I do not consider myself an atheist anymore, but I was born and raised as one, so I might have some perspective about this. I was in my twenties already when I began changing my mind. My parents were atheists, as was the extended family, so when you are born into this thought system, it is completely normal to you and completely all right. You are right that it is a practical way of thought. Everything which happens is explainable and there is no wonder or mystery, only explanations. I was aware of the faith that some of my friends, teachers, neighbors had but to me it just seemed like superstition or wishful thinking. I would snicker when my friends told me about their cathechism classes, or bar-mitzva classes, or having to attend services with their families. I would snicker at the foolishness and cruelty I saw in the Bible. I was glad I didn't need that!

I did not consider it bleak really, it was just all I knew. I still saw my Grandmother do kind deeds all of the time, my family was loving and my father was a heroic police officer. I saw goodness as coming from responsible people, I didn't think of anything higher than that.

In my twenties, I started to have my children. And although I was an atheist yet and so was my husband, I looked at their little faces and wondered how they had come to me, where they had been before and etc. And oddly enough with my middle child, my daughter Crissie, she spoke in entire sentences very early. She would ask me what happened to her "other family" and her "other mother". She spoke of living on an island and using a type of shell for a hair comb and watching the dolphins play. What would a one-year old know about such things? I didn't discourage her and became interested in what she was telling me. Children of that age are not able to concoct elaborate stories such as that one so I began to believe her. Next, I became curious about reincarnation and that led me to the Edgar Cayce teachings and a whole wide universe of things I had never imagined. Thus the beginnings of my faith, which I will carry always. And my daughter doesn't remember her other life anymore, but still loves dolphins! Without faith, the universe, and the things that happen in it make no sense. I think I was barren inside previously, but I didn't really know any better! And one son is a Catholic priest, so I guess we defnitely fell short as atheists!

Perhaps i may give the impression of living in a totally scientific world...let me explain.

I was raised as a roman catholic, at the age of 6 years old i went to a school where all the teachers were nuns. I religiously practiced these teachings until the age of 19 years old, at which time i realized that i just did not need to practice these teachings anymore. So i moved away from the church and went my own way.

Nowadays i prefer to place my faith in the whole aspect of nature rather than exclusively from the human religious teachings point of view. I marvel every day at the wonders of nature, listen to the birds and talk to trees...and through this i accept that there is a force at work that is far beyond my comprehension, some people prefer to name this force God.

Very simple jai they have free will and they (atheist) believe that god does not exist. remember i told you many time before even if you believe something it does not make it true. i also told you belief and faith are not the same thing. many make that mistake. so experience and enjoy.

there is not a personal god above the top of the hierarchy,
but boundless space from which all be-ness emanates,
a spirit-matter continuum with cyclical energy transformations between the opposing ends.
so both have beliefs based on their preferences of perception,
as long as one is morally intact it matters not your belief in god,
there is a world out there that needs ethical decision making of its constituents

we all r growing. i ws once a huge athiest, bt they i became a huge believer. n we all r still growing. even an athiest wants to believe in god. but nothing is able to satisfy him. the problem is that god is beyond the mind. when one transcends the mind, u will experience god. so if u try to experience when u r so much exposed to only the physical aspect of the universe, it will be tough. this is the reason y faith is needed. this is y ppl desire to see miracles to see god. another reason is exposure. the more u r exposed to spirituality, the easier it is to believe in god, coz there u hav a wide perspective of what this universe is. but if one is only exposed to the gross realities, then god becomes SUPER-NATURAL. but in reality, he has a limited vision of the universe. im not saying that n athiest is incapable in any way, atleast in the material world. but if u wnt to experience things that r beyond physical realities, u have to b open. another thing i wd like to tell u is .... having views n opinions is ok n normal, but getting too attached to OUR views leads to fanaticism. so if i believe in god, its gr8, but when sm1 doesnt, it might hurt my ego, coz i m so sure of His existence. so one needs to be more tolerant.