Curious why you turned away from Christianity...

[Nemom]

Reading through the posts on OE/YE and some other recent topics has made me curious why some have turned away from Christianity and become atheist/agnostic (or already were). I am not looking to judge or try to convert anyone back-I am just really curious what caused you to not/stop/change your mind regarding Christianity. Church "atmosphere"; confusing scripture that just doesn't make sense (ie-Revelations); or something else.

 

I never realized that YE was more of an American concept. That whole thread really got me thinking and researching. And I am grateful for that. I am also leaning more towards a OEC now.

 

So if anyone is willing to share, I would love to know what got you to where you are.

 

FYI-I am a Christian and a regular church attender for the last 12 years. However, I do try to keep an open mind and have some questions in regards to scripture and I am not satisfied with some of the answers I get "at church". I also recently had a major epiphany and realized that regular church attendance had actually made me more judgmental of those around me and less accepting.

[Juniper]

I did not leave Christianity, but I did leave the "Protestant Church" (in quotes because someone always wants to debate what I actually mean, just take it in its broadest sense) for some, but not all, of the reasons you mention. I was just reading an article a few moments ago where one of our Priests mentions exactly what you did....becoming more judgmental. Here is the article http://www.pravmir.com/which-came-first-the-church-or-the-new-testament/

With that I will let this go back to others. :)

[regentrude]

One word: Christians.

 

I grew up Christian in a communist country when that was not a popular choice - not illegal, but barely tolerated, and they gave us a lot of carp in school.

After moving to the US, I encountered people who consider themselves Christians and are narrow minded and intolerant to an extent I have never witnessed before. I have been told to my face

that I am not supposed to find a church that works for me, but that my sole purpose on Earth is to go to church and worship;

that my husband has authority over my conscience;

that the commandment Thou Shalt not Kill does not apply to Muslims because they are the infidel who threaten our way of life.

My daughter has been told she will go to hell because she is wearing pants. My son has been bullied by church kids for his lack of belief.

 

Sorry, but I am done. The God I was taught to believe in is not the bean counter who has nothing better to do all day than to inspect the minute details of peoples' lives, how they dress, what word choices they use.  I do not believe that one small group is in possession of the sole truth and that everybody else is doomed to go to hell. I do not want to believe in a God who is operating in such manner.

 

I have been wrestling with the question why an omnipotent God would let horrible things happen to the innocent since I was a teen. I have come to the conclusion that, if there is a God, he is not involved in the daily running of his creation. But it was not until I came here that I heard stuff like "it all happens for a purpose". Nope, I refuse to believe in a God who slaughters millions for some undiscernible purpose. It was not until i came here that I encountered the belief that hard enough praying will prevent a bad thing from happening - I mean, what is the conclusion: the parents whose kid died simply did not pray hard enough?

I believe that prayer is introspection and can set free forces within a person. I do not believe that my praying can prevent somebody else from dying.

 

I grew up with the teaching that Christians witness through their actions, not through proselytizing, bugging people, belittling their world views, intimidating them and threatening them with hell. I grew up where Christians were at the forefront of social progress, where they fought for peace, for the environment, for equality, against discrimination - now I ended up in a place where it seems to be the opposite and Christians tend to be socially conservative and have values that are far removed from mine. I find my values mirrored more in my atheist and pagan friends.

 

ETA: Please understand that I am not making statements about "all" Christians. I do have Christian friends; there are wonderful people who do good works. But there are enough here to turn me off organized religion.

 

[Laura Corin]

You might like to search for a thread called 'Ask an Atheist'.  It had some good stories and viewpoints.

 

ETA: here it is.

 

L

[elegantlion]

I am not agnostic or atheist, I believe in a God, just not the protestant version of which I practiced previously. I have not been active in organized religion for several years and don't plan to anytime in the future. 

 

1. organized religion - too many judgmental people, too many gossip-prayer-chains, inconsistent interpretation of scripture, too much I'm right you're wrong between denominations, too much elevation of man (in some cases the pastor). False teachings about other religions happening. Too much attempt to make religion and politics merge as a "right" of this country.too much shunning of people because they have a bad set of issues happen. Too much disbelief about morality existing outside of christianity. Some of the most moral upright people I know are atheists. I also have friends that are living their faith in a way that I believe reflects true christianity - kind, loving, and grace-full. 

 

2. too western centered (maybe not the right verbiage)- I don't believe that Gandhi is in hell, for example, because he didn't claim Jesus as his savior. I don't know that I believe in a literal hell. I have relatives that would probably shun me because I have a Qur'an in the house. 

 

 

 

 

[Guest]

I have been wrestling with the question why an omnipotent God would let horrible things happen to the innocent since I was a teen. I have come to the conclusion that, if there is a God, he is not involved in the daily running of his creation. But it was not until I came here that I heard stuff like "it all happens for a purpose". Nope, I refuse to believe in a God who slaughters millions for some undiscernible purpose. It was not until i came here that I encountered the belief that hard enough praying will prevent a bad thing from happening - I mean, what is the conclusion: the parents whose kid died simply did not pray hard enough?

This is pretty much the main point for me. OP, I don't fully let go of the Christian label; I still attend church regularly, have kids in a Christian private school and am part of a Christian co-op. I cannot be sure where I will end up once my kids are grown and fully independent. But at this time, my beliefs are best viewed as deistic, with a little New Age thinking thrown in.

 

Prayer makes no sense in the way it is typically meant by American Christians. I completely agree with regentrude. My baby girl died, despite many prayers for her safe arrival. There is no chance I can accept that as having some mysterious logic that only God can understand. Besides that, if there was a mysterious logic that only God understands, it's worth wondering why "we" are always praying for God to do what *we* would like. IOW, there's no reason to ever pray for a baby's safe delivery (or anything else) if one also believes that whatever God chooses to do is always good and right.

[milovany]

I did not leave Christianity, but I did leave the "Protestant Church"...

I had a very similar response to Juniper's in my brain before I read her reply. I, too, didn't leave Christianity but was exhausted from trying to figure out all the minute details of what the "right" way of living the faith was supposed to look like (by reading the Bible through my own lens and developing my own "personal convictions") that just ended up making me judgmental of others. Entering the Orthodox Church, where we're encouraged to look at ourselves only, and never others, provided quite a relief.

 

Just a side note to a side note. Carry on! 😊

[albeto.]

Edited to make more succinct:

 

It started with the realization that as a Catholic, we did the same thing I had always faulted Protestant thinking with - cherry picking texts to support a belief. The difference is that Catholics refer to church documents in addition to the bible. Eventually I saw the method of thinking to be flawed, as it's more accurately a method of assurance rather than a method of genuine discovery. Some historical discoveries were pretty horrifying (not priestly abuse history, but antisemitism history specifically). That made me curious about how we know what we believe to be true. 

 

Paired with this was increased knowledge about human behavior. When human behavior can be reliably explained without the need for "soul" or "sin," then these ideas lose their power. It's the same thing that happened when Christians could reliably explain weather patterns without the need for "God." 

 

Essentially, I found religious thinking to be unreliable. The exact same methodology can be used to confidently report two diametrically opposing beliefs. There's no accountability. There's not one example of a scientific explanation that has been replaced with a religious explanation, but more and more, religious explanations are found to be vague, dismissive, and flat-out wrong. The God of the Gaps just got too small to exist. 

[apennieformythoughts]

I haven't left the Christian faith either, but I don't feel that it's "home" anymore either. I believe in God. To say I'm atheist, I think, would go too far (as in, I do think that there is a higher power... maybe... I don't know). I struggle with this, because I know what I'm "supposed" to do. I'm supposed to believe in God and Jesus. I'm supposed to believe that Jesus died for me, and that it's through His grace that I am saved. I KNOW how Christianity works and what I'm "supposed" to do. But I go to church, and it feels so empty. I don't meet Jesus there. I see hate, and judgement, and cruelty. I see churches believing they are the ultimate power on what is right and good. I've seen broken people left to wither because they didn't "meet the standards." And I KNOW that that is NOT supposed to be Christianity. I don't think that that is God. So I don't blame God for the reason why I don't "believe," but I don't "believe" at the same time. I feel way too liberal to go to church, and unfortunately, I do think church is political these days. Which is sad. 

[TracyP]

I am still in the process of trying to figure out what I do believe, but it is safe to say I am no longer a Christian by most definitions. Many, many things have led to this. Just a few:

 

As a late teen, I watched two groups with opposing views who each believed they had The Truth. They both pointed to verses that supported their views, they both oozed confidence, they both suggested I pray and search my Bible so that God would reveal The Truth to me. I realized they couldn't both be right, and these two views were only a drop in the bucket of differing beliefs.

 

The inconsistencies such as God helped me get a knew job but didn't protect the 1 yo killed by the drunk driver or God gave me a sunny day for the wedding but allowed thousand to die in a natural disaster.

 

Don't even get me started on the judgmental Christians. You know, the ones who spout off about the sins of others while cheating on their wife.

 

BUT I could have overlooked this stuff. For a long time I told myself these are "people problems" not "God problems". I got very involved in my church and had several Christian friends. I was quite familiar with my Bible, but I continued to study, study, study. ;) I kept running into things that didn't make sense. Angels used to impregnate human women? Lot was righteous? How many angels were in the cave after Jesus was risen? Is wealth good (a blessing from God) or bad (woe to the rich)? Is death good (you get to go to heaven, right?) or bad (long life on Earth is a blessing)? Why was the idea of the devil, an equal adversary to God (which seems wrong in itself), not brought up until the NT? Same with heaven and hell. I have so many more. The point is it all seemed so contradictory. Reading my Bible raised more questions than it answered.

 

Around the same time I started to look at the power of prayer. I realized that there is no power there. You might as well pray to a milk jug. Ironically, I still pray. :) It is a comfort to me, a habit I enjoy, and a time to reflect. Maybe it should fall under the heading of meditating... Whatever.

 

I could write a book about everything that led to where I am now. I think I hit most of the big ones here. I had a very rough 18 mos or more while I tried to force myself to believe. It is *so hard* to try to force yourself to believe something that you just - don't. Finally, I started being honest with myself, then moved on to being honest with my dh. I still haven't figured out how to handle many relationships, but I am confident they will work themselves out. Although this transition has been (and is) scary, I feel so much better now.

[Hypatia.]

My father left the Christian faith in his early 20s and raised me without religious beliefs.  I'm an atheist that celebrates Pagan holidays, DH is an agnostic (was never raised in the Christian faith other than the occasional forced trip to church as a child), and we are raising our children the same.  

[AlmiraGulch]

I fell out of faith quite uneventfully.

 

Honestly, after being very much a believer for my entire life, I just began to realize I simply didn't believe a lot of what I'd been doing/saying/espousing/following for my entire life.  Once i realized that, the rest of it quickly unraveled. 

 

I have no reason whatsoever to believe in any god or higher power.  I do not believe in prayer, except potentially as a self-calming/comforting mechanism.  While it might be nice if there were some sort of Second Act after death, I have no reason whatsoever to believe it exists.  I simply do not believe.  I just don't.  You cannot make yourself believe in something that you don't.

 

So, the unraveling of my faith just sort of happened.  My anger against organized religion of all sorts, certainly not exclusive to Christianity, and the damage it has caused and hatred it continues to perpetuate on this earth, is something I'm still grappling with.  I imagine I always will.  But that's another story entirely, and really is separate from the question of belief.  

 

 

[Rosie_0801]

I came up with what I thought were pleasanter ideas, which, being a few decades older now, I tend to think of as healthier. 

[poppy]

I grew up in the Catholic Church and , despite it's many flaws, I find it quite beautiful and moving. But I was born a skeptic and never truly felt faith. Then as an adult I started reading humanist texts and realized that I could have just was just as much rigor of thought, and incredibly beauty of seeing the possibilities in people, and striving of social justice, and even having the comfort of being in a community of like minded thinkers -- without going through a church I didn't believe in in my heart. It was like coming home.

[livetoread]

The long version is really long! The short version is, I just saw too much evidence against the claims of Christianity and then against theism in general. I finally realized that we create and continue to modify whatever god meets our needs at the time. Once I realized that, it was all over but the giving up. That took several years of trying and studying and praying more, but when it's gone, it's gone.

[Occasionally]

I left the Catholic Church because try as I might, I could not make sense of a loving God who allowed the Holocaust to take place. My mind rebelled reading about a baby being used as a football by camp guards.

 

I concluded that God was either impotent, cruel or non-existent - and non-existent made the most sense to me.

 

I took a very long break from church - a decade, maybe ? It was sort of like deschooling - dechurching....

 

Last time I went back, for a family baptism, it was utterly foreign to me.

 

ETA - There's a famous classical quote about the three options for God...can I remember it ? No. But my ideas, although arrived at independently, are certainly not original.

 

Is this what you were thinking of? It was wrongly attributed to Marcus Aurelius:

“Live a good life. If there are gods and they are just, then they will not care how devout you have been, but will welcome you based on the virtues you have lived by. If there are gods, but unjust, then you should not want to worship them. If there are no gods, then you will be gone, but will have lived a noble life that will live on in the memories of your loved ones.â€

 

[Joanne]

1. The theology - it failed. When I had real, authentic questions about justice and blessings, I was sent to the same, tired verses.
2. The lack of critical thinking - science, culture, sex, food, egalitarianism, disciplining children
3. The idea that I was created to honor and glorify God spoke to a petty, jealous, immature God
4. The OT God was an arbitrary, power wielding, sick Power. Seriously. Kill ALL the babies?
5. Paul (as in St. Paul) was an arrogant, mysoginist......yea, that.
6. Christian "culture" - modesty, patriarchy (even in more liberal churches), inability to admit that EVERY Christian cherry picks, courtship
7. The lack of seeing the Bible for a work of literature, emerging from an intentionally hyperbolic culture that taught through fable, parable, myth
8. The virgin conception, birth, death, resurrection
9. "Original sin"
10. The Creation story
11. Noah
12. Jonah
13. Dead towns, killing rampages
14. More later.........

 

[Onceuponatime]

 

Is this what you were thinking of? It was wrongly attributed to Marcus Aurelius:

“Live a good life. If there are gods and they are just, then they will not care how devout you have been, but will welcome you based on the virtues you have lived by. If there are gods, but unjust, then you should not want to worship them. If there are no gods, then you will be gone, but will have lived a noble life that will live on in the memories of your loved ones.â€

 

 

There is also this one:

 

Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent.

Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent.

Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil?

Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?

 

Attributed to (Epicurus?)

[Χά�ων]

In short:

 

How can anyone hold a newborn and think that perfect little being is full of sin.

 

Of everything this is the one thing I cannot accept.

[KungFuPanda]

I changed 'brands' of Christianity. I had a little trouble with the exclusivity of the faith in which I was raised. "There's only ONE true (and very specific) path to heaven. Nobody's gettin in but us!" I never understood how people could believe that the ONLY true path to God just so happens to be exactly what your own family practices and is conveniently located at a church in your neighborhood. The self-confidence it takes to believe God loves MY town/family more than the entire rest of the world is something I envy a little bit. Creation Museum field trip anyone?

[Guest]

In short:

 

How can anyone hold a newborn and think that perfect little being is full of sin.

 

Of everything this is the one thing I cannot accept.

Eastern Orthodox Christianity does not believe or teach this. This very issue was a big reason I became Orthodox. As are many of the issues listed up-thread...

 

:::scooting back to my book:::

[nd293]

There were a couple of specific incidents that started me on the road: the deacon of our church who had been 'serving' while having an affair (Christian / church duplicity), the minister who said during a sermon that Jews needed a temple to pray, and Muslims needed a mosque but Christians could pray anywhere (I was 15 but had read enough to know this was a lie), some of the kids ducking confirmation classes to go play pool but still getting confirmed anyway (undermining my commitment to the church by showing that it was simply a formality, and they didn't really expect us to understand our beliefs). I was fully committed at 16 when confirmed, but probably started to distance myself immediately afterwards.

 

I did consider myself a believer until my early 20s, but once you start to think, it's hard to stop, and the more I saw of the world the more I realised that good and bad was not correlated with belief in any god (traveled to Israel, worked with Muslims, Hindus and 'Latin only' Catholics in this time) and that I could not reconcile the idea of an all powerful god with what I saw in the world, especially terrible things happening to children. I'm fine with free will - but if it starts hurting innocents I expect some well directed lightening bolts...

[catz]

I was raised Catholic.  The theology started to fall apart for me intellectually in junior high and unraveled from there.  I was spiritually homeless and perfectly happy with that for a long time.  When we were looking to get married, we discovered our local UU church and that has been a great home for us. 

[Joanne]

More..........

 

1. Exclusionary religion - I did not want to serve, worship or "honor" a God that condemns believers of a different kind
2. Christians who were exclusionary *Christians* - I was never the right kind of Christian
3. When I divorced as a Christian - the rhetoric and fall out. Yea, "god hates divorce" but "they" never say anything about god hating the marriage that made the divorce happen. The truth is that my divorce happened long before August, 2006.
4. The silly hyper-concern about "false prophets" - 12 step settings, "self help", Marianne Williamson, Dr. Wayne Dyer, Oprah, Joel Osteen
5. Closed communion
6. Seeing addiction as a moral failing, not a medical disease
7. Marriage equality - heck, *life* equality

[Ipsey]

confusing scripture that just doesn't make sense (ie-Revelations); or something else.

 

 

Please forgive me for sounding pedantic, I don't mean it to be, but I want to make a point with this.

I stopped being a Christian (an Evangelical, Biblical-Inerrancy, Conservative), and missionary when I realized it wasn't true. It wasn't Christians, or anything else. Some folks will say I never really understood the Bible and must never have been a Christian--but I knew enough to know the final book of the Christian scripture is "Revelation" not "Revelations" ;)  A common mistake.  (Truly, forgive me! I don't mean to be catty--but just for your future knowledge) :)  

 

I'll be happy to share more about my (and my husband's) deconversion with you if you want to PM me.

[Aelwydd]

Too many logical inconsistencies. Holding an eternal, all-knowing God less accountable for his complicity in the suffering and death of billions than mortal, limited humans are here on earth. The same God claiming a need for my time, my talents, my money, etc.

 

I got tired of giving so much for an invisible, totally unreliable and incomprehensible deity.

 

In short, I just called B.S. on the whole thing.

[SadieMarie]

I just never felt it. I did try but it felt like a lie to go to church. And when it came down to teaching my kids something as truth that I couldn't believe myself, well, that is when I gave up on the whole thing. I am agnostic. For me it a mystery. There is no way any religion can have cornered the truth. And that religions claim it anyway and use it justify so many things that I can't agree with, well, that just sends me running. There may be a god or gods or not. I have no way of knowing nor, do I believe, does anyone else. And that is just how I feel about it. And thank you for asking lol.

[Nemom]

Wow! I don't have time tonight to read all of these. I have to spend the day at the Doctor's office tomorrow so I will read through them. Thanks for all the replies!

[Guest]

Wow! I don't have time tonight to read all of these. I have to spend the day at the Doctor's office tomorrow so I will read through them. Thanks for all the replies!

I was just about to wonder if you were coming back. I was betting you did not imagine you would get so many replies so quickly!

[BrookValley.]

The short? It didn't make sense, and I found it utterly useless (and often harmful and hateful). It just wasn't something I wanted to be associated with.

 

There's a longer version, but I'll spare you. Lol

[Nemom]

You might like to search for a thread called 'Ask an Atheist'. It had some good stories and viewpoints.

 

ETA: here it is.

 

L

Thanks. I will check it out tomorrow.

[Luanne]

It doesn't take organized religion to become a Christian.  True Christians have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.  Where they go to church or even if they go to church has nothing to do with it.  There are tons of people who attend church on a regular basis that are definitely not Christians, but seem to think they are just by the mere act of attending a church. 

[jenslp]

Looking back I was quite sheltered growing up and very ignorant in a lot of ways, although overall I was exceptionally book smart.  Then I went to a liberal arts college and was exposed to the facts the for the first time and my whole world changed.  To me, the idea of a supreme being became no more logical or realistic than the tooth fairy.  All the questions I had about where I came from and why I was here were answered through my education so I didn't have any reason to believe in magic after that.  

[Luanne]

The short? It didn't make sense, and I found it utterly useless (and often harmful and hateful). It just wasn't something I wanted to be associated with.

 

There's a longer version, but I'll spare you. Lol

 

That sounds more like organized religion than true Christianity.  (read my other post)  There is a huge difference. 

[J-rap]

I am still very much a Christian, but I do believe that the organization of the Christian church has it wrong on so many accounts, it's despicable.  However, Jesus' words still make the most sense to me out of every philosophy I have ever heard.  I just can't get around that.

[Audrey]

I was raised in a Methodist church that ran a soup kitchen every day.  All my little life, church -- to me -- was colouring pages, listening to stories about God/Jesus and helping clean and set up tables.  Later, I got help fix food, serve food, clean up, plan, etc.  I really enjoyed it very much.  The people around me were lovely -- and I'm speaking of the people in the church and the people who came to the kitchen.  When I was a little older and could go to regular services, the services were always quite short -- basically the same as Sunday school -- a story (sermon) and then we went over announcements to do with the kitchen and broke up into our duties, which on Sunday was mostly prepping for the week.  As I said, I loved it.  To me, though, the stories were only ever just that -- a bunch of fiction.  I don't think I ever believed any of it was literal.  It was stories, like fables, with some wisdom or guides on how to treat people.  Along with the way our church ran, I came to feel that the sum total of the Christian message was:

 

Feed people.

Don't be mean.

 

Somewhere along in junior high, I read the bible -- a few times.  I didn't like it.  There were some of the familiar stories, but I really disliked the overall message.  I felt like the message of caring and kindness really got eclipsed by an awful lot of anger and vindictiveness.  I began really questioning then.  I think that's typical of that age.  I asked our pastor and my mother and other people at church. With the exception of my mother, they would mostly smile and nod and give me some polite response indicating how cute my question was.  My mother did talk to me and she admitted that she just felt that church was the right thing to do, so she did.  That, I could get behind, because I did believe that what we did at our church was good and I enjoyed it and I still, to this day, believe that people deserve to be fed.  Every human being.  No one should ever have to wonder "will I be able to eat today?" 

 

But, really... I could never have gotten behind almost anything else in the bible. Even the 10 commandments get pretty muddy in the context of the whole book.  As I grew older and moved away from home, other Christians pretty much killed any interest I would have had in continuing to attend a church.  I already knew I hadn't really believed any of it (though I really tried and really wanted to for a long time).  It took a long time, but I finally figured out that I was a pretty decent person anyway.  I still think of "Feed people. Don't be mean." as a pretty good guide to life.  I'm not always successful with those things, but I try anyway. 

 

I've often had people say that I just didn't go to a "good enough" church, or the "wrong church" or was in the "wrong denomination" or even in the "wrong religion" and if I'd just do xyz like them and like their faith says, then I would believe and I'd be a better person for it.  I always say no thank you.  Really, I'm not interested in believing in any deities.  I don't feel any compulsion to worship any gods.  I'm not interested in church fellowship, either, nor the ceremonial bits.  It just doesn't do it for me.  I spend my time in ways that are more meaningful to me and more healthy to my mental, emotional and spiritual well-being.

[Nemom]

I was raised Catholic. The theology started to fall apart for me intellectually in junior high and unraveled from there. I was spiritually homeless and perfectly happy with that for a long time. When we were looking to get married, we discovered our local UU church and that has been a great home for us.

What is a UU church?

[mamaraby]

It doesn't take organized religion to become a Christian.  True Christians have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.  Where they go to church or even if they go to church has nothing to do with it.  There are tons of people who attend church on a regular basis that are definitely not Christians, but seem to think they are just by the mere act of attending a church.

 

  

That sounds more like organized religion than true Christianity.  (read my other post)  There is a huge difference.

 

So "No True Scotsman" meets "your experience/point of view isn't really what you think it is?" It's this sort of auditing of another person's lived experience that makes people not want to share in discussions like this.

[albeto.]

  

So "No True Scotsman" meets "your experience/point of view isn't really what you think it is?" It's this sort of auditing of another person's lived experience that makes people not want to share in discussions like this.

 

But it does illustrate why many people turn away from Christianity. When the claims of the faith are moved around to suit the specific criteria of each individual (subject to change according to circumstances in their life), these claims are revealed to be quite slippery, unpredictable, unreliable, and ultimately unlikely. 

[Guest]

It doesn't take organized religion to become a Christian. True Christians have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Where they go to church or even if they go to church has nothing to do with it. There are tons of people who attend church on a regular basis that are definitely not Christians, but seem to think they are just by the mere act of attending a church.

No offense, Luanne, but I think everyone who has posted in this thread knows that. I definitely don't think going to church makes me a Christian. I go in order to keep stability for my children, whom I raised as Christians. I don't want to mess with their heads by now saying, "nevermind!" Plus, I do like the folks at my church. I like the leadership and I most often think the messages are edifying and worthwhile. So I go. But I no longer believe most of the tenants I once did believe.

[Guest]

What is a UU church?

Unitarian Universalist.

[Carrie12345]

Reading through the posts on OE/YE and some other recent topics has made me curious why some have turned away from Christianity and become atheist/agnostic (or already were). I am not looking to judge or try to convert anyone back-I am just really curious what caused you to not/stop/change your mind regarding Christianity. Church "atmosphere"; confusing scripture that just doesn't make sense (ie-Revelations); or something else.

 

 

 

I've always been agnostic at the very least.  I never believed in Christianity for the same reason I never believed in any other religion or any other ancient book. And I can't elaborate on that without ticking people off, so that's that.

 

I was brought to church weekly and required by my mother to do all of the classes and sacraments, so I lack of exposure is not at play. Nor did I ever have negative experiences with Christians... until I became an "out" atheist as an adult.

 

[Scrub Jay]

I was raised in a Protestant church.  Even at a very young age I just did not buy it.  I tried - I remember reading my kid's bible for a while.  But it just never "jived" with me.

 

I would describe myself as an agnostic or a spiritual atheist.  ;)

[BrookValley.]

That sounds more like organized religion than true Christianity.  (read my other post)  There is a huge difference. 

 

Sure, the actions of organized religions contributed to my reasons, but so have the actions of individuals. And that doesn't make them any more or less Christian. Just maybe not *your* particular flavor of Christian.

 

Of course, none of that line of reasoning would make any of it believable to me. I just don't understand it. So even if I had never had any off-putting experiences with religion or those who are religious, I still couldn't convince my brain to believe in a deity. But that's ok. I understand that a lot of folks to, and that their lives are enriched by it. That's cool.

[poppy]

Unitarian Universalist.

I am also I'm a UU church. Until I looked into it I assumed it was a Protestant church, but it is not.

[Cammie]

Preacher's daughter, grand-daughter and great-grand-daughter here.

 

Clearly, I was raised in the church.  In a very liberal Protestant denomination.  We were always at church.  I went to church camp.  I just never...felt it.  Not deeply.  Not in any way that made me want to make it a bigger part of my life.

 

I stopped regular church attendance when I left for college.  Yet I got a job working at the Interfaith Center at my college.  So clearly, drawn to religious people...just not to religion.

 

Saw lots of horrible things done by "Christians" to other Christians in the context of major Christian non-profit organization that my father was in a leadership position in for many years.

 

Had a brief stint as a Hari Krishna.  Not really for me in the end.

 

Married a Hindu guy.  We sometimes go to temples or have religious ceremonies at home.  I am kind of "bla" about those as well.

 

Raising my kids with respect for all beliefs but still not very "religious" or "spiritual."

 

I guess I don't feel the need for religion.  Yes, sometimes I say a prayer of thanks.  Or a prayer of safe keeping. 

 

I guess I just never felt a connection with religion, any religion.  In spite of years and years of close association with many religions.

 

(I do like those UUs though...I worked at a UU church for a few years.  Nicest people ever.)

[Lady Florida.]

The short version:

 

The more I read the bible and the more I thought about it, the more I realized there is absolutely no reason to believe in a deity. You specifically asked about Christianity, but once I decided Christianity isn't true I did explore some other religions and spiritual beliefs. I just found no reason to believe and no need to believe.

 

Unlike some people I wasn't sad when I gave up believing. I didn't feel like I was losing anything. In fact just the opposite. I felt much more free once I let go of belief. I'm perfectly happy as an atheist.

[Firefly]

The simple version:  I read the Bible.  

 

I was raised as a Congregational Protestant, which I mostly remember as fond stories with purposeful yet sunshine-and-roses messages, delivered by our young and charismatic pastor.  The cute and cuddly version of Christianity. We attended semi regularly, on and off over the years. My first year of high school we moved overseas (Middle East) and never got back into regular attendance, but in college, our pastor called out of the blue and asked me if I'd be interested in leading a youth group.   I was interested in working with young people, but thought I probably should read the Bible, since I had only hear excerpts before, if I were going to do that.  So I did.  Cover to cover.  Like a PP, I just could not reconcile some of the things I read with the god I thought I knew.  I did not like this Bible god; he was cruel and vindictive.  And since I was not going to cherry-pick things that I agreed with and eschew the stuff I didn't, ultimately I realized I had to decide: either it's all real, and I have to live by all of it; or it's not.  None of it.  I went with the latter.  I've been a very happy agnostic pagan ever since (almost 30 years now).

 

 

 

 

[Joanne]

It doesn't take organized religion to become a Christian.  True Christians have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.  Where they go to church or even if they go to church has nothing to do with it.  There are tons of people who attend church on a regular basis that are definitely not Christians, but seem to think they are just by the mere act of attending a church. 

 

{{Luanne}}

 

I think of you and your health every day.

 

I see and hear your passion for Jesus. And I *get* your point about a personal relationship. I think I could even be a little less guarded in discussing spirituality with you if you stayed on that. I spend time daily developing a relationship  awareness with ideas bigger than me.

 

But the "tons of people who attend church on a regular basis that are definitely not Christians........" meme is part of the reason I left. Let me explain. By the time I admitted I was not a Christian, I had spent over 40 years AS one. Attending church, serving, praying, participating. Reading the Bible. Seeking relationship. I attended Seminary. I KNOW Christianity.

 

The suggestion that I, or others I served with, weren't Christians is patronizing and insulting. It minimizes people, and frankly God.

 

Now, I left Christianity because of Christians AND Christian doctrine. But the doctrine would have been sufficient to exit. I think it takes a thinking, mature Christian to say "Yea, the theology and doctrine is weird, and doesn't make sense. I believe that there is a larger order to it all, but I understand why a person would ditch it."

 

The truth is that the Christian stories are as outrageous as Romulus and Remus, Greek myths, Norse myths, Native American legends. It's ok that you *believe* them to be true, but please offer grace to those of us who dismiss them altogether or see them as intentional hyperbole.

[Mergath]

That sounds more like organized religion than true Christianity.  (read my other post)  There is a huge difference. 

 

"True" Christianity is based on what's in the bible, and there's just as much harm, hate, and judgement in the bible as there is among some Christians.  I left as a teen because of issues with both.