Should I finally decide to convert to atheism?

Only you can decide what your core beliefs are. I don’t see atheism as something you convert to, but a realization that happens over time.

You may be relieved to know that no converting is necessary. It is precisely not a set of beliefs that you adopt.

All you really need to know is what you do believe. There’s not even a requirement to put a label on it.

Nice you two. I can’t phrase it better.

Well, I don’t know. Do you still believe in God? That would be the real question. I still believe in God, but I’m all for gay rights, despise the modern day church, had lots of premarital sex, and believe that most of the Bible is not to be taken literally.

You can still hold your core beliefs, without being a religious nut job or oppressing others because the bible tells you to.

I know plenty of liberal Christians who are pro-gay marriage

There’s nothing to convert to, you just decide if that’s what you really feel. There are people who become disgusted with religion (understandably) and just believe in a higher entity as well.

I am a Christian, and I am a supporter of Gay Rights, and I don’t have an issue with living with someone before marriage. Don’t abandon faith because the examples you see every day challenge you.

To reiterate what others have said:

Do you believe in God? Yes or Nope?

If yes, then you’re not an atheist.
If nope, then you are an atheist.

If you’re not really sure then you could say you’re a searching agnostic for now.

Being a theist and believing in traditional Christian ideals don’t necessarily go hand-in-hand. Disliking judgmental Christians does not make you an atheist. I know people that believe in God and yet have very liberal beliefs that contradict the Christian church. They’re still believers, though.

If you believe in God, you’re not an atheist. Only you can make that decision for yourself.

Hmm.. one more thing:

There is no decision involved. You either believe in god or you don’t. Which is it?
The answer is something you can observe about yourself in the same way that you can observe whether or not you have 3 arms or whether you happen to being pink at the moment. It’s not really a choice to make it’s an observation.

A decision is simply “a conclusion or resolution reached after consideration.” I think any conclusion made after no consideration is called blind faith, which is something children have. Adults, on the other hand, should put some thought into what their beliefs are.

Decision is involved, but I’m not so sure about this “conversion” business.

Try the belief o matic quiz

Sounds like you already don’t believe in God so why do you wonder if you should become and atheist. The reason I say you don’t believe is because your reasons are ridiculous. You are simply trying to find excuses to make yourself feel better about not believing. Faith isn’t something you take a vote on. So how many nays and how many says. You either have it or you don’t. As already mentioned you don’t have to give up being christian because you are pro gay. Nor do you have to give up the faith because grandma won’t have an unmarried couple living in her house. That is not going to change her views in regard to that matter.
Could be that grandma really doesn’t want to rent to relatives because she doesn’t want money to come between her and her family or she thinks you are not a responsible person. It is way easier to evict a stranger than it is to evict a family member.
I also can’t help but feel you may be asking this to get back at grandma and her beliefs because it is currently causing you some inconvenience. If that is the case it is not very mature and I can totally see why grandma is really saying no.

@Drush545 Welcome to Fluther/

You’ve gotten some great advice above on moving to a self definition of atheist not being a decision but a statement of what you currently believe. I would just add that if you do decide that there is no evidence to compel a belief in any particular deity, that in itself is agnostic atheism. Very few atheists claim that they are certain there is no God, but theists are fond of erecting that view as a straw man then slaying it.

One of the world’s greatest philosophers, in discussing what to call yourself—how to self define—offered this compelling guidance.

@livelaughlove21 actually, what you’ve described sounds a lot more like conversion to me. You’re advocating a process of coming to a conclusion. Something like performing a comprehensive study to uncover results. Decide: take some arduous actions to form a conclusion is your suggestion. This may be a good idea one day, sure. But it’s really not that difficult to uncover the appropriate definition for your current set of beliefs. It’s not “blind faith” what you happen to believe at 10pm, Thursday evening. Rather it’s a matter of historical fact: At this time right now you either belief, disbelief or are uncertain about whether or not God exists.

See, there already IS an answer right now without having to do any work at all. And hence no decision, no work, no anything needs to be done besides simply answering the question about where your beliefs lie right this instant. You can always change your answer later after some decision-work as per @livelaughlove21‘s suggestion. But it’s really not at all a requirement (even if it is a best practice).

Simply ask yourself: Is there a god? Yes, no or uncertain. Pick the best answer that describes your immediate and current beliefs and as a direct result you can surely conclude that you fit the English definition of either Atheist, Theist, or Agnostic respectively.

Research and study will influence your opinion and later on in time you may disagree with your immediate conclusion from tonight. Or you may have it reaffirmed. Beliefs come and go. Don’t worry about it, just admit to what it is for the moment and move on from there.

Perhaps you and your friends could meet and have a commitment ceremony of sorts. You could state your current beliefs. The group could respond, “So be it.” You could sing something you all know that isn’t religious and then have a party. Shazam! You’re an atheist.
In other words, the atheists don’t have a church or organization, so you cane make up whatever ceremony you wish.

God doesn’t care if you believe or not.

You could be a theist, and not a Christian. You could be a deist, without any particular religion. You could be a Christian, but not a fundamentalist. Only if you don’t believe there is a god are you an atheist. Only you know. Whatever you are, we welcome you. :)

Should I finally decide to convert to atheism?

Yes.

Convert? You make it sound as if atheism is a religion. It’s not.

What everyone (especially @ninjacolin) said.
If I wake up tomorrow and discover that I’ve lost my hair, I can decide whether or not I want to identify as “bald” or “hairless”. But, I either have hair or I don’t.
People either have a belief in a god or gods (theism), or they don’t (a-theism, or non-theism if you prefer).

Nothing in the details of your question, however, seem to address the belief in a god or gods question. Your interpretation of Christianity might be one that leads you to more progressive ideals. That’s great (but not related to the theism/atheism question).

Do you still believe there’s a god, or are you unsure? Actually I don’t know what to tell you, though I gave up Christianity I still remain a theist. You don’t need to convert, you just need to be able to accept your own conclusions about whether you believe there’s a supreme deity or not. If you think there is divine purpose to life, but oppose your own religious teachings then there are other religions, and even other more liberal Christian denominations you could consider.

You can believe whatever you want to believe because they are your beliefs. There’s no need to label yourself.

A wise man once said “I know what I believe. I will continue to articulate what I believe and what I believe—I believe what I believe is right.”- George W. Bush (the part about being a wise man is a joke)

@harangutan I can’t believe he used the word “articulate.”

@livelaughlove21 But can he spell it? lol

^ I’m sure he mispronounced it.

@livelaughlove21, just saw this answer. He had speechwriters to help him actually use “tough words.” Do you think he knew the word articulate on his own before they used it in that speech?