Dwayne Monroe wrote:
>
> I think it would be interesting for non-believing
> list-members to share their stories of how they came
> to outright reject, or, as is the case with me, simply
> (without sturm und drang and snarky, anti-belief super
> irony) find no place for, religious belief.
Well, when I was around 13 I found out there were people that didn't accept Christianity -- I didn't need an argument, since I had never been particularly anything anyhow.
And a year or two later I found out there were intelligent people who were atheists -- I didn't need an argument, since I had never had any particular belief anyhow. As you say, no sturm und drang). So by the time I was 15 it simply didn't seem useful to pay attention to religion.
So I never "lost" any faith because I never had any to lose. Or as I've sometimes put it, I'm an atheist more by birthright than by merit. And the question of why there is something rather than nothing doesn't attract me as interesting -- never has.
Dawkins way of going about it doesn't seem useful however.
Carrol