I am loving this thread and it is nice to know there are so many like minded people here!! A lot of backers of Science, like me.. Or as I like to call us, "rational thinkers" (:

Studies on the demographics of atheism have concluded that self-identified atheists comprise anywhere from 2% to 8% of the world's population, whereas irreligious individuals represent a further 10% to 20%. One study by Gallup International recorded that 13% of those interviewed said they were "convinced atheists." In Scandinavia and East Asia, and particularly in China, atheists and the nonreligious are the majority. Globally, atheists and the nonreligious are concentrated in Asia and the Pacific with over 76% of all the irreligious or nonreligious people in the world residing in those regions. In Europe, the nonreligious make up 12.5% of the population and in North America they make up 5% of the population. In Africa and South America, atheists are typically in the single digits.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_atheism

I come from Scandinavia so I am a "natural" atheist. 

Hm, interesting. I live in the Hickhole Capital of America, so I'm not really used to seeing atheistic discussions (outside of my immediate family and group of friends). 

We actually had a poll before on a thread about what system of belief you have or something like that. Atheist got the highest number.

I disagree and think it's a completely realistic standard to hold that the belief's people hold should be based on reason and empirical data.

I am not going to pretend I know the first thing about string theory but if any of the arguments are based on intuition and emotions I will gladly disregard them if that's all there is to it.

I will agree the irrational beliefs are in no way restricted to religion but religions themselves have never presented any rational basis for believing in them.

And intuition, while it can be helpful it can also prove harmful as it can norrow our ways of thinking as it does when it comes to religion. Many people have a strong intuition that their is a god because they have had it drilled into them as children that their is one as did most of their ancestors. Intuition may lead us to ask a question but does not provide the answer as many people claim to have.

Allegory can be a double edged sword as well since it is in many cases harmful and open to dangerous interpretations in other's. With religious allegory you take the good with the bad, with reason and common sense you can just take the good. Many people are no longer able to follow their religious teaching because their standards of morality are superior to those found within their faith.

As to the question of the afterlife I have never seen a rational argument for why I should believe their is an afterlife and can only view it as an irrational belief.

Really? I think I was there for that, actually. Must've forgotten.

It's pretty interesting when you think about it, because the odds of the majority of a random sample of people from around the world being atheist are quite low.

when you grow up with your entire community believing in the same religion it's very easy to go along and not think about it, besides, if they all think the same it must be right... right?

then you realize the amount of other people who believe entirely different religions whose beliefs absolutely contradict the ones you were taught you may think "hmm... surely they are must be wrong, I must be right".

that gets you thinking... what about all the billions of people who lived and died before you that didn't have those same beliefs... all of a sudden you realize no matter what you entire community believes, they become a minority.

the next step is you questioning.. 'ok... either they are right and nearly the entirety of the humans that live and ever lived are wrong... or.... maybe they are all wrong'

from then on, all your mind is free to critically think about the beliefs that were instilled in you at an age you couldn't examine them. add to that an education about how the universe really works and see how it contradicts the tenants of about every religion you are aware of. the only honest answer to the god question suddenly becomes 'none of the positive god claims has met the burden of proof, therefore i will suspend by belief in any of them until they are able to provide positive proof to those claims'

that's how you become an atheist, hope it helps

I am atheist , my father is catholic and my mother protestant and have choice for me catholic, so i have learn when was young with catholic lesson 1 hours every week for 5 years.

And 5 years ago i have do a study on the bible for 2h every week for 3 years for my self knoweledge since my girlfriend really have faith in god.

I can say my belief is i know 100% the god from the bible do not exist at all, but i think there is alway a 1% of me who can think there is maybe a god, just not the one we know on earth.

I have seen some ppl talk about spirituality, my grand mums have seen my dead grand father when was waking up and feels him was there, i have so more evidence of ghost than god atm...

Last word, i think the people who believe in god (any religion) and really making the good around them amazing, i think to be beliver can make you more happy in average !

P.S. sorry for my english :)

It isn't like it was my choice. Sometimes people look at me like I chose to be an atheist. But what you need to understand is that to me, belief isn't a choice, it's an automatic response. If you tell me the sky is yellow, I can't just choose to believe you. I can humour you, I can let you and everyone else think I believe it,
I can recite to myself that I believe it, but in truth I will still believe that the sky is in fact blue.

And it's less "why AM I an Atheist" and more "why AREN'T I religious". I was born an Atheist, I think everyone is, for how can you believe in a deity before you're old enough to even understand the concept of the divine?
In my case though, the evidence I was shown as to the existence of various divinities simply wasn't enough to convince me. Hence I remained an Atheist.

Atheism isn't about what you believe, it's about what you don't believe. If you ask me "If you don't believe in a god, then what DO you believe (in regards to the origin of the universe for example)" I would simply respond "I don't know". I have no explanation for the origin of existence itself. It's massive and mysterious and we know so little about it, all considered.
But that doesn't mean I find what explanations there are (such as various religions) to be at all convincing.
I'd like to know of course, why/how are we here. But if I never found out, I could easily live with that.