We are all born Atheists

[Nomaster]

We’re all born atheists. Religions are taught depending on the location and era in which you are raised. Being born in the U.S. in 1955 does not make you right, it most likely just makes you a Christian. That’s no better or worse than the person born in Tibet in 1955, who proudly worships the Dalai Lama. Born in India in 1955- you are most likely a HIndu. Born in a slightly different part of India, say the Punjab region, then you are a Sikh. Were you born in Egypt to Morocco in the North Of the African continent- then you are most likely a Muslim.


I was born in 1966 Had I been born in the same location to the same ethnicity in 966 - I would have undoubtedly been a Nordic Pagan.

The "truth" is not based on location. That's just silly.

We are all born Atheists and then our families or our cultures 'tell us the truth' based on their biases.

[Glacier]

We are born clueless about everything, and then we learned stuff. An incomplete list of the things I didn't know about at birth:

• Drugs (except for the stuff my mom smoked when she was pregnant with me, but that's another story)
• Pencils
• Cars
• Evolution
• The space time continuum
• God
• Your mom

[Bsuds]

We’re all born atheists.

Actually its more we are all born Agnostic as an Athiest is one who disputes that there is a God.

[Nomaster]

Are you agnostic about fairies and leprechauns too? Or did you apply Occams Razor to see what was more likely.

Fairies are real but I just haven't seen one or people made up that sh*t.

[JLives]

Actually its more we are all born Agnostic as an Athiest is one who disputes that there is a God.

No, an atheist lacks belief in a god. And it is indeed how we are born. Knowledge of deities is learned, not inherent.

[cliffy1]

I think we are born knowing a whole lot more than people like to believe. Our culture beats that out of us with mental and emotional abuse and the teaching of religious nonsense to impressionable minds. To me that is child abuse. Young children may not have the intellectual acumen to articulate what they know. It is like the assumption that animals don't think just because we don't know how to communicate with them. Particularly in this culture, we set about filling a child's head with all the nonsense that out parents filled our head with. This has been going on for so long that most people have no idea what is true, so they just accept the opinions of "experts".

There are a few who can actually think and reason for themselves but is not the norm because they are anomalies in a culture that strives to make everybody conform to the mind numbing stupidity of the the mindless consumer culture. Religion has become a commodity for sale that leaves the intellect devoid of nourishment.

[Farmmaa]

We are born clueless about everything, and then we learned stuff. An incomplete list of the things I didn't know about at birth:

• Drugs (except for the stuff my mom smoked when she was pregnant with me, but that's another story)
• Pencils
• Cars
• Evolution
• The space time continuum
• God
• Your mom

And, if you were not taught to believe in god, or which church to follow - you would still be an atheist.
A child is not born a Christian or a Muslim....they are indoctrinated to become what their parents want them to become and to believe what their parents want them to believe.
A child born to atheists will remain an atheist until such time as they learn about religions...and even then, will probably remain an atheist.

If god was real, if we were all his 'children', if he lived in all of our hearts - we would all know...and we would all believe in the same god.

[Glacier]

To be an atheist, you have to think about the evidence at the very least, and conclude that there's no god. As Bsuds mentioned, an agnostic is the one who neither accepts nor rejects the idea of god.

[Farmmaa]

To be an atheist, you have to think about the evidence at the very least, and conclude that there's no god. As Bsuds mentioned, an agnostic is the one who neither accepts nor rejects the idea of god.

An atheist lacks faith in God, believes there is no god, or lacks awareness of gods.
An agnostic either believes that it is impossible to know whether there is a god or is noncommittal on the issue.

Therefore, if you know nothing about gods, you are an atheist.
An infant or toddler who has not yet been indoctrinated knows nothing about gods.

A baby can not be noncommittal about a subject they have no knowledge of.

[Nomaster]

We all lack awareness of a multitude of things. For example I can't be aware of the spectrum of colours available to the Mantis Shrimp's eye. They have the most complex eye discovered so far in the animal kingdom. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mantis_shrimp
Read about their vision.

I'm not 'Agnostic' or 'Atheist' about the full spectrum of vision that is available to Mantis Shrimp or say, Peregrine Falcons. I'm simply in awe that such creatures exist ....and that an all-knowing creator gave us such crappy, 2nd rate senses. LOL

[jetty1965]

You speak of many religions but there is a common theme in almost all of them. A higher power and love.

After you are born those are the first two things you discover.

[Nomaster]

A substitute for mommy... Or daddy.

[Farmmaa]

You speak of many religions but there is a common theme in almost all of them. A higher power and love.

After you are born those are the first two things you discover.

The first things you discover are your parents...hardly a 'higher power'.

[Glacier]

Cool, I was born an atheist about a lot of things. Well, not atheist technically, but a-whatever. I was born amath, aspelling, and agrammar. Therefore, math, spelling, and grammar aren't real constructs. See, I can think like an atheist too.

[Farmmaa]

Cool, I was born an atheist about a lot of things. Well, not atheist technically, but a-whatever. I was born amath, aspelling, and agrammar. Therefore, math, spelling, and grammar aren't real constructs. See, I can think like an atheist too.

You're obviously not getting the point here at all. You also seem to have very little insight into what or how an atheist thinks.

No infant is born knowing math, grammar or world history...but as we all know, that doesn't make them any less real.
All children learn about their world from what they are taught, what they are told.
We teach them to speak in our own language. We teach them our world view on things such as race, religion and society.
Being able to read, write, communicate and do basic addition are all necessary for survival in our society. They are all very tangible principles.

The other things we teach our children are more abstract.
Children are taught to be racist.
Children are taught how to view the role of men and women in society.
Children are taught how to view sexuality.
And children are taught which gods, if any, are real.

If a newborn from Muslim parents is adopted by Christians - that child will still learn to read and write.....the quest for knowledge and ability to learn are natural instincts.
But, being Muslim is not. That child, the same child who would have grown up Muslim with it's natural parents will now be Christian by default.
That child was not born with the innate sense of a higher power and which religion is 'true'. They were simply conditioned to believe what they were told.

I'm not sure why on earth you would be disputing this, except for the sake of arguing.
Children are not born with the knowledge or belief in any gods...that is just a simple fact.

What you believe, which god you believe in, whether you believe at all is not a matter of natural instinct or a built in sense of god's presence....it is a product of your environment, your upbringing and where you were raised.
That is the only point the OP was making.