

 My reason was quite simple. I wondered why so many people had different beliefs and some did not believe in a god at all.

[Jag]

I rarely post, mostly because I often read at work in spare moments, and by the time I'm aware of an interesting topic, the thread can be pretty long an involved. But I read almost daily.

I come here to educate myself, to see what others with a similar viewpoint think about topics I care about, and to reassure myself that there are plenty of smart, articulate people in a world that often seems brimming over with idiocy.

I spend way too much time with people who badly lack critical thinking skills - I spend time here to help me hone my own.

I'm actually more interested in social justice issues than in religion per say, but they're so closely linked in many cases, it's hard to address one without the other. I have a hard time keeping the two issues separate, and I find many like-minded people here.

And it's safe to say things here, or online in general, that I can't say in Real Life. There's no consequence to being honest about my impatience with fundamentalists, or how infuriating I find the entire republican party (or the teabagger movement), or how appalled I am that my state is actually considering adopting a "no gay marriage" amendment.

This is like a cross between therapy and a verbal dumping ground for me. I can get the most unkind thoughts out of my system (even if I don't share them), and go back to being an advocate for those who need the help and support of people like me. I go to the rallies, I sign the petitions, I make the phone calls; I recharge by coming here.

[Nick]

I like the fact that there are reasonable people out there who understand the veil that is religion.  It also helps to vent after dealing with most of this nonsense.

[grant]

I was driven here by a rabid born-again.

I didn't need reasons to justify my lifelong lack of belief, just some sensible retorts to his blathering. 

[Dante]

For me, all of the above.[1]

There are some great comments here. Good thread!

1.

mostly

[ParkingPlaces]

I liked the internet but was getting tired of cat videos. Found WWGHA and I've never looked back.

Actually, I'm here (usually more than I have been lately because of limited internet access at a remote job site this summer) because it is fun to be able to talk freely with people who have a similar lack of beliefs. And I enjoy getting exposed to theist thinking. Granted, my chiropractor bill has gone way up because I'm always shaking my head in disbelief at what theists think to be true, but it is worth every penny.

Because of this site, I am naive about one less thing. This is good.

[Noman Peopled]

Well, I haven't been here for a long time, but I'm going to say that I'm here because I'm somewhat terrified by the idea that religious crackpots could come into even the slightest bit of political power anywhere, and make life worse for others in oh so many ways - using a way of thinking without any potential for self-correction, never even mind reality-checks[1]. Creationism in schools, banned abortions, discrimination of homosexuals, no stem cell research, failure to even mention or active agitation against contraceptives, tax-exempt status, etc ad nauseam.

To put it short, I'm here because religion passively or actively discourages inquiry and because it paints people outside their own bubble as either ignorant or outright evil.[2]

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One other good reason is that here I can talk to people who share my high regard for structurally sound argumentation, a strict standard for what constitutes proof and evidence, but who nonetheless disagree with each other - skeptics, in short. I often felt sooo damn smart when I wrote some intricately woven, exhaustive post or other, only to be schooled on anything from fallacious arguments to getting basic facts wrong. Getting schooled, of course, is merely a harsh way of being taught.
Conversely, I was often able to help someone understand something, or look something up, or even just be available to talk to the occasional closet atheist surrounded by a church tribe. I did learn a whole heap about christianity as well as some christians, too...

1.	I was just recently told whales are fish. Really, what is this?
2.	The abrahamic ones, at the very least.

[Lectus]

After being annoyed so much by religion fanatics trying to convert me I though it was a good idea to post my ideas here.

I really want to help religious people to free their minds and think for themselves instead of being manipulated by religion leaders.

So, if you accept me as your savior I'll give you a life full of happiness by living as a free thinker. 

[grant]

I'm here because I'm somewhat terrified by the idea that religious crackpots could come into even the slightest bit of political power anywhere,

Could? Would? Or ARE?

Man, the lunatics have been in control of the asylum for as long as I can remember.

[Turbo SS]

I'm here to debate. That's it.

-Nam

I am here for the gangbang