Hi Abdullah,
I must say that it's refreshing to see a theist come to sciforums and
ask the atheists here about what they believe and how they came to those beliefs, rather than just assuming that they already know all about what atheists believe and assuming that they have chosen to "reject" god(s) out of spite or ignorance or selfishness.
There is well-known international research in developmental psychology suggesting that very young children naturally tend toward "intuitive theism." One of the leading researchers in this field is Justin L. Barrett, whose studies indicate that children around the ages of three to four intuitively perceive purpose, design, and a higher intentional agent behind the world.
Human beings are hardwired to look for "agents" that cause things to happen. Very probably, in part it's an evolved survival instinct (there are other reasons for it, too). For example, if you're a hunter on the savannah and you hear a loud roar coming from the grass nearby, it is probably safer in the first instance to jump to the conclusion that the cause of the roar is a dangerous animal (e.g. a lion) rather than assuming that the sound is due to something inanimate and without intention. For similar reasons, humans are adapted to look for
human signs (e.g. faces), because other humans are very important to our continuing survival (or failure to continue surviving, as the case may be).
A side-effect is that we can be inclined to assume the presence of an "agent" even when there isn't one. So we "see" faces in cloud and in rock formations, even when those things are entirely natural. And when we see lightning, the temptation is to assume that some intentional "agent" might be causing it, even if that's not the case.
I would hesitate to call this sort of thing "intuitive theism", although I can see how it might lead people to develop theistic notions.
So for those who do not believe in God today, I would like to ask respectfully:
During your childhood, did you ever have a sense of God, purpose, or a higher presence?
I did. But that didn't develop in a vacuum. I was brought up in a Christian household. I was taught about the Christian god. I was taken to Christian church weekly, including Sunday School classes where I was taught about Jesus and the Christian God. There was a lot of talk about such things as "feeling the love of God" and such. It's hardly surprising, then, that I would later come to interpret certain feelings and intuitions as signs that Christian god was real.
Later on, I came to a more accurate understanding of the world and I stopped interpreting those kinds of feelings as coming from a god.
Did you feel differently about belief as a child compared to how you feel now?
No. I was an inquisitive child who always wanted to know about all kinds of things. Now I'm an inquisitive adult who wants to know about all kinds of things.
As a child, up to a certain age, I don't think I would have been able to tell you the difference between belief and knowledge. Now I know that the difference is very important, and why.
Or was disbelief always your natural position from the beginning?
Until I was taught about the Christian god, I didn't know anything about it. This is the same position that all children find themselves in. Somebody has to teach them their religion.
I was brought up in a loving household. I trusted my parents. Like all children, I was willing to accept that what they told me was usually true, unless I had reason to think otherwise.
I assume you're asking specifically about "disbelief" in gods. I don't really know what you mean by a "natural position". Do you mean at birth, before anybody taught me anything about gods? I don't have any reliable memories from my first few years of life. I don't think I ever consciously thought about what my "default" position on belief or disbelief should be, at that age.
As I grew up (certainly from around the age of 7 or so), I developed a strong interest in science, so I started to absorb the idea of what it means to actually know and understand things, as opposed to merely believing them. In the process of learning about science, I also started to learn about critical thinking and skepticism.
I called myself a Christian until around the age of 19 or 20. Then I went through a period of self-identifying as an agnostic, without fully understanding what that meant. By that time, though, I was - for all intents and purposes - an atheist. It wasn't until some time later that I felt confident enough to "come out" as such, though, because there was significiant social pressure to be a theist (not from my family or friends, I hasten to add).
I hope you can see that not much of this story has to do with any "natural position". It is more a story about a person learning how to think critically about what he is told and/or expected to accept as true.
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It has been noted that the largest single correlator of a person's religious orientation is the environment in which they were raised. In majority Muslim countries, therefore, most people end up believing in Islam. In majority Christian countries, most people end up believing in Christianity. And so on. This is not an accident. People don't "naturally" adopt a religion. Religion is something that is taught to them.
