dear OT, what turned you away from your religion?

dear OT,

what turned you away from your religion?

do your parents know you don't believe in a higher power? how did they find out?

was it your religion that turned you away? the sciences? personal reasons? or was it obvious to you all along?

or are you still a believer in something greater?

discuss. be cordial.

T'was the OT that did it.

Too many religion threads here......if you have issues TC...talk to someone outside of a forum.LJS9502_basic

Too many religion threads here......if you have issues TC...talk to someone outside of a forum.LJS9502_basic

I was never raised as believing in a religion. As such there was nothing to turn away from.Ace6301

I was never to enthusiastic about religion. Eventually, I arrived at the conclusion that most religions were illogical, and stopped believing.

I still have my faith in Jesus, but I stopped following religion. I grew tired of associating myself with people who acted like Christians just for their own intentions. I also stopped acting religious the past couple years and didn't want to live any more lies

That everything inside of the bible sounds like a fairy tale.

Why do people always subscribe the notion of a creator of the universe, to a religion (in OT's case Christianity). As if the idea of God can't exist without religion.m25105

I was never raised as believing in a religion. As such there was nothing to turn away from.Ace6301

i was convinced that god didn't exist. had nothing against islam when i left it. it was a couple of years after, that i devoloped hatred towards it.

The first stage was realizing that I did not care whether a higher power existed. The second stage was realizing that there was no reason to believe one existed anyways.Laihendi

I wasn't raised in a religious family but I was encouraged to explore religions as much as I wanted. 

The more I discovered about religion's need to impose subordination on a community the less interested I became.

[QUOTE="Laihendi"]The first stage was realizing that I did not care whether a higher power existed. The second stage was realizing that there was no reason to believe one existed anyways.GrayF0X786

Despite being raised in the catholic church, i could never believe any of it. I cannot do the mental gymnastics and have the cognitive dissonance required to follow a religion

[QUOTE="Laihendi"]The first stage was realizing that I did not care whether a higher power existed. The second stage was realizing that there was no reason to believe one existed anyways.GrayF0X786

[QUOTE="GrayF0X786"]

[QUOTE="Laihendi"]The first stage was realizing that I did not care whether a higher power existed. The second stage was realizing that there was no reason to believe one existed anyways.Laihendi

Even as a kid I thought it was stupid. Then when I got older I was able to justify that thought.

It was never a part of my upbringing and hearing stories from the bible just sound like fairy tales

the truth

the truth

konvikt_17

[QUOTE="Laihendi"][QUOTE="GrayF0X786"] until you start to wrinkle, bones feel weak and then end up in a little box beneath a pile of dirt, but that is when it is too late.

frannkzappa

[QUOTE="konvikt_17"]

the truth

4myAmuzumament

The truth is what you make of it.

[QUOTE="4myAmuzumament"][QUOTE="konvikt_17"]

the truth

konvikt_17

The truth is what you make of it.

I was never raised as believing in a religion. As such there was nothing to turn away from.Ace6301

[QUOTE="konvikt_17"]

[QUOTE="4myAmuzumament"] what's the truth?4myAmuzumament

The truth is what you make of it.

ok

#1 After I found out Santa and practically all other holiday icons weren't real as a kid, I came to the conclusion, while growing up, that many of the characters I heard of in stories, that I got told were real at the time, never actually were.

#2 After witnessing my granddad at a young age go into a frightening fit, which king of haunts my memory still to this day, get rushed to hospital in a flash. I was so shook up by the ordeal that I actually prayed to God for him to be ok. I even wrote up the prayer on a piece of paper for some reason. The next day, we got the phone call telling us he'd died. I think that hurt any faith I had, a lot.

#3 There's just next to no evidence to back up the claims made in almost every religion.

Just the slow realisation that religion appeared to merely be wish fulfillment for people not wanting to accept that the universe is a cold, unfeeling bit of chaos that is unconcerned with their existence. 

I never bought into religion in the first place despite being raised Roman Catholic my entire life and I still identify as one because the notion of 'losing your religion' and denouncing one's faith publically is an extremely childish attempt at rebellion. According to all legal documents I am Roman Catholic, according to the Catholic church I am a Roman Catholic. It's whether or not you actually take your religion seriously or not, and I never did. But I'm not about to write "Atheist" under religion on legal forms, I'm indoctrinated and there's nothing I can do or want to do about it because it's honestly not even worth my time.

"But you can't say you're catholic if you aren't practicing or you don't believe in God!"

Yes I can, I just did. Try and stop me.

I never bought into religion in the first place despite being raised Roman Catholic my entire life and I still identify as one because the notion of 'losing your religion' and denouncing one's faith publically is an extremely childish attempt at rebellion. According to all legal documents I am Roman Catholic, according to the Catholic church I am a Roman Catholic. It's whether or not you actually take your religion seriously or not, and I never did. But I'm not about to write "Atheist" under religion on legal forms, I'm indoctrinated and there's nothing I can do or want to do about it because it's honestly not even worth my time.

"But you can't say you're catholic if you aren't practicing or you don't believe in God!"

Yes I can, I just did. Try and stop me.

freek666

this is a very silly way of thinking. Labeling yourself as part of a club when you aren't in it just to make an impression is quite sad. 

[QUOTE="freek666"]

I never bought into religion in the first place despite being raised Roman Catholic my entire life and I still identify as one because the notion of 'losing your religion' and denouncing one's faith publically is an extremely childish attempt at rebellion. According to all legal documents I am Roman Catholic, according to the Catholic church I am a Roman Catholic. It's whether or not you actually take your religion seriously or not, and I never did. But I'm not about to write "Atheist" under religion on legal forms, I'm indoctrinated and there's nothing I can do or want to do about it because it's honestly not even worth my time.

"But you can't say you're catholic if you aren't practicing or you don't believe in God!"

Yes I can, I just did. Try and stop me.

wis3boi

this is a very silly way of thinking. Labeling yourself as part of a club when you aren't in it just to make an impression is quite sad. 

[QUOTE="wis3boi"]

[QUOTE="freek666"]

I never bought into religion in the first place despite being raised Roman Catholic my entire life and I still identify as one because the notion of 'losing your religion' and denouncing one's faith publically is an extremely childish attempt at rebellion. According to all legal documents I am Roman Catholic, according to the Catholic church I am a Roman Catholic. It's whether or not you actually take your religion seriously or not, and I never did. But I'm not about to write "Atheist" under religion on legal forms, I'm indoctrinated and there's nothing I can do or want to do about it because it's honestly not even worth my time.

"But you can't say you're catholic if you aren't practicing or you don't believe in God!"

Yes I can, I just did. Try and stop me.

freek666

this is a very silly way of thinking. Labeling yourself as part of a club when you aren't in it just to make an impression is quite sad. 

I was baptised and confirmed as well, and I despise the catholic church. 

It stopped making sense to me once I reached an age where I could think for myself.

I was raised southern baptist, church every Wednesday night and twice on Sunday.

As I grew older the stories began to seem more and more fanciful. At the same time, i was getting heavily into the sciences. Biology and astronomy both pretty much superseded any spiritual need I may have had for cloud men.

There was quite a bit of internal conflict for a long time, but I started heavily researching religion and its roots and hmm....

I don't think I found the answer I was looking for when I started, but I did find out I was asking the wrong questions, anyway.

It wasn't just a shift in belief, it was a shift in how I perceive everything from existence to human society.