Why We Are Atheists, Agnostics, and Humanists

The following are reasons provided by members and supporters of Gay and Lesbian Atheists and Humanists (GALAH) for why they are atheists, agnostics, and/or humanists. People arrive at freethinking conclusions in a variety of ways, demonstrating that non-believers do not think alike.

"I think that reality (the truth) should be found through reflective open questioning, which religion inhibits"

"I slowly became aware that some, many, then most religious ideas, rules, etc. could not be rationally explained. It was an evolutionary process."

"There is too much evil in the world to believe in an all-good god."

"I am an Atheist because I think. I am an Atheist because I think that the Truth should reflect that which is true. I am an Atheist because I think that truth can never be assumed - evidence and explanations are required, and alternate possibilities need to be examined. I am an Atheist because I think that dogma hinders open, honest communication, and is therefore dishonest and destructive. I think that dishonesty is immoral - the end does not justify the means. I think that destructiveness - physical and mental - is what religion is really about. I am an Atheist because I think."

"I have doubts about established religions."

"Nearly everyone who seems to believe in god has been indoctrinated from an early age. A few ‘original' religionists seem to have had ‘divine' revelations. I do not fit in either category. It also seems to me that the concerns of religionists are trivia."

The religious view of the world seems incredible to me. People who have
informed me about the "truth"of the Bible have proven their unreliability via other means."

"I am a humanist because I have observed that people can develop compassionate moral values without relying on supernatural belief systems."

"The Bible is wrong about homosexuality. That was the inspiration for me to question other things in that book."

"Because I do reason, i.e. THINK! How could anyone who thinks, by which I mean ‘to subject to the processes of logical thought' ever commit the abomination of faith as in ‘firm belief in something for which there is no proof.'"

"Reasons why I am an atheist:
1) I'm interested more in the here and now and not in the hereafter.
2) ‘The proper study of mankind is man.' ---Alexander Pope
3) Trusting in the unknown is folly."

I don't believe there is a halo around your head because I don't see it, can't feel it, and have no reason to believe it exists. It is the same thing with this thing they call "God."

I don't believe in God because there is no reason for believing. It is just blatant superstition and fairy tales.

Humanism encourages people to think for themselves and to explore all that life in the here and now has to offer.

Some of the reasons may seem to you to be better or worse than others. Some may even be contradictory, since they are from different people with different perspectives. This is fine, since freethinking people are bound to reach varied and often surprising conclusions.

Here is a more in depth perspective of one person's reasons for being an atheist.

Members and other interested freethinkers are invited to send us their reasons for being atheists, agnostics, and/or humanists.